In General

We do two types of photography: Picture Day team and individual photos (click HERE), where we bring in our portable studio equipment and crew to your location, and Live Action event and performance photography which is what we do at tournaments and Championship events.

For live action, we photograph specific games throughout the tournament and then during the playoffs and championship games we bring in our viewing stations where spectators can view, select, and purchase photos on the spot. We may also print onsite.

For most events, we DO NOT take action photos of all the games or teams on speculation with the exception of cheer and dance competitions. For all other sports and performances, photos are PRE-SOLD to parents and teams (see below) PRIOR to the start of the event.

Although we put a few handfuls of photos online, representative of your entire event, we do not sell photos online. That is akin to selling your event t-shirts after your event has ended. With minor exceptions (marathons and triathlons, for example), online sales are not viable for professional youth sports photographers, regardless of what an anxious photographer might tell you.

We also set up a portable studio where team and individual portaits can be done. In this way, the offering of both action and portrait photos increases our likelihood of profitability. Besides, combining action and portrait photography is something the parents and players want and have come to expect from us.

What we offer to you is a high-quality service of professional action and portrait photography targeted specifically to those customers interested in purchasing our products and organizers looking for the most efficient and profitable fundraising sources.

Action Photos

We PRE-SELL photos in advance of the event. Pre-selling is done by having all the coaches email the players and their parents to let them know that action photos of a specific team requires a pre-paid fee of $150 and that this fee will entitle the team to a CD with over 100 action photos or more from their game. If each player chips in $10, a team of 15 players will have paid for their CD. Keep in mind that this CD will give each parent not one but several images of their own playerin action. whereas a singe 8 x 10 print from us would cost $20. So the CD is quite an offering. The CD will also include sideline shots of the coach and team staff and bench. It does not include any team or indivudal portraits we have done, only the game action. If the team wants us to photograph a second or third game, the price is 50% off ($75) the base price ($150) for each additional game.

Once we receive an order for a team for a specific game, a photographer is assigned to photograph that game. Afterwhich, photos are processed over the next few days and team CDs mailed within 7-10 days to the head coach or manager of the team to distribute to each player. A copyright release is provided with each disk so parents or players can have copies made at their local photo counter drug store without difficulty.

In addition to prints, we also offer a variety of other photo products at your event, including, posters, photo acrylic statuettes, giant stick-on wall photos, and more.

Team & Individual Photos

Interestingly, many club or elite teams have never had their professional portrait photos taken and some leagues simply don't have a Picture Day. Our portrait service at your event allows many teams and individuals to have the opportunity to have their portraits taken with their fellow teammates and friends for the ultimate enjoyment of the players and their families now and in the years to come and remember those exciting and fun moments they shared being a part of a team and participating in an important youth sports event.

The email to parents (see "Action Photos" above) also outlines the Order Form that must be filled out and returned to us by mail or email prior to the event if they wish to buy team and individual portraits. Like Picture Day photos, parents select a Package with varying price and product configurations. For a copy of our Order Form, click HERE or go to www.AZSportShots/AZDSS-WOW_Order_Form.pdf

Typically, we set-up our portrait studio prior to the Registration of the teams. This is usually the best opportunity for us to photograph both in- and out-of-town teams particularly for court teams such as basketball, volleyball, etc. Whereas with softball, baseball, football, soccer, etc., the photos are taken during the event when players arrive on the fields one and a half hours before their game. With cheerleading and dance competitions, team photos are done as teams arrive to warm-up and, if time permits, individual photos are taken as well. Whatever the sport or performance, a suitable area must be determined prior to the event where portrait photos can be taken, This generally requires a clear area that is approximately 35 x 45 feet in length.

Portrait photos are taken of all the teams but individual photos are taken only of those players who have ordered a photo Package prior to the start of the event.

Other advantages of the portrait studio is that it allows us to take beautiful awards photos of players with their medals or trophies. It also allows us to get buddy shots, and shots of coach and son/daughter, and shots of organizers and other v.i.p.'s and dignitaries. While we can bring our own backdrops, many organizers like to provide us with paper or vinyl backdrops that display their event logo and those of their sponsors, especially for awards and v.i.p. shots.

In addition, we can provide video services for your events. So it's not unusual to see us shooting action, selling photos through our viewing stations, doing portraits, and shooting videos, all at the same event!

Contacting Coaches & Parents

For players and coaches to even know we are doing these photos, we ask the organizers to send an email blast to all of the coaches, along wih a standard letter we have prepared that the coaches can, in turn, email to the players and parents. Our email letter, Photo Information for Parents & Coaches, outlines how they can be sure to get action and portrait photos taken of their specific player or team. It is important to emphasize to the coaches that they need to email the parents regarding photos. Our Photo Information for Parents & Coaches will also be on our website but the participating team parents first need to know who we are.

We will also need to have our logo on your homepage or tournament event page indicating that we are the official photographers for your event and a brief text describing our service. We will provide this information to you.

The following represents edited questions we have received from organizers, coaches, and parents, and several we've composed ourselves, over the last few years regarding our services.

Is there a charge for having you do our Championship event?

