Recently got a DSLR and after a bit of practice im starting to like the results im getting. Thinking of going to a few events and getting some photos, was wandering if anyone here has experience of this and if there is any good ways to make a spot of money from it. Ive seen roots and rain but wandering if any one has had success with it?

Also any tips on better photos would be appreciated im still learning and taking a mtb photography course next month

Jimmy

tips on better photos

Practice, practice, practice

Read the manual for the DSLR

Practice, practice, practice

Making money from photography is very difficult, as these days everyone and their mother has a dSLR and thinks they’re the next David Bailey. You’ll need full mastery of your camera, a good creative eye and an understanding of what makes a good photo.

Getting the bible might not be a bad start.

Millions of people have Microsoft Office, very few of them make money as authors.

Don’t worry about making money at it – if you get good, and get a style of your own, people will find you. Meanwhile practice, experiment, practice, have fun, and practice.

Getting the bible might not be a bad start.

Or downing a cup of frothy coffee. Either way. 😉

As above really. Loads of practice in different light conditions, landscapes, portraits, close-ups, to get to grip with the features of your dSLR. And be creative.

You might be able to make the odd bit of money here and there if you attend events and contact magazines beforehand to see whether they’ve got a photographer there or not.

Generally they give you brief on the sort of images they’re after…

Or do it after the event on the off chance their interested.

do people really make money from that kind of photography? seems a crap way of spending your time for bobbins when you could be riding your bike/drinking beer/taking pics of something else other than cyclists going round in circles•

*delete as appropriate

I’ve done events photography, before it was trendy to do so. When it’s good you can make a good lot of cash 😉

When it’s bad your wasting your life. If your going to do it these day expect to spend about £3K on kit to get you started then insurance (Which is a MUST!).

To be honest all the best gigs are now taken by the big nationals, and if you can find a regular gig some weeks are good some week’s are bad. When it got to the point we had more bad than good we sacked it off and started enjoying our weekends again….

I would say that mastery of the camera is less important than creativity. My wife is just learning about over- and under-exposure, but her photos are beautiful.

Pictures at bike events though – difficult. Everone’s trying it, and everyone’s producing basically the same pictures of you on your bike… My tips would be move around a lot, cover the whole course, and look for different angles. Get a long tele and snap stuff where people don’t see you snapping. Don’t try and make magazine cover photos.

Of course, I have never tried to make money doing this so my tips are probably not worth much 🙂

Practice, practice indeed; but make sure you’re paying attention. Don’t just take lots of pictures. Spend as much time as possible looking through the viewfinder and learning to see the world, your subject, within the confines of that frame. If say that exposure and framing are the first things to devote your attention to. Also, stick with a single, fixed lens (or fixed focal length if your kit lens is zoom). Something in the 24-35mm range, presuming you’re using a cropped sensor camera.

Don’t worry about making money at it – if you get good, and get a style of your own, people will find you. Meanwhile practice, experiment, practice, have fun, and practice.

This.

And a lot of the best MTB event photos involve off camera flash, IMO.

If you want to make money you need business skills first. Pointing a camera comes second (anyone and everyone does that these days).

Thanks for the tips everyone. Not planning to make a liv9ng from it, more just a bitto cover the cost of more camera kit or an uplift the next day.would love to get some stuff in a mag.
Think it is going tobe a case of keep practicing untill i can get some really decent results.