gray_ghost2 Loc: Antelope, (Sac) Ca.

Over the years while photographing my children/grandkids games, I've been asked to take pictures of other peoples participating child in their spoting event which I have done and given them a printed copy. But as of late I have been getting more parents from both teams asking me if I could photograph their child. I look at it and usually comply since I already have the camera set up. But my wife is now saying that their taking advantage of me since I'm not watching my grandchild play but paying attention to someone elses child.

Question I have is, since I'm already at my grandkids games taking photos of them would it be rude/mean to take photos of their child, when asked, and post them on a site that they could purchase copies of them participating in their activity. If it's not rude/mean, where/how would I find a site that would allow me to do this. Being retired, this might be some pocket change and keep the wife off my back asking why I'm spending so much time on the computer and printer. Photo paper isn't cheap, neither are the ink cartridges. I was also approached by my grandsons Wrestling and Golf teams to take photos of the team during matches. The yearbook teacher asked for some of my photos. Any suggestions?

avman Loc: Normal IL

How involved do you want to be? I have a web site for a simliar purpose.
Tom

FreddB Loc: PA - Delaware County

don't you think it's a tad rude of them to ask you to do the work and not offer to at least cover your costs?

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Everyone loves you stuff when it is free. My wife has no issues with the cost of my camera gear. She knows photography is my stress free world and stress free usually means we live longer, healthier and happy lives.

sergiohm

https://www.squarespace.com

If you can get paid in advance, it is better.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Not possible. Only past and present photos can be sold online. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

If you don't want the task just say no politely, if you do want to be a player and help them with a copy or two, set your price (ahead of time) and respond back with "sure, I would be happy to take the photo/s for you but to cover my expense, time and effort, I charge $xxx per shot/photo." At that point the ball is in their court.

Bill_de Loc: US

Here's a model.

http://lispn.com/

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DanielJDLM

Never do free...Zenfolio is a nice site to try. I have been using it for years.

Doyleh13

May I suggest using ShootProof? You can set up everything there easily and prints can be purchased by others from you through the website. There is a great selection of vendors to choose from, such as WHCC, Mpix and others, to handle the printing and it is very hands-off for you, once the photos are posted to the site.

Good luck.

LarryFitz Loc: Beacon NY

With Shutterfly you can up load your photo, create a free website share your website with your friends. They can purchase the prints directly from Shutterfly. You do not get a cut, but you do not get the headaches of collecting money and producing prints.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

It all depends on what YOU want to do. At your grandkid's game, if you don't want to photograph other kids, wear a shirt that says that, perhaps a custom-made shirt with some polite saying on it. Or, just say NO (I think there's a book on that!). If you want to volunteer for organizations then it is all free, the definition of volunteer. Again, just say NO if you don't want to. There is nothing mean or rude about not taking photographs of other peoples families if you don't want to do that.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

You probably will not get paid. So just forget about that. If you want to do just for fun get email address of players and just send them copies when you down load. no pp or prints. do it for fun. once it becomes not fun it is called an extra job and do you want that?

Chaostrain Loc: Hillsboro, Oregon

If you mention up front you'll have to charge then there is no rude.

Jimbo9948 Loc: Zephyrhills, Florida

Let me start by saying this, Were your camera and lenses free? Believe it or not most people will be glad to take free stuff, but will be unwilling to part with even $1.00 when there is a fee for the "FREE" things.

I too am retired and have a sports photography company and sell photos of high school games of all sports for 14 schools. There is a HUGE difference between taking a few shots at a game and providing photo coverage for athletic events. When offering photos for sale the first question you might ask of yourself is "Are my pictures pro quality?" After all, you are putting a price on selling your work. Next, are you willing to spend the time attending events where your grand kids are not playing? Do you have the proper equipment to provide this coverage and finally can you shoot all sports?

That being said,there are many sites on which you can sell photos. I use SmugMug. This site offers different levels of membership from no charge to the full pro version at about $50.00 per month. If you are a pro photographer you can set your own price list for prints or digital, create coupons for customers, and sell a variety of products including mugs and other memorabilia. It is hassle free in that you post your galleries and they do all the work; printing, shipping collecting sales tax if required and you retain 85% of the profits after the cost of product production.

If you are truly interested in shooting sports I would suggest looking at a site MaxPreps. It is a network of pro photographers providing high school coverage around the nation. Their quality of standards are high and it is that standard you will have to set for yourself. http://www.maxpreps.com/photos/search/gallery.htm