No. Tthere is absolutely no charge to your organizaiton whatsoever for our services at any state or national Championship event. Our income is generated strictly from what we sell at your event. In fact, we'll make YOU money!

What's the benefit to our organization?

Actually, there are several. As with Picture Day, we're happy to provide you 10% of our net sales from your event or pay your established vendor fee. We will also provide your organization with a number of images for non-commercial use on your website and for your printed promotional materials. If we're also your Picture Day photographers for your league, school, gym, or organization, and on a three year contract with you, our rate is boosted to 12.5% of our net sales from your event and 15% on a five-year contract. But most importantly, our professional services provides value and an added sense of prestige to your event.

We already have an event photographer but will you do our Picture Day photos?

Yes. We're happy to handle all your Picture Day needs.

We already have someone to do our Picture Day photos, will you come in to do our tournament?

It really depends on the kind of sport or performance, the level of importance of your event (regional tournament or state or national championship), and the number of kids participating.

We have a photographer for our event and we're looking for someone to do the video.

Our video services are in high demand so we reserved them for those leagues, schools, and organizations where we are the official Picture Day or championship event photographers.

How do parents view all the photos you've taken at the event?

With a few exceptions, such as dance and cheer, we no longer shoot on speculation. Therefore, we do not photograph all the games or performances.Our coverage of events is now on a prepaid basis only. This means we no longer shoot all the games or performances on speculation with the hope of reaching the 5% or less that actually do buy. We take orders prior to, or at the event, to photograph specific players or teams only.

Then, we display those photos on our bank of viewing stations at the event. Spectators and participants can scroll through the images on the monitors to find their games, and locate their specific player. They can then click on the photo to enlarge it for better viewing. Viewing stations allow a more user-friendly experience and, since they are intuitive, they allow for much faster viewing and the faster and easier we can make the process, the more customers we can accommodate. This, in turn, translates to greater revenues for us and your organization. Besides, customers no longer have to wait days for photos to be put online. They can view them on our LCD monitors moments after their child's team or group has finished their game or performance.

We're a year around club league and fundraising is an important part of our life blood. It would be helpful to know if all of our tournaments will bring in about the same amount of money from photo sales?

No. The amount of money earned at events, in terms of photos sales, depends on a number of factors and these factors influence each other, such as frequency of your events, number of spectators in attendance, level of importance of your event, current economic climate, and so forth. But the most important factor is the level of importance of your event. If this is a National Championship event it will have more enthusiatic buyers than if this was one of your in-state regionals or tournaments held every other month.

Does that mean if we hold eight tournaments a year and only two are top events that you'll only cover those two?

Yes, that's exactly what it means.

Would you object if we had another photographer cover the smaller events?

No. Those are not profitable events for a photographer

Do you put your event photos online?

Yes and no. Our business model is based on sales at the event, not online, And because we do back-to-back events, we rarely have the time to upload the 25,000-50,000 photos we typically take at events to our website. Moreover, online sales are a notoriously inefficient way to sell event photos. But we do put a few examples from each of the games/performances on our website representative of the event. However, if you want to see your specific game or performance, there is a $25 "uploading fee" for us to upload 1-3 of your games or performances. This non-rerfunadable fee can be applied to your purchase. But the best way to assure that you get the photos you want is to purchase them at the event.

Our photo guy put the photos online a couple of days after our Championship ended this past Spring 2009 and our organization made very little money back. What can we expect from you guys?

The best time to sell anything related to a youth sports event is at the event itself when the excitement of the game/performance and customer interest in buying is highest. After the event has ended, interest in buying photos, t-shirts, accessories, etc., drops almost 98%. This is tantamount to waiting until after an event has end to sell your Championship t-shirts online. Why in the world would you do that? This is why online sales are notoriously poor and why onsite viewing stations provide the greatest sales by far. Keep in mind though that we bring in our viewing stations only during the playoff games and championship portion of your event.

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We have a national softball championship coming up with over 150 participating teams and over 3,500 spectators expected. Can your operation handle that many people?

Not a problem. Our photographers and viewing station equipment can easily handle events with over 10,000 participants and spectators. For outdoor events such as major softball championships and marathons, we set up our viewing stations, printers, and staff under canopies to protect them from foul balls, inclement weather, better visibility on the screens, and to provide shade for the customers. For large events such as yours, we'll bring in enough viewing stations to accommodate almost any large flow of spectators.

Why aren't other photographers using viewing stations?

Because they are very expensive. The cost for 4 viewing stations alone can run well over $10,000 in total expenses. Which is why there are only a handful of photographers throughout the United States that use more than 4-8 viewing stations. We have 32 with a back-up capability of 24 more.

Plus you need a strong IT background to troubleshoot the problems with the system when they arise. The quick and easy alternative for most youth sports photographers and mom and dad amateurs is to offer their photos as thumbnails on contact sheets or sample photos in a binder or by putting them online on the internet, all notoriously poor ways to generate photo sales from youth sports or performance events.

Do you need anything special for your setup?

