PMA February 2010 : Page 19PMA 2010 Doing it better As a sports photographer, what do you need to make your working life better? The answer: SPAA 2010. The conference sessions range from the nuts and bolts of equipment choice and use, shooting how-to’s and customer demographics, printer choices and print packages, maximizing web presence, mining social network sites, and more. As an indication of just how dynamic this significantly larger program is, the very first session, Friday, Feb. 19, is an afternoon field trip to San Clemente High School, where veteran sports photographer Randy Brister, RSBphoto, Laguna Niguel, Calif., will show his techniques while photographing three baseball teams. Take a short bus ride from the Anaheim Convention Center to the high school, and return about 4 hours later, Brister estimates. Brister has been shooting the Southern California youth sports market for 20 years, with a client list including some of the most established and respected youth leagues and high school teams in Orange and Los Angeles Counties. The show begins an hour before the teams arrive, with Brister walking you through what he does to set up for both individual and team pictures. He’s going to be talking equipment. He’ll discuss cameras, lenses, exposures, and balancing the backgrounds. He uses scrims when photographing individuals, and por- table battery packs for Norman 400 lights. He expects to use backlighting and flash fill. He’ll also show and talk about posing aids, with two to three poses for each individual. His team posing is “simple,” with tech- niques he’s used for years. Along the way, he’ll talk about the paper- work used to keep track of both people and images. “For someone who doesn’t do a lot of outdoor stuff,” explains Brister, “we’ll fill in lots of blanks.” He suggests the three teams he’s photographing will mean photographs of about 50 to 60 players. He’ll have one or two assistants working with him. As well as team pictures, he’s planning on a large horizontal shot of the varsity team – an informal, casual shot for a poster promoting the team schedule. Brister will be speaking with session attendees while he’s setting up, before the teams arrive, making test shots and giving demonstrations of everything ahead of time. While he’s shooting, attendees will have the opportunity to observe, seeing how what’s he’s been saying is put into practice. He may interact a bit with attendees dur- ing the shoot – “I can multi-task” – to tell a bit about what he’s doing as he does it; but he expects everything to be “pretty self- explanatory.” He’s hopeful, “If no one’s ever shot a team like this, it will help tremendously.” Some (Many? Most? All?) photographers have questions about the use of social me- dia, such as Facebook and Twitter. Do they offer any value for my business, or are they frivolous wastes of time? If I already have a website, do I really need to be on Facebook? Enter Lorrie Thomas, Web Marketing Therapy, Santa Barbara, Calif., and a profes- sor at the University of Santa Barbara. Her session, Sunday, Feb. 21, “Make Your Small Business Big on the Web,” will do more than answer those questions. The key to social media is understanding it’s about building and maximizing relationships with current and potential customers, she says. Social media are ways to converse, share information, build trust, build credibility, and build visibility. Thomas has found photographers are able to share their philosophy about the art they do and are able to collaborate with their customers. During her session, Thomas says she will be looking at “best practices and great exam- ples specific to the industry. I’m not going By Don Long to talk just about social media generically. I’m going to laser target to this industry, show some best practices, and educate the audience how social media work.” Ben Chen, Action Snapshots Inc., Azusa, Calif., has been shooting sports for about 23 years. He is a full-time pro, shooting freelance in Southern California, and he’s busy. His list of credits is extensive. He’s also been in heavy demand as a speaker. His Feb. 21 session, “How to Shoot Action for the ‘Big Two’ Youth Sports,” is not a business session, he’s quick to point out. It’s a how-to program, with three main targets: how to shoot, where to shoot from, and when to shoot baseball and soccer. He expects to answer some questions that beset new photographers, including when to shoot on the drive and when to shoot singles. He’ll be looking at remotes and lights among other equipment in this solid “nuts and bolts” session. SPAA 2010 is offering a wealth of sessions. Attend Will Crockett’s Saturday morning session on how to shoot smarter using the photo tools you already have, and Eric Miller’s step-by-step guide to shooting a successful youth league photo day; and be sure to attend the Saturday lunch session, which will take attendees inside the mind of the sports photography customer, the ultimate decision maker – mom. Saturday afternoon sessions include looking at shooting gymnastics during the off-season, selling photography online, and package configuration. On Sunday morning, Jeff Gump presents his scouting report from the PMA 2010 show floor, where he uncovers what he considers new and innovative fund-raising products. Monday afternoon offers a session on team and group posing and lighting fundamentals, led by Tom Hayes, who will offer attendees a posing guidebook to take home and implement. Register at www.pmai.org/pma2010. n PMA — February 2010 — www.pmai.org 19 Doing It BetterDon LongAs a sports photographer, what do you need to make your working life better? The answer: SPAA 2010. The conference sessions range from the nuts and bolts of equipment choice and use, shooting how-to’s and customer demographics, printer choices and print packages, maximizing web presence, mining social network sites, and more. Publication List |
