Event Photography:

Getting the shots most people can't

Ever go to a hockey tournament or dance festival, and see a booth in the lobby where you can buy pictures? You thought, nah, I can take those pictures myself, but they never work out?

That's because for a lot of events, especially hockey tournaments and dance festivals, it's actually quite dark, too dark for 99.9% of the cameras out there. To get the shot, you need a lens as long as your arm, or studio strobes set in the corners for it to turn out.

That's what Brian Zinchuk Publishing does. We get the action photos other people can't. Anyone can take a picture of someone posed and not moving - the typical 'boy with stick' hockey photo. But how many can get them on the edge of one skate, coming around the net, or making a slapshot? How about a dancer two feet off the ground in mid-leap? These are the memories you want to cherish - not standing in front of some backdrop, saying cheese.

How we do it:

First of all, our goal is to be as little a burden as possible to the organizers. All we need is a little space in the lobby and permission to shoot the pictures. We handle all the orders and questions, as well as distribution.

A typical setup involves Brian shooting all the participants on the ice, stage or field, as much as humanly possible. For hockey, for instance, we try to get about 5-8 shots per player. We can't guarantee they will have the puck, and if they don't move, we can't make them. But we try our best to get several usable photos of each player. If you put in a request at the table, we'll try to get a few extra shots of that player. If there are multiple rinks, it's not always possible to get photos of every team.

For dance, no flash is used, but the stage lights must be cranked right up. For hockey, studio strobes are set in each corner of the rink, out of the eye-line of the players. This is how they do it in the NHL and NBA. It makes for incredibly sharp photos, and is the gold standard for indoor sports photography.

A table is set up in the lobby, where several laptops allow photos to be displayed for sale. It typically takes 20 to 30 minutes to have photos posted to the computers after shooting is completed. That means we'll often only shoot the first two periods of a hockey game, for instance, allowing time for uploads and display. An assistant runs the table, and takes orders. Order forms are self-explanatory, and orders are mailed out within a reasonable time frame, dependent on the number of orders. Huge events, like dance festivals with hundreds of dancers, take longer than a typical hockey tournament, for example. Event organizers are NOT saddled with tracking down participants to give them their pictures.

Payment can be cash, Interac, Visa or MasterCard. Taxes and shipping are included for orders taken on site.

Usually we only shoot and display photos for one day. Typically that would be the Saturday of a three day tournament. Why just one day? We found that no one buys photos taken on the Friday, because they want to see what is shot on Saturday. On the Sunday, teams are in a rush to leave as soon as they are eliminated in the playoffs. That means you've got one chance to order, so don't miss out.

In 2009, Brian will be experimenting with an online ordering service called Pictage. To order from Pictage, enter the event number found on this website in the "Find your event" box. Hopefully we'll have a direct link from this site to each event soon.

IMPORTANT: Pictage is an American provider, which means unfortunately that prices for online orders will be a little higher due to the exchange rate and shipping. It is easier, and cheaper, to order on site. Additionally, since online orders are currently experimental, there may be a hiccup or two at first. The safe bet is to order on site. Thanks for your understanding.

Here's some examples of event photography.

PLEASE NOTE: You will have to allow active-X to run and allow pop-ups to view these galleries.

Dance - Saskatoon Spring Stars - a mammoth three day festival held in Saskatoon the spring of 2008. We photographed all three days, shooting just under 15,000 photos - over 200 GB of photos. On the third and final day, we had six computers on display, and had people lined up five deep at all six computers for almost eight hours.

Dance Recital - Annette's School of Dance, North Battleford. For events like recitals, we shoot the dress rehearsal, and then do sales during the actual recital.

For sports examples, click on Sports.