PSPA 2006: look forward to new trends, the latest technology, as well as tradition.

PSPA 2006 speakers will cover a range of topics with presentational panache and deep industry knowledge.

School photography portals

With many school photographers looking for an additional revenue stream, action sports is a logical market segment to investigate.

Mark

"We handle about 150 to 160 schools per year," Houde says, including "public high schools and just about all the colleges in the state."

His company has 11 photographers--seven full-time people and four part-time employees--and is entirely digital on both the image capture and RA-4 output end.

Technically, any good school photographer shouldn't have much trouble learning to take salable action sports photographs.

"There are tons of excellent sports photographers, but finding a way to make money at it is another question," Houde says. This is especially so in South Carolina and the rest of the Southeast, according to Houde.

"The Southeast has the highest package prices and the lowest participation rates in the country, and 50 percent school commissions have become the norm. Poor public school funding is the problem," he explains. "When schools aren't adequately funded, principals are forced to rely more and more on large commissions."

This isn't the case with sports photography. Houde is willing to tack an additional $2 onto his basic $12 package price, but only if requested by the Booster Club. He never makes an unsolicited offer.

Also, when deemed necessary to win the coach's goodwill, Houde sends a 6-by-20 for the coach to hang on his office wall.

Action sports photography has several other attractive features. Perhaps most important is it's a foot in the door in terms of trying to land the traditional school photography.

First, because school photographers shoot posed team photographs, but not action sports, there isn't concern about to the studio with the school contract.

Houde's company has a Noritsu digital minilab, which also is an advantage. "Using the Noritsu allows me to make 8-by-10s for 50 cents," he explains. "So, I'm able to work on speculation, without worrying about losing money. Even without my own lab, it's still possible to have 8-by-10s made at an outside lab for 85 cents each."

Finally, according to Houde, it's easy to sell on speculation at Booster Club events.

"There isn't a Booster Club anywhere that's going to turn down a photographer who wants to show sports photography of their school teams at one of their gatherings."

Houde offers one never-break rule for sports photography. "Make sure to photograph everyone at the game. This includes the kids on the bench, the cheerleaders, everyone.

"There is no worse feeling than having a Booster Club parent come to my table and say, 'Where's number 23?' when there is no 23 to be found."

Sports photography grows

Frank Hadfield, president of the California Association of Professional Sports Photographers (CAPSP) and veteran sports photographer, says he sees nothing but growth in the sports photography business.

"I've read there are 48 million kids in this country who participate in organized sports leagues. That's a huge market. So, when I'm asked if I see sports photography as a viable business for the future, I can only say the answer is yes."

One reason for this, Hadfield says, is the new products photographers can offer their clients.

"Memory Mates is the backbone of this industry," Hadfield explains. "Memory Mates were originally cardboard mounts intended for the school market. We just adopted the name for sports photography."

When it comes to new products, Hadfield says anyone who's active in sports photography should have a good knowledge of new products.

"It's really ancillary companies and the labs themselves that are coming up with new products for sports photographers.

"Before Memory Mates, it wasn't possible to print two images--a team picture and another--on a single piece of photographic paper without having to drop each in individually. Today, it's easy."

Photographing school events

Neil Fine, owner of Neil Enterprises Inc., Vernon Hills, Ill., will be talking about the new Sony Snap Lab digital event system. Released last month, Fine says the target market is school photographers and especially those doing proms and other events.

"Three features make it much better than what was available before," he says.

It's fast and makes a print in just 15 seconds. It also can make prints in a variety of sizes and with graphic elements.

The photo keychain is a good seller at proms, according to Fine, and flexible print sizing makes it easy to create photo novelty items.

Finally, the cost is less than with some other systems, and the unit itself sells for about $1,695.

Demos will be held at both the Sony booth and at the Neil Enterprises booth.

Profiting from copyright

Dimitrios Delis, director of Marketing Research for Photo Marketing Association International, Jackson, Mich., will focus on how copyright issues can help school photographers increase their bottom line.

"Most people don't begin buying reprints until a few months after their initial purchase," says Delis. "This makes the copyright to those photographs an intangible item."

That is, most consumers are not going to want to spend extra money with their initial packages for something from which they won't benefit for several months.

"I'll be talking about the various ways in which photographers can work around the intangible issue.

"Pricing is a sensitive issue," Delis says. "People aren't going to pay a full-package price for it."

The question becomes how to sell the copyright with images in a way that gives customers added value at the time of purchase, but also prices the copyright so people will buy it.

Delis notes, since last year, some studios have begun increasing their package prices by about $10, which includes reprint rights, and doesn't have a negative impact on the school commission.

In addition to copyright issues, the session also will cover the latest trends in online fulfillment, as well as the declining number of older customers going for studio portraits.

Regarding online ordering, one topic to be discussed is the photographer setting a fee for photography services, and then having schools sell the photographs themselves. By using a predetermined online lab, some schools might be able to generate a few thousand dollars per year, with the photographer now able to concentrate on image capture and increased marketing.