mrandrew wrote in post #5950079
I'm an amateur in Sports Photography and I recently just applied for the Rogers Cup this past month, which will be held next week. I received an email from the organizer last week, asking for people who will be receiving my images, and in question of my professionalism. I don't have anyone in particular that will be receiving my images, but I was wondering if there's anyone here who can offer me their accreditation. You'll get all the images, but you'll have to be somewhat registered professionally. Anyone want to take the offer? :P
What they said above. It often takes months of contributing ad-honorem with a publication in order to gain their sponsorship and an actual Press Credential. Even then, I very often get -if not always- the usual message: Who are you with? Are you a Staffer or a FreeLancer? Have your Editor call me at this number-.
In fact, I got this sort of problem with a car race event for next month, in the Sonoma track here in California (Note, this is no NASCAR high Profile Talladega Pit Access type Event, Jeff Gordon crew side or anything like that). I called the contact, and she very bluntly asked me who I was with. Citing my Central valley paper credentials, she said "Well, we do save our available space for mainstream media". To which I responded that it was ok, that she had to deny me access to the race in writing, and I explained that the racetrack was nowadays the closest to our jurisdiction.
She responded in writing -I was obviously upset and trying to corner her into discriminating, which is bad for her-, but she only offered to listen to my Editor via a telephone call, in order to confirm the assignment.
This is not a brand new problem. (what I am about to say always brings me trouble) But every joe out there with a DSLR and a pair of shoes tries to get into Professional venues, concerts, etc. and this makes it very hard -even for us staffers of daily papers- to make it into those venues.
Sure, I started as a freelancer, attempting to gain entrance to every possible place and contributing for free what others were getting paid to do. In the end, I am getting the same problem now as I probably caused a few years back.
So, mrandrew, I think the challenge lies in getting access and taking photos without the official credentials. Long shot, sure, but also one worth taking. Perhaps this particular event is out of your reach, but if you go to a local college, and start following an athlete or a team, you have better chances at getting in as part of the entourage, than to sit in the press box.
Take whatever you get, and remember that all you need to succeed is 1/250 of a second. If that is not enough, perhaps Press is not the ideal environment for you. (I once photographed a concert while being escorted out by policemen, it was Daughtry, and there was a confusion where I was late and was left out of the cordoned area. Took all four frames, and two were worth it. I was home early that day. I think I watched some TV show).
Best of luck, and don't give up.
