Turning Motorsport Photography into a Career?

[Kneedragger95]

Good morning all. With this being a motoring forum I'm assuming there may be a some Professional/Semi-Pro motorsport photographers around to answer some questions or provide some insight and any information would be hugely appreciated.

I'm a huge fan of photography and motorsport, and would really like to become a professional Motorsport photographer, if it is indeed possible anymore. And I guess that is my first question. Is motorsport photography a viable career these days?

With so many people able to take a photo and a moments notice and share the image across the internet almost instantly, I imagine there isn't as much demand for Motorsport photos nowadays?

So how do you stand out amongst all of the good (and not so good) amateur photographers out there? Do you need to build a website to show off your portfolio as well as post images on social media sites in the hopes that by some miracle someone will spot your work and perhaps get your foot in the door that way?
Or maybe you need to attend events regularly and build a rapport with teams or organisations?

I'm sure I'll have some more questions as time goes by but if anyone could shed some light on the subject I would be so grateful.

[Kneedragger95]

Hello Tony, thank you very much for your reply!

You're completely right about the difficulties of taking good photos from the spectator areas. Places like Silverstone are an absolute nightmare for photo opportunities, like you say tall fences and grandstands from great heights and a long way away from the action make the task incredibly difficult. Fortunately there are still some decent spectator areas at circuits such as Donnington (sp?) and Cadwell, which are much easier to shoot from. Nonetheless a photographer pass would still be a dream.

Fortunately for me I live in Northamptonshire so I am surrounded by racetracks within a couple of hours such as those mentioned above, as well as Brands Hatch, Snetterton and Mallory Park amongst others.

I'm under no delusions that I'll jump into photographing F1/MotoGP anytime soon, and am more than happy to shoot low key events. I'm a huge fan of any kind of motorsport and taking photos of the action is a great hobby of mine so it would be a pleasure to have a chance to photograph any event from the other side of the barriers!

We have a local newspaper that covers local events, I'm not sure how much they focus on Motorsport though but I suppose it is worth an ask. I also know a bloke at work who is part of a small drag racing outfit that frequently visits Santa Pod so perhaps I could have an in there too.

With regards to doing the job full time, that's ultimately the end goal but perhaps part-time is a more realistic target for the distant future. When it comes to equipment, it's decent but by no means pro level. I use a Fuji XT-100 mirrorless body and have both a 18-55mm for paddock stuff and when it comes to shooting vehicles on track I use a 50-230mm. Like I said it's decent kit and great for practicing with and posting stuff to social media and the like but it's by no means pro level.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply, it's very much appreciated.

[Kneedragger95]

Thanks again Tony. Is that a Top Fuel Car? I bet that was an experience standing near one of those .

Cheers also for the reply Ben, I'm not too sure if there's much rallying going on around here, I'll certainly look into it.
Focusing on the smaller teams has crossed my mind, like you mentioned I bet there's people queuing up to hand there work over to the larger outfits in Motorsport and they'll already have their own trusted photographers I'm sure.

Thanks again guys.

[Kneedragger95]

Thanks to everyone once again, every reply has been really helpful and I'll take everything on board.
Especially thanks to those who have painted a realistic picture of what the photography world is truly like in terms of effort and income, I think it's important to try and go into this with realistic expectations about the dedication required to make any money from Motorsport photography.

Instagram is something is used quite a bit in the past, Flickr I've dabbled with and a website of my own is completely new to me. I'll get to setting up Instagram and Flickr as soon as possible, is there anywhere else anyone would recommend uploading images to?

[Kneedragger95]

Craikeybaby said:

Also, there aren't many of us shooting motorsports on Fuji, as the cameras aren't really suited to it, although it is much better than the Canon system I was using back in the day.

I didn't know that, why is Fuji not typically used?

andrewcliffe said:

If you're going to adopt a race series, choose one without official photographers, or you'll end up with enemies.

When I'm at a circuit, unless a friend is racing in another series, or I've been specifically asked by another photographer to help, then I leave it alone. If I'm using the session as an expermient to try different angles, or to get to grips with new kit, then I don't publish those shots.

While I'm certainly not going to set out to intentionally make any enemies, I don't feel like I'll get very far in this game if I have a mindset like this.