Local pro sports photog quality?

So my niece cheers for a local all star cheer squad and they were looking for a photographer to shoot some Individuals for a group of maybe 10-15 girls. I volunteered to do it for free and they told me nvm they are getting the same guy that shoots all the local sports teams because he does great work, ok no harm no foul. Today he emailed the pics and these are the results, what do you guys think? After seeing his Facebook he seems to shoot all his individuals with the same black curtain backdrop, not sure what to think.

Think that they're happy with what they've had in the past. They think this is great work. You may be able to do 100 times better. I may be able to see and appreciate the difference, but many can't see the difference. I don't waste my creative time with people unable to see and appreciate quality.

Smile, and shoot your own individuals of your niece.

In a word, yuck

I think she should wear sunscreen before any outdoor cheer competitions :roll eyes:

The two different fonts don't really work for me, the black backdrop with texture looks really bad, the green light behind her is distracting... and either I need to recalibrate my monitor or the whole thing is just so overexposed... sigh.

I agree though- shoot your own shots, not worth making a big deal of it. And if any other team parents are complaining about them, maybe show them yours and offer on a one-to-one basis?

Well it IS interesting....

It's a picture with some 90's looking layout, and looks nothing like what I would consider "professional." But, depends how you define it. There's lots of paid professionals that output this kind of work and get paid to do it this way by the masses of people in their age group that they know. It's a familiarity thing.

Really though, all that matters is who ever paid and if they're happy with the results. People are fickle creatures and will have social reasons for choosing a pathway.

If any of the girls are embarrassed by the images, do theirs for free and make sure the "sponsors" see them. You might have the gig next time.

Very best,

Yeah that's pretty freaking bad, but if the client doesn't know better sometimes it doesn't matter.

Not great and you may be able to do better but with this market it's not about quality a lot of times but who you know or how you market yourself.

There's no accounting for taste, and that's the most tactful thing I can say about it.

That is quite unfortunate. I would not be happy if I had paid for that image.

If I were in your shoes . . . I'd take some cheer shots of your niece, create a nice and unique template (different enough from the one that this photographer used that intellectual property theft can't reasonably be alleged), and print up some 4x6s for your niece to give to her teammates.

Typically, girls love to give photos of themselves to their friends, and girls love to collect photos of their friends. It makes them feel loved and popular. She who has collected the most photos "wins."

If her teammates' parents see the photograph you took of your niece next to what they have of their daughters, they might see a difference. And, they might support having you take the photos next time the team has photos done.

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I think that the guy they use provides consistency and reliability, and a product that they like an want (obviously, or they wouldn't keep using him).

I think that there is little to no risk for the client, because he is producing consistent results, and they don't have to worry about one person's photo looking different than another person's photo.

They don't have to worry about a photographer's "creativity" resulting in inconsistent results. And whether you or I like it or not, that is what clients usually want.

Many of my friends have refrigerator magnets and "baseball cards" of their kid athletes that look very similar to this; same lighting, same kind of backdrop, same type pf text graphic - and that is what they want. The kids really like seeing themselves in this way because it mimics the way they see famous athletes portrayed in cereal-box freebies and on product packaging at WalMart. That's the look they're accustomed to seeing out there in the general marketplace, so they like it when they are portrayed that way themselves.

In some markets, it is important to give the client what they want, and not try to get them to switch to something that they don't want. I would say that the kid athlete market is one of these markets. If you were working with an individual family, then of course it would be appropriate to show them different looks and styles of imagery, but when providing images for a whole team you really have to cater to the masses.....which is really not a bad thing when one considers the need to produce a given project in a given time period in order to maximize efficiency. For the team shooter, it is supposed to be a business, not an artistic outlet. From a businessperson's perspective, if one's product is in demand, and clients choose you over the competition, then what is the problem?

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To be honest I don't really have an issue with the idea and the graphic choices, it is what it is, I have more of an issue with the technical side of the photo, focus looks off, blown out highlights etc. I would just like to see a well lit sharp foto and from most of the work I've seen from him something is off.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #17920548
Many of my friends have refrigerator magnets and "baseball cards" of their kid athletes that look very similar to this; same lighting, same kind of backdrop, same type pf text graphic - and that is what they want. The kids really like seeing themselves in this way because it mimics the way they see famous athletes portrayed in cereal-box freebies and on product packaging at WalMart. That's the look they're accustomed to seeing out there in the general marketplace, so they like it when they are portrayed that way themselves.

I have some of those on my fridge. The photographs are generic and ultimately quite boring. But, the photos are technically very good. The templates that photographer uses are modern styled sports templates. The templates he uses are nice and clean.

What the OP has posted is not the same calibre of quality. The exposure is poor, the lighting was poorly positioned (the shadow under her chin makes me cringe), the background looks cheap, and it looks like the green blob in the background is partly on her skin in a couple of places.

Photographers can, and should, provide a product that will be popular while still maintaining technical integrity.

texkam wrote in post #17893979
I don't waste my creative time with people unable to see and appreciate quality.

Smile, and shoot your own individuals of your niece.

That's my thoughts on certain events as well. Most are so impressed with the jpegs straight out of the camera, it isn't worth my time to even do anything with the raws. I sometimes sell prints at events btw.

On the other hand, I like to edit the raws for ME sometimes. I would never do something like this though. W/e I am posting/selling, it needs to be able to represent me at all times.

To the OP... definitely not a fan of that photos. Especially the added graphics. Looks like she was cut out and placed onto the background in PS.