Express Action Sports

I have a sports photography business, open since 2003. We have grown well over the past 4 years but would like ideas on building more business. We specialize in youth sports photography, not just still pics but concentrate mainly on action photos. We do local advertising via new papers, our website gets decent traffic and our repeat business is good. Any ideas to generate more would be great!

Have you considered offering your photos on t-shirts, etc? Cafepress.com is a great place for that. I do weddings and nature photography. I keep the wedding site private and set up 3-4 pictures on a product, let the family do their shopping for a week, then move on to the next wedding/family. Here’s where my nature shots are

http://www.cafepress.com/naturalphoto

Click on one of the photos for an example of the type of products.
The products are of nice quality and you don’t have to do anything but upload the shot. They do all the rest.

I’d like to take action photos as well as team photos for youth sports in my area. I will be purchasing a canon 7D in the near future and a letter board, but beyond that I don’t know what I’ll need. If anyone has advice I’m all ears. My budget is about $5000 after I buy the 7D. I want to make the most of my money without buying things I don’t need.

Thanks in advance,

For team photos, you would need a lens that is "normal". A standard zoom, in a range of like 24-70mm, works well. A prime lens, maybe a 35mm, also works well. Is it team and individual photos? In my area, these types of photos are usually taken indoors because weather in April is so iffy. If that is your case, too, you would need to invest in some lighting equipment as well.

For action shots. you’ll find that you can get the batter and the infield with a zoom that goes to 200mm. You’ll get the batter at full length with a 200mm. To get the outfield or to zoom to get more of a headshot of the batter, you’ll want a bit more. You need to be sure you get every player on a team when you do this (or you’ll hear about it!).

So if you really are OK spending $5000, the Canon 24-70 F2.8 is excellent, though you are probably get by with a less expensive lens if needed. It is around $1,200

The Canon 70-200 F2.8 is an excellent lens for sports. It is heavy, you’ll probably want to pick up a monopod. The F2.8 non-IS version is around $1,500 and the IS version is around $2000. There are good primes in the price range, too, look at the 300mm F4 (the 300mm F2.8 is a dream but $4,200). The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens is a good alternative with good range, but if you are going to do any night games it might be limiting (though the 7D has pretty decent ISO performance)

The lenses can be found at http://www.bhphoto.com

Look at AlienBees for lighting. You’ll need a couple of lights, lightstands, umbrellas and wireless trigger/receiver. http://www.alienbees.com. If you want to use them outdoors, they also sell the vagabond battery.