Free Photos

[i-bert]

Not quite sure how I feel about this but here goes.

I race motorbikes and at the last meeting I decided to take a few pics of instead of entering a race (I was too knackered). I have uploaded them to FB and to my Flickr and let my fellow riders have access to the original images. I know most of the riders personally.

Anyway, one of the professionals who was there is now moaning about people giving their photos from the event away free, saying they he struggles to cover his costs if people do this.

The pros there mainly take pics of the Elite class, which also get TV coverage and the lower classes,which I ride in, have one or two taken of them, if they are lucky.

I can see where he is coming from but I don't like people telling me who I can give my photos to.

What are your views on this?

 

[asim18]

Anyway, one of the professionals who was there is now moaning about people giving their photos from the event away free, saying they he struggles to cover his costs if people do this.

According to the emboldened words, it doesn't sound like he's personally telling you who you can give your photos to, he's simply stating that people won't pay for photographs if there are free ones out there. Which is absolutely true and he has every right to state this.

Due to your recent photographing, you may think he's referring to you personally, but I highly doubt he is. He simply has a bigger problem which you are a small part of so you may think his comment was directed at you personally, but he's not singling you out. One person taking photos for one event (you) won't affect him, but many people coming to many events and then uploading photos for free will affect him.

This is the reason a lot of venues don't allow the general public to bring professional camera bodies and have some sort of press pass. Is this guy a dedicated official photographer for the venue?

 

[And]

You need media accreditation for pit/track photography, though I'm not sure if you have to apply via the track owners or event organisers (or both). I've got to do the same thing myself for one of the BSB rounds later this year (though I'm worrying that the 500mm I shoot with is going to be overkill).

I can see his point if he's a freelance, it's his living, and he's probably thinking if one person starts putting up free pics the floodgates may open and a lot of folk may expect free pics all the time or it could drive his rates down. Also, you may not be right about the number of pictures taken of the lower classes. Why not contact the guy and ask what races he does cover to get an idea of what the freelancers shoot? Remember a lot of sports events are about image rights etc so you have to be careful.