dunganick Posted November 25, 2010 Report Share Posted November 25, 2010 Hi all, As some of you know, i do a little bit of shooting photography. Basically i am looking to do a bit more of this as i have lots of free time at the moment, so i am hoping a few of you might have some useful contacts or indeed be interested in getting in touch yourselves to hire me to photograph one of your shoots. I cant go into to much detail so as not to take the mick out of the forum, however i will basically travel up to about 25 miles (from Sevenoaks in Kent) FOC (and further, but i will charge more) and i charge a very reasonable fee for me to attend the day. For this fee you will get all of my photos from the day put onto my website for you to download free. Should you want to buy prints, canvases, mugs, keyrings etc.. then these are on the website (but naturally charged for). If you think that you might like me to come along to one of your shoots then please get in touch via PM or drop me an email Nick@sportstock.co.uk, i can then give you an idea of cost. Alternatively if you work on a shoot and think that the guns or shoot captain might be interested in me coming along to take some shots, then i would be really interested to get in contact with them. Or if any of you have any other suggestions i would be really interested to hear them. Here are a few photos from other shoots i have photographed to give you a taster: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunganick Posted December 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 Well given the overwhelming interest from the original post i thought i would post some shots taken at a shoot last weekend that took me up on this offer. All of the guns were photographed, they got digital files for free and it cost them very little each. Hopefully these shots will wet your appetite a bit. Please do get in touch if you think your local shoots might be interested. Here are a few: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted December 18, 2010 Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 I am sure there must be people out there gagging for this sort of service Nick, any of those pictures would be great to remember a day by. Have you thought about offering it up on Guns On Pegs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunganick Posted December 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 Thankyou mate, i didn't actually know that website existed (too long out of the shooting loop lately). I will certainly look into that site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurcherboy Posted December 19, 2010 Report Share Posted December 19, 2010 The next day is the 27th so I will pass the info on during the week Nick. LB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piebob Posted December 20, 2010 Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 It's a good idea, and good luck with it. But I wonder if the lack of response is because shoots don't want to pay you to come to take the photos, then pay you again for any of the merchandise. Have you considered just going along for "free", taking the photos, then posting them up and making a charge for each photo downloaded. You could also offer up a framing service in different size prints, as well as your other merchandise. Unfortunately, that would mean you'd have to lay out your own travel and equipment costs, etc. up front before hopefully getting your rewards later. You'd also need to pass out a contact card to each of the guns / beaters / pickers up so they know where to look for the online photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunganick Posted December 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 Thanks for the reply, I've tried both methods now, last year i did the method you detail above. The problem was that none of the guns wanted to spend the money i needed to charge for the digital files, yet alone buying products. One problem i have encountered is that lots of the guns are not PC savvy, so buying images online is beyond their abilities or interests. The way i now work it involves a tiny outlay for each gun, for which they get the digital files via either my site or a CD at the next shoot. There is no obligation for them to order through me and they can then take them away and get them printed up themselves at cost or they can use my site where i make a small amount of profit on sales. This way everyone gets pictures for very little money and i know that a trip is worth my while before i leave. The one shoot i have done this year worked much better and i think the Guns and beating team liked the setup. Thankyou for the comment though, i do appreciate your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piebob Posted December 20, 2010 Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 Yes, not everyone is PC savvy and it's easy to forget. The way I have seen the above done was with a shop rather than online right enough. Skiiing in the USA, a freelance photographer would take group photos on request, but would also snap you unprompted as you ski-ed past him. He'd shout the name of the piste and a unique number, and if/when you went into the shop at night he'd have a copy of the photo on display so you could decide whether to buy or not. He also had the usual options for framing and merchandising. Place was going like a fair! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted December 20, 2010 Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 Really lovely pictures Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peck Posted December 20, 2010 Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 hello Nick, have you thought about swapping a days shooting for a days camera shooting.? not much profit in it but you may get some free shooting out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasher Posted December 20, 2010 Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 Nick Credit where its due. The photos are A1. But I can't see where the value is in the service your trying to sell. Sorry! With the readily available still and video digital photography kit that many guns, pickers up and non shooting guest have access to these days. Apart from the gundog action shots which are excellent. I see nothing that a semi proficient amateur snapper couldn't produce with a bit of pc wizardry courtesy of Photoshop, and hey presto! The shoot has 95% of what I've seen offered. Perhaps I've missed something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunganick Posted December 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 Thanks for the replies guys, I do appreciate the feedback. Rasher, your correct there is nothing i do to add particular value to the process of photographing the shoot. All I can say is that as they are paying me to attend I actually concentrate on getting shots of everyone. Granted there is nothing stopping a keen amateur with the same kit producing the same photos, however on all of the shoots I have been on doing this (only 4 now) the guns have always been dead keen as nobody has taken any shots on more than a point and shoot. I'm not aware of many good amateurs wishing to attend shoots for free to give away photos. So I would say it has value for now at least. Granted each shoot will be different. The difference between an amateur and a pro is certainly clouded with digital cams now. But I do believe there is still a difference in the end product and overall service. But that's a conversation for another thread... Thanks for your comment, it is taken on board and is why my prices are so low. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 Nick, Those photo's are first rate, and as for the comments from Rasher they are just plain daft. With a bit of photoshop wizardry none of us would ever have to go on a shoot to get photos. we can just blag them off the net and stick our faces on them. I had some professional photo's done of Merlin by a guy who lives on a farm, all the photo's were done in a "Working" enviroment. And by using cold game and dummies we got some excellent pictures. Now I am sure if I had spent 10 days with a digital camera I would not have got half the pictures he did in one hour and actually picking one to have printed on canvas was very difficult. The thing is with having a professional do the photos at a shoot is he is only there to take photos, he is not meant to be tapping a hedge or watching for runners while picking up or marking birds. I quite often take a camera with me on a shoot but never get around to taking photo's as I am always too busy doing what I should be doing. I see quite a bit of value in what Nick does, I can also see that most guns are as tight as a gnats chaff and while they will happily pay £30 plus vat to shoot a free range chicken they won't pay a few quid to have a special day captured for life. PM me some details Nick and I will see what I can do for you down this end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth Stalker Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 Great shots Nick I agree with all that MC says. Would you travel to Herts? The estate where I help out could be interested, the gamekeepers having a word with the boss today. Could you PM me details of your costs. Cheers SS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 I'd already mentioned it to Char SS to pass on... I don't see why it wouldn't be a go-er, look at the likes of Nick Ridley If you do come up Nick, make an evening of it and we'll sort some foxing/drinking somewhere too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 (edited) I have to say that after speaking to Nick I am considering just paying his fee anyway and having him come to one shoot. It would be worth it for him to build up a portfolio and for me to get some decent photos. For less than the cost of 3 driven pheasants you can get some brilliant photo's of that special day. Edited December 21, 2010 by MC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunganick Posted December 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 Cheers guys, sounds good to me. An evening foxing and a drink sounds even better. Look forward to hearing what your shoot thinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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