Title: So, You Want to be a Professional Mountain Bike Photojock. Subtitle: An Insider's Guide to Making a Living at MTB Photography
By: Gordo Fonseca
Thanks to affordable digital cameras, anyone can be a pro photographer. Dirt Magazine wants you to succeed and so we're providing you with the ultimate guide to being a pro MTB snapper.
Insider Secrets and Facts to Help You Succeed in Your MTB Photo Career
Motive: Primarily, mountain bike photographers are untalented on the bike, but they want to be in the industry, so they live vicariously through their talented subjects. The worse you ride, the better you'll shoot.
Gear: The kind of gear you use might be more crucial than you think. With technology today, magazine editors and marketing executives at big, important companies can tell what kind of equipment you use...that information is built into the digital photo. If you want them to think you know what you're doing and don't want to look like a kook out on the mountain, you better get the best. Basically, it's the opposite of riding...equipment is way more important than talent.
Hustle Schmustle: At a race, all you have to do is find your spot, get your photos, then go drink. Don't worry about variety in your images. Find that easy angle and camp out there. Magazine editors just want a photo of the winner (so make sure you get it) and companies only want irrelevant product shots that don't show any detail about the race.
Race Shots Good: The benefits of being a race photographer is that you don't have wake up too early, worry about lighting or wait on conditions...you can only shoot when the schedule allows. You'll get to see and possibly hang out with the best bike riders in the world at unique locations.
Race Shots Bad: Race photographers don't make shit for money. Race photos don't sell that well because you're competing against magazine staff photographers and the 334 other "pro" shooters out on the mountain...and you'll all be taking the exact same photo.
Commercial images (selling to companies):
Five-star companies: These companies know the value of photography and are willing to pay properly. The problem is, they're probably already paying another seasoned photographer who deserves it. Stick with it, someday it could be you.
One-star companies: Stay away from these companies...they're easy to spot. They have the money, but they're cheap or clueless. They hire photographers who don't know the difference between Sam Hill and Lance Armstrong or they run 29er XC ads in your favorite gravity magazine.
Additionally, one-star companies probably have someone in "marketing" who takes point and shoot photos, so they won't need your professional shots. If they do want your photo, they'll want to "pay" you in photo credit and a t-shirt because "they usually don't buy photographs." Take the t-shirt! You may be able to give it to your landlord for rent and you don't want the reputation of "charging too much" for your photos. Come on, all you did was press a button, right?
Small, rider-owned companies: These are companies that are probably doing good things for our sport out of pure love. They don't have money, but it's worth figuring out a way to work with them. The money may suck, but your soul will feel better in the long run.
Spray Means Pay:
The more you talk about how rad your shots are, the faster you'll succeed. Even if your photos suck, tell everyone they're sick.
Write or Wrong:
Even if you have no writing education or experience, tell the mags you can write. It will guarantee you some sales. All your article needs is a list of riders, results or tricks and some random, meaningless fact. If you get writer's block, just make a list of stuff and try to be funny. Editors love comedy.
InterEnvy:
If you have trouble selling your photos, start an "online magazine" and put the pics on there. Magazine editors and marketing people love what they don't have, so if they see nice photos on your site, odds are they'll ask for them in print. Side effects include one-star companies stealing photos from your site or asking to use them for free because "you already used them online."
Stock up your Funds:
If you are successful at selling some photos, you probably won't get paid very quickly. Typical industry rate is to get paid 11 months after invoice. Even though you spent your own money and broke your neck to get the photos in on time, companies and magazines won't worry about paying you until you've threatened a lawsuit.
Don't listen to Riders:
Once the word is out that you're a photojock, you'll be approached by riders who have "the sickest shot." Don't believe them. It's probably something really fun for them to ride, but for any number of reasons, makes for a garbage photo.
You're not the Expert:
Even though you took the photo, you don't know what looks best. Companies and magazines will constantly choose the worst photo you took for ads and stories. A good rule of thumb is to take the worst photo you can. It'll get picked for sure.
The Payoff:
In the face of cheapskates, know-it-alls, dirt-filled butt-cracks, being a mountain bike photographer is a fantastic lot in life. You'll make great friends, accumulate entertaining stories and have the knowledge that you followed your passion. You could have been slave to your pocket book. Instead you were in the mountains using Pocket Wizards. (That's a dorky photojock joke. Someday you'll get it.)
