Awesome day 1 at Road Atlanta today. I was unquestionably the slowest in my run group.
05-07-2006, 07:23 AM
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2nd, the ACNA-NEQ Chapter runs the events differently
Green = Beginner run group, skidpad excercises morning of first day, instructor must be present
Yellow = Intermediate run group, no skidpad excercises, instructor must be present
Red = Advanced/Solo run group, with or without instructor (driver's option)
Black = Instructor run group
Yellow = Intermediate run group, no skidpad excercises, instructor must be present
Red = Advanced/Solo run group, with or without instructor (driver's option)
Black = Instructor run group
05-08-2006, 03:03 AM
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I just bought the DVD from them for the VIR event at the end of april...
I haven't received it yet, but that was my "track gift" to myself. I probably won't buy another one just because the $80 for it is kind of dear in my mind, but what have you... they did have a bunch of cool pix for sure!
05-08-2006, 07:46 PM
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Thanks for your business and nice comments. One thing to note. All additonal CD purchases are $65
for the rest of a calendar year, not $80.
Take care,
Mike Stahlschmidt
Sideline Sports Photography, LLC
Take care,
Mike Stahlschmidt
Sideline Sports Photography, LLC
05-08-2006, 08:25 PM
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Thanks for the comments. A few notes about our pricing. (long).
Please consider the following when considering our pricing.
- We are not paid to attend the events, but on the contrary, donate $1,000 to each event we attend ($1,500 to nationals).
- We created and donated the ACNA photo contest and provided $2,000 in prizes.
- We donated a trip for two to Germany to the ACNA, which included two days on the Nurburgring/Norschleife, a day at Spa-Francorchamps and a visit to the Neckarsulm Audi Factory. Total donation: $3,800.
- We pay $100-500 vending fees at most tracks we shoot at for EACH event.
- We spent $43,000 on fuel last year driving to and from track events across America. Yes 13, 500 rough gallons.
-Consider our images are captured via multiple lenses that cost $4,000-$12,000 each, and we each (Leslie and I) have the same equipment (read two of each lens). Now throw in six cameras and misc gear and you have a $160,000 investment in camera gear taking those pictures. Now consider we replace much of this each year at an average expense of about $20,000 per year.
- Two people, drive an average of 960 miles round trip (2005 avg), taking up an average of five days of time, to cover the average event (2-3 days on track, 1-2 days driving to and from). After we get there, we then work 10-14 hour days, most often three in a row, in 100 degree plus heat, pooring rain, freezing cold, snow, etc. We do this for 20-25 ACNA events per year, plus another 40 plus events.
In the past year we've slept in our truck 183 days and spent 275 days on the road, in 41 states and 11 countries. We shot events from Mont Tremblant, Canada to Willow Springs. From Portland, OR to Road Atlanta. From Watkins Glenn to Laguna Seca. We drove 110,000 miles last year and flew about 40,000.
- It takes 1.5 hours to sort out, burn and package EACH CD-ROM. If we sell 25 CD's at an event, we have 40 hours of work to do producing them. This is most often done in the truck, on the roll from one track to another, by Leslie while I am driving. Now throw in the 2-3 days we spend taking the pictures 8-10 hours per day.
- When you are browsing photos you are standing in a very expensive sales trailer/set up. We didn't buy a trailer and convert it, our trailer was made specifically for us from the ground up (hence why it's lasted!). We are well into the mid six figures for the ownership of our truck and trailer and have a new and far better (for us and the customer) six figure trailer on the way to better serve our customers better. The current trailer has four computers for customer use and a server. The new will have eight for customer use and a server. Now throw in the golf cart, four wheeler, computers, etc, for another mid five figures.
- We pay over $20,000 a year for liability, business, truck, trailer, golf cart, four wheeler, camera and computer insurance. We hold 14 business policies.
- We must file income taxes and pay sales tax in roughly 20 states and two countries each year. We must also apply for and pay for business licenses in each of these states.
Basically, we have extreme expenses, devote an extensive amount of time and work very hard. Every CD has a part of the expense of our donations to the chapters and club, a part of the fuel costs, a part of the vending fee, the insurance expenses, the truck and trailer maintanence, and much more in it. And all this before we make dollar one in profit.
Now throw in two people committing an average of 65 hours of work to each weekend (130 man hours) into driving to and from the events, taking 15,000-20,000 photos each weekend over 16-30 hours of photography, staffing our sales trailer, sorting all of the photos for each CD (1.5 hours, as noted above), labeling, packaging, mailing, etc. Leslie and I honestly average 80 hours of work per week, only taking off from December 15-January 5 each year.
And the final result? The average CD has about 80 photos.Therefore, the customer ends up paying $1 per photo. Considering the effort, expense and financial and physical risk involved in obtaining these photos, I'd say it's quite a value. Also note that we have only increased our CD price from $75 to $80 over the past five years.
Now consider that most track photographers charge $25-45 PER DIGITAL IMAGE (check online and you will see this to be true), shoot some pretty crappy photos, provide nowhere near the sales environment, don't donate to the chapter or club, don't offer consistent coverage, don't have NEARLY our expenses, etc.
