timgangloff wrote:
Anyone have a different take on what to do or what can be done?
Hi Tim ...
LifeTouch also has the photography contracts with many of the schools around my area, too - and they mainly focus on the individual student head shots for the yearbook (that's where they make their money). But they DO come to some of the athletic events and shoot action for the yearbooks as well - although I think that's a secondary concern to them .....
And I say "secondary" for the simple reason that all of the LifeTouch shooters that I've met on the sidelines of football, basketball, soccer, etc. games have literally been clueless on how to shoot a "sport" .... Oh, the stories I could tell !! Which means the yearbook athletic shots from LifeTouch are pretty much crap ..... most of the student shooters that are out there shooting for the yearbook do better !
So here's what happens with me: the booster clubs themselves hire me to shoot their specific sport. The football boosters hire me for football; the basketball boosters hire me for basketball; the soccer boosters hire me for soccer; .... you get the idea .... Anyway, part of my agreement with them is that any shot that I take is available for the yearbook if they want it.
LifeTouch may have the contract to shoot athletics - but the yearbook doesn't have to use anything "athletic" LifeTouch shoots if they don't want to ....
I don't know that that's any help to you - I know that some schools have ONE big booster club that administers to ALL the sports in a school. That's a situation I haven't run into around here, yet .....
If you DO decide to work for LifeTouch, you could very well revolutionize the way LifeTouch shoots sports just by doing it well !
In our district the principal have the authority to hire the company he/she wishes to do the pictures. The School Board approves the principals to do this and they also have guidelines to hire a company but they're not rules to follow. Every year the principal can change companies, of course once the contract is signed for that year he can not change companies unless Lifetouch or the schools breaks the contract etc.
I've been asked twice (last year and this year) by the two schools I shoot sports for if I could do what Lifetouch can do for them and of course I said no, because I too have a full time job and I don't have the manpower to shoot about 3,000+ students plus staff etc. Basically to take over Lifetouch's role in those two high schools. According ot the principal and school directors, they asked me because they like the quality of my pictures, which is 10 times better than Lifetouch they said:
So what do I do now for the schools? I shoot the teams and individual for them and the action shots, parents, kids and the school buy pics from me and they're very happy with them. Yearbook people also buy pics from me, I guess I'm just lucky.
Maybe just offering team and individual plus action shots could work for you?
my 2 cents.
