Are you struggling at shows?
"Small shows can't support me"
"Sales are down"
"No one wants to buy anymore"
I see these statements so much in the different Facebook equine photography groups that I'm a part of. Honestly my first thought is always "What have you done that makes them want to keep coming back?". I am constantly challenging myself to do more, offer more, and improve.
In barrel racing there's the standard money shot of the rider at the first or second barrel and a solid run home photo. It's the one you see the most for results, magazines, and online. Of course, I make sure we nail for every rider! We get the whole run but those are the ones that sell the most.
But that's not enough anymore to make a living on show photography alone.
I photograph 20+ shows a year and have a lot of exhibitor cross-over and similar arenas. I see these riders all show season which I LOVE! It's so fun to watch the progress of riders/horses over the season. But that also means they can have extremely repetitive photos and with the current expense for showing, buying photos isn't always top priority. I know that's not exclusive to barrel racing.
These are from 3 different shows. Peep the time in the back, she's a consistent runner!
So how are you as a photographer dealing with that?
I built my business on catching the candid moments at shows. I started with 4H shows in 2015-2016, and since then have photographed breed shows, reining, ranch shows, barrel racing and a limited amount of jumpers. But with all shows I make sure to get the "money shot" and then some. Always looking for ways to improve and finding the moments that aren't usually caught. Candids, or around the arena as I call it, are a huge seller for me.
With a new sponsorship with Madrinas, I'm actually able to bring on a dedicated candid photographer and provide candids for FREE as of 2024!
VIDEO!
It's no secret that with TikTok and Instagram, high-quality video is in high demand! I saw a gap in what was being offered within our area and filled that gap. This is with having no video experience and being 100% self-taught! Did I make mistakes? Yes. But I kept going.
Now I'm offering mic'ed up videos and it's a hit!
REMOTE IMAGES!
Why not add one more thing to do while photographing/videoing at shows? This has been my beta test for the year and to be honest? It hasn't been going as well as I'd like. However I think we're starting to get there! To get these images I've been using a foot pedal, connecting the pedal and my camera with pocket wizards, and triggering my camera while videoing. Usually my remote camera is clamped on the wall and fair warning, it gets COVERED in dirt.
my goal is to never be happy with how things are in my business. I can always do more or improve things.