It depends on whether it is an indoor or outdoor event. We generally bring everything we need. However, for indoor events, a few extra banquet tables are always helpful. Easy access for unloading right at the dock or closest to our setup location at the venue is necessary, we also need convenient non-shared access to electrical outlets. For outdoor events, access to electrical must be available (if not, let us know well in advance) and, to avoid circuit overload, it should not be something that is shared with another vendor. We also expect the organizers to provide our staff with parking passes and "all access" event i.d.

My company is also a sports photography company in Phoenix. Do you ever partner with other photographers who don't have viewing stations?

Yes, in fact, we do that all the time. For example, although we are not the official photographers for the huge, 2-day AZ State Cheerleading & Pom Tournament, we have partnered with that company for the past two years to use some of our viewing stations as well as draw on our long experience with cheer and dance competitions and our talents in portrait photography (yes, that was us in the warm-up area doing all the team photos earlier this year and the previous year at the Veterans Coliseum).

In this way, other photography companies can maximize their sales several-fold without having to spend thousands of dollars themselves on viewing station equipment. If you're a photography company interested in our services, contact us by email at: info@azsportshots.com

We had an out of state photographer that never sent the photos to our spectators after doing our event. How do we know we can rely on you?

First and foremost, know who you're working with. Arizona Sport Shots has been doing youth sports photography for over 25 years. We have an outstanding reputation for honest and reliable service. If a problem arises, we resolve it as quickly and as satisfactorily as possible. In fact, customer service is our most important product!

Secondly, you always take a risk using out-of-state photographers since you have little recourse to resolve any problems or conflicts that might occur. It is far easier to resolve poblems, should they arise, when your photographer is local. It also has the added benefit of keeping much of the money generated from photo sales from your event right here in Arizona where it belongs. And in this bleak economy, Arizona needs every penny it can get!

Do you guys do any work for professional organizations or magazines?

Yes, the owner of Arizona Sport Shots – Michael S. Campbell – is a photographer for ESPN and has been published in their national newsstand sports magazine as well as their online sports websites. You can find some of his work for ESPN at www.azsportshots.com/ESPN.html. We are also the official Southwest photograephy representiative for a number of sports publications and online youths sports websites such as AZCheerEvents.com, and others.

We're concerned about liability. Do you carry insurance?

Yes, we carry one million dollar liability insurance through Hill & Usher (detailed info provided upon request)). Most youth sports organizers neglect to inquire about proof of liability insurance from the photographers they use and most youth sports photographers don't bother shelling out the money to get it. Organizers who do not demand insurance coverage from the photographers they use are putting their organizations at great financial risk.

Can you do team photos at our Championship event?

Yes, we do that all the time. We're happy to bring in our portable studio to take team photos along with the action coverage. In fact, we do this at most of the events we cover. And, like all sales generated at your event by us, you'll receive a percentage from team photo sales as well.

Do you print onsite?

Yes, but if an event becomes very busy at our sales booth, we take orders and mail the photos when they are ready.

What print sizes do you offer at events you cover?

We use a dye sublimation printer that cuts 8 x 10 sheets from a roll inside the printer. Essentially then, you're always buying an 8 x 10 sheet of print paper but you decide what size the images are that you want on that sheet. They can be any of the following print sizes: three 4 x 6 inch prints, two 5 x 7 inch prints of the same image, two 5 x 7 inch prints of two different images, or one 8 x 10 inch image.

Do you have other photo products available?

Yes. You can purchase a variety of photo products from us. Some of the more popular are large prints (12 x 18 inch and,18 x 24 inch prints), Team & Awards Photos, Vinyl Photo Banners, Acrylic Photo Cut-Out Statuettes (5 x 7, 8 x 10, and 10 x 14 inch). One of the most popular products is our Stick-On Wall Photo Cut-outs (also known as Fatheads) in heights ranging from 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 feet! Here again, your organization makes 10% of the net sales from these products as well.

Can we buy action photos of our child on a CD so that we can make our own prints?

Yes. You can buy a high-resolution digital image(s) or you can also purchase all the images we take of your athlete and have them put on a disk. The prices for CD images of the same athlete are $35 for first image and $5 for each additional image.

What about getting a CD with all the action photos on it from one or more of our games (or performances)?

Not a problem, a great dea of our photo sales are from images on CDs rather than prints.

If you're planning on buying a team CD, please be sure to let our booth personnel know well before the start of your team's game/performance. All images taken of a specific team or group's game or performance range from $250-350 (approx. 75-125 images) depending on the size of the team and time each game or performance runs.

When you purchase a team CD you'll receive all the high resolution images from a specific game or performance. If everyone chips in from the team, that will come up to about $15-$25 per person for multiple images of each player/performer. Compared to buying prints, you'll save a ton.

If you want to purchase CDs of any of your additional games or performances, the price for those added CDs drops 50%. And, if you would like us to print any of those images that are on the CD, we will do so for 50% off the regular print price!

Have a question you want to submit? Email us at: info@azsportshots.com

ARIZONA SPORT SHOTS
www.azsportshots.com
info@azsportshots.com

Tel 480 994-4644, Toll Free 1 800 373-4379

A division of Michael Campbell Photography
www.michaelcampbellphotography.com

Affiliated with WOW! Photography
www.woweventphotography.com

To view our incredible photos and poster designs CLICK HERE