Value is a relative thing and it's a personal feeling. But considering out expenses and effort, I think the CD is a great value.
We serve roughly 40% of the participants at events and 83% of our purchases last year were CD's. Over 50% of our customers buy from us at each event.
Lastly, consider the cost of a track weekend. $400-1,200 in tires, $200-500 in track fee. $50-250 in brake pads. $0-250 in hotel. $75-400 in fuel. $25-150 in food. In the end, you will spend $500-$2,000 on a track event weekend and $65-$80 in the purchase of a CD (repeat purchasers get $65 CD's within the same calendar year) that gives you a great memory of your weekend. lasts a lifetime and ends up only being a small part of your event cost.
Hope this makes sense and clarifies the situation.
Regards,
Mike Stahlschmidt
Sideline Sports Photography, LLC
- We are not paid to attend the events, but on the contrary, donate $1,000 to each event we attend ($1,500 to nationals).
- We created and donated the ACNA photo contest and provided $2,000 in prizes.
- We donated a trip for two to Germany to the ACNA, which included two days on the Nurburgring/Norschleife, a day at Spa-Francorchamps and a visit to the Neckarsulm Audi Factory. Total donation: $3,800.
- We pay $100-500 vending fees at most tracks we shoot at for EACH event.
- We spent $43,000 on fuel last year driving to and from track events across America. Yes 13, 500 rough gallons.
-Consider our images are captured via multiple lenses that cost $4,000-$12,000 each, and we each (Leslie and I) have the same equipment (read two of each lens). Now throw in six cameras and misc gear and you have a $160,000 investment in camera gear taking those pictures. Now consider we replace much of this each year at an average expense of about $20,000 per year.
- Two people, drive an average of 960 miles round trip (2005 avg), taking up an average of five days of time, to cover the average event (2-3 days on track, 1-2 days driving to and from). After we get there, we then work 10-14 hour days, most often three in a row, in 100 degree plus heat, pooring rain, freezing cold, snow, etc. We do this for 20-25 ACNA events per year, plus another 40 plus events.
In the past year we've slept in our truck 183 days and spent 275 days on the road, in 41 states and 11 countries. We shot events from Mont Tremblant, Canada to Willow Springs. From Portland, OR to Road Atlanta. From Watkins Glenn to Laguna Seca. We drove 110,000 miles last year and flew about 40,000.
- It takes 1.5 hours to sort out, burn and package EACH CD-ROM. If we sell 25 CD's at an event, we have 40 hours of work to do producing them. This is most often done in the truck, on the roll from one track to another, by Leslie while I am driving. Now throw in the 2-3 days we spend taking the pictures 8-10 hours per day.
- When you are browsing photos you are standing in a very expensive sales trailer/set up. We didn't buy a trailer and convert it, our trailer was made specifically for us from the ground up (hence why it's lasted!). We are well into the mid six figures for the ownership of our truck and trailer and have a new and far better (for us and the customer) six figure trailer on the way to better serve our customers better. The current trailer has four computers for customer use and a server. The new will have eight for customer use and a server. Now throw in the golf cart, four wheeler, computers, etc, for another mid five figures.
- We pay over $20,000 a year for liability, business, truck, trailer, golf cart, four wheeler, camera and computer insurance. We hold 14 business policies.
- We must file income taxes and pay sales tax in roughly 20 states and two countries each year. We must also apply for and pay for business licenses in each of these states.
Basically, we have extreme expenses, devote an extensive amount of time and work very hard. Every CD has a part of the expense of our donations to the chapters and club, a part of the fuel costs, a part of the vending fee, the insurance expenses, the truck and trailer maintanence, and much more in it. And all this before we make dollar one in profit.
Now throw in two people committing an average of 65 hours of work to each weekend (130 man hours) into driving to and from the events, taking 15,000-20,000 photos each weekend over 16-30 hours of photography, staffing our sales trailer, sorting all of the photos for each CD (1.5 hours, as noted above), labeling, packaging, mailing, etc. Leslie and I honestly average 80 hours of work per week, only taking off from December 15-January 5 each year.
And the final result? The average CD has about 80 photos.Therefore, the customer ends up paying $1 per photo. Considering the effort, expense and financial and physical risk involved in obtaining these photos, I'd say it's quite a value. Also note that we have only increased our CD price from $75 to $80 over the past five years.
Now consider that most track photographers charge $25-45 PER DIGITAL IMAGE (check online and you will see this to be true), shoot some pretty crappy photos, provide nowhere near the sales environment, don't donate to the chapter or club, don't offer consistent coverage, don't have NEARLY our expenses, etc.
Value is a relative thing and it's a personal feeling. But considering out expenses and effort, I think the CD is a great value.
We serve roughly 40% of the participants at events and 83% of our purchases last year were CD's. Over 50% of our customers buy from us at each event.
