Media passes

ShinySideUp

ShinySideUp

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Just reading through a few posts on various subjects and something occurred to me about getting in 'behind the scenes' as it were with backstage/sports/official events passes. I applied for one once just to get some different pictures at the Looe music festival but was rejected as I didn't have any relevant experience to demonstrate my abilities -- but then surely, in the beginning, no one has, so how do you start?

I'm guessing that perhaps one could take pictures from public areas and submit them to organisers so getting proof, if they are published somewhere, that you have abilities, but aside from that, I wouldn't know where to start. How does a budding media photographer get on the ladder because of the paradoxical 'No experience, but no way to get experience because you have no experience' situation.

I'm not going to even try to do it, I'm far too old and lazy to start that sort of malarky now, but for younger budding media photographers it must be quite a quandary.
 
I'm sure quite a few just lie. Probably (these days) having an active Instagram site etc counts as much as being published.
 
I got accredited to Brands Hatch in the 90's from a mate who did the writer ups and photos for a local paper.

He wanted to concentrate on the words so he roped me in for the photos.

Best days of my life.
 
There are usually three major hoops to jump through, and then a series of minor hoops depending on the event and who or what you are shooting. One is easy and just requires you to open your wallet. The other two require some work to obtain.

1. evidence of appropriate insurance cover.
2. a letter of accreditation from your publisher.
3. examples of relevant published work from the last year from a publisher the organiser deems acceptable.


Given the decline in print media and the rise in online outlets, what is or isn't considered acceptable is changing, but what is or isn't acceptable is at the discretion of the PR department for that event/venue/sport. Effectively they are looking for suitable exposure, so submitting published photos of the village fete baking competition isn't going to be considered relevent when you are asking for a pass to cover the European kick-boxing championships. A photographer specialising in kick boxing who doesn't have the support of a magazine may get a pass if they had a huge instagram kickboxing following - but the entry criteria changes for event to event.

It is a bit of chicken and egg situation, but, with some sports - you can get acceptable results from the public spectator areas and you then can cultivate relations with your local news outlets.

Football - see this thread by our own Kipax here: https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/my-accreditation-for-football-photogrpahy-article.751199/ and the page on his website here: https://www.kipax.com/index.php?e=licence

If you want to shoot the top end stuff, you need to start at the very bottom and work your way up. In some sports, if you are shooting for a club or an agency, and then choose to go freelance, you can't necessarily use stuff you've already shot and had published.

Top end stuff - eg F1, you need to to be working for a newpaper with a daily circulation of 50,000 copies per day and can guarantee daily pieces of significant size and quality from a thursday to the monday after the race.
 
There are no hard and fast rules, it depends on the event and organizer. 20+ years ago I asked if I could have a pass for an athletics championship, really just to take photos for myself, within the week it was a paid job as official photographer, I had zero experience, UK athletics got me a Enhanced DBS check (or whatever it was called then) which served me well for several years..

Later I asked to do a smallish pro cycling event (not tour de france) and they need copies of three different international print media which I had been published in. Yet I also went to the British or might have been world masters cycling in the velodrome and off the cuff ask if I could go in the middle and track side to take photos, no problem here is a bib.

First couple of times I did Manchester pride, it was apply by email, you got your invite to the media buffet and launch night where you picked up your pass., but as so many cottoned on to it being a route to free food and a free ticket, they changed to needing a letter from the editor of a recognized publication.
 
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andrewc said:
There are usually three major hoops to jump through, and then a series of minor hoops depending on the event and who or what you are shooting. One is easy and just requires you to open your wallet. The other two require some work to obtain.

1. evidence of appropriate insurance cover.
2. a letter of accreditation from your publisher.
3. examples of relevant published work from the last year from a publisher the organiser deems acceptable.


Given the decline in print media and the rise in online outlets, what is or isn't considered acceptable is changing, but what is or isn't acceptable is at the discretion of the PR department for that event/venue/sport. Effectively they are looking for suitable exposure, so submitting published photos of the village fete baking competition isn't going to be considered relevent when you are asking for a pass to cover the European kick-boxing championships. A photographer specialising in kick boxing who doesn't have the support of a magazine may get a pass if they had a huge instagram kickboxing following - but the entry criteria changes for event to event.

It is a bit of chicken and egg situation, but, with some sports - you can get acceptable results from the public spectator areas and you then can cultivate relations with your local news outlets.

Football - see this thread by our own Kipax here: https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/my-accreditation-for-football-photogrpahy-article.751199/ and the page on his website here: https://www.kipax.com/index.php?e=licence

If you want to shoot the top end stuff, you need to start at the very bottom and work your way up. In some sports, if you are shooting for a club or an agency, and then choose to go freelance, you can't necessarily use stuff you've already shot and had published.

Top end stuff - eg F1, you need to to be working for a newpaper with a daily circulation of 50,000 copies per day and can guarantee daily pieces of significant size and quality from a thursday to the monday after the race.
Click to expand...
All this is great info, in addition, evidence of circulation stats and more in depth readership data is being asked for in the accreditation process for some events I cover now. This is, I guess to confirm the legitimacy of the outlet that you’re working for. I’ve also been asked before for my editor to supply a coverage plan for the event coverage in one instance.
 
The first time for me was during a photography course. For the event photography module, the assignment was to find an event, take photos and present your selection. So I wrote to media offices of upcoming events, explained the assignment, and one said yes.
 
Again though, we come to the same problem. If I had an editor of a publication who could vouch for me I'd be fine, but first I have to get an editor to vouch for me and this brings us back to the same problem. No editor is going to touch me if I don't have proven experience and how can I get proven experience before I have a publisher or previously published pictures.

Years ago, I passed my HGV driving test and immediately applied to a transport company for a job. I was asked how many years experience I had and I replied I'd just passed my test, he said come back in five years and we'll look again as they weren't going to entrust me with one hundred thousands pounds worth of lorry with just one HGV pass. So how did I eventually get a job with a trucking company? I worked for an agency and oddly, when a transport company is out of their usual drivers, they'll take anyone from an agency with no questions asked, which is just weird. I did start agency driving for Samworth Brothers (Ginsters Pasties) and did that for six months until someone said "have you had a driving assessment?". I replied in the negative. "Oh, you'll have to do that if you want to continue driving for us." I'm thinking it's a bit late now but heigh ho, so I did it, passed it, and just carried on regardless.

Would working for a photographic agency have the same effect, do they exist, if so, presumably they'd just ask for sample photographs and you're in?
 
TimHughes said:
The first time for me was during a photography course. For the event photography module, the assignment was to find an event, take photos and present your selection. So I wrote to media offices of upcoming events, explained the assignment, and one said yes.
Click to expand...

Hm, that could work.
 
ShinySideUp said:
Would working for a photographic agency have the same effect, do they exist, if so, presumably they'd just ask for sample photographs and you're in?
Click to expand...
They do exist, but the majority of them will only work for seasoned professionals, smaller ones might take on a photographer that's just starting off, but again, don't hold your breath.
 
When I was starting out, I was submitting articles with photos to the local newspaper of local drivers within the remit of that newspaper. I was shooting from spectator areas, over fences - through fences. This was on an ad-hoc basis and then I asked the sports letter for an accreditation letter and he was obliging.

Only pursue media accreditation if you can actually deliver - or a repeat pass is unlikely.
 
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