Lastly, consider the cost of a track weekend. $400-1,200 in tires, $200-500 in track fee. $50-250 in brake pads. $0-250 in hotel. $75-400 in fuel. $25-150 in food. In the end, you will spend $500-$2,000 on a track event weekend and $65-$80 in the purchase of a CD (repeat purchasers get $65 CD's within the same calendar year) that gives you a great memory of your weekend. lasts a lifetime and ends up only being a small part of your event cost.
Hope this makes sense and clarifies the situation.
Regards,
Mike Stahlschmidt
Sideline Sports Photography, LLC
05-08-2006, 08:56 PM
#18
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We do not sell individual images digitally. The cost, per image, would be to high.
We also do not put our photos online from our events. The hosting fee to host 15-20K photos for each of our 65-80 events per year would offset any profit we would earn from this type of sale.
We get an avg of 2 contacts post event and most want to buy CD's, so there just isn't justification for such work and expense.
I told you all of this as there is just no way for us to determine or show you your photos post event.
Sorry.
Mike S
We get an avg of 2 contacts post event and most want to buy CD's, so there just isn't justification for such work and expense.
I told you all of this as there is just no way for us to determine or show you your photos post event.
Sorry.
Mike S
05-08-2006, 09:13 PM
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Thanks and a few answers/points.
"You certainly have a lot of overhead and must make some coin
put in so much effort and reinvestment into your company."
- That is correct. We do make money, but really only because our time is free to us. If we had to pay photographers $40-50K per year, what they'd be worth at a minimum, we'd not be able to stay in business as it would be worth it.
"Can you forward me proofs of my vehicle from this weekend? Car number 81. "
No, sorry. As I noted, it takes 1.5 hours to sort out all of the photos of a car. We cannot put yet another 1.5 hours into a speculative purchase for what you admit will be under $85. Nothing against you. We have a strict policy. This comes from us spending more time and effort (wasting money) than it's worth doing this in the past.
"And, as a photographer...you know for every roll you shoot, you get one or two decent pictures. It takes 100 shots to get something worth keeping. $80-$85 for one or two shots is hard to swallow (especially when you're cheap, like me
"
- Our ratios are much, much higher than that. Our customers will attest to this. On average, 60-80% of the photos on a CD are magazine/editorial quality and that is essentially 60-80% of the photos we shoot. Over the past 14 years I have worked for Newman-Haas (CART), Walker Racing(IRL), Williams-BMW F1, Joest Audi, Audi Sport NA, BMW NA, Porsche Cars NA and many other teams and companies doing their race and advertising work. We are not hired by the above on a regular basis or contracted to seasons of races to to get 1-2 out of 100. We'd have been fired and long since been unemployed had we hit that ratio. We are the largest track photography company in America and "got" there on hard work, reputation and quality.
"With that said, I like your service and I'm sure its priced appropriately. "
- Thank you. We
"Also, Leslie couldnt answer how many megapix the full size shots were. I'm still interested in knowing and you are lucky I didnt try to steal your dog! Wow, what a beauty."
- The images are 6-10MP, dependng on setting and camera. She didn't answer your question directly, as megapixels are a very poor way or rating image file quality and clarity. A 4MP pro DSLR will destroy a 10MP consumer point and shoot for resolution. You have to consider the size of the sensor, the distortion level of the processor, the quality of the optics, the exposure and so much more when looking at the detail ability or enlargement capability of any digial camera.
Quoting Megapixels is like quoting Watts Per Channel. You can buy a 400WPC Jensen amp at KMart for $99 and a 400 WPC Nakamichi amp at a high end audio shop for $1,500. Both have the same power spec, but the Nak. will DESTROY the Jensen in volume, clarity, richness, etc.
Trust me that we've done the sides of semi trailers with our images, as long as the files are treated correctly. Our files, exactly as provided to the CD purchasers, will go 40x60" without any grain in 99% of instances.
Leslie didn't likely answer as it's just to involved to explain at times when many customers are in the trailer. Sorry.
Yep, Otto kicks ***. We love him a ton and he travels with us most everywhere. Being a registered service dog, he even fly's in cabin with us on planes. He's been on ski lifts, in casinos, on escalators, elevators, gone jogging on the Vegas strip and chased us on skis down Grand Targhee in Wyoming. We'll miss him when he's gone, as he's irreplaceable.
Cheers,
Mike S
put in so much effort and reinvestment into your company."
- That is correct. We do make money, but really only because our time is free to us. If we had to pay photographers $40-50K per year, what they'd be worth at a minimum, we'd not be able to stay in business as it would be worth it.
"Can you forward me proofs of my vehicle from this weekend? Car number 81. "
No, sorry. As I noted, it takes 1.5 hours to sort out all of the photos of a car. We cannot put yet another 1.5 hours into a speculative purchase for what you admit will be under $85. Nothing against you. We have a strict policy. This comes from us spending more time and effort (wasting money) than it's worth doing this in the past.
"And, as a photographer...you know for every roll you shoot, you get one or two decent pictures. It takes 100 shots to get something worth keeping. $80-$85 for one or two shots is hard to swallow (especially when you're cheap, like me
"- Our ratios are much, much higher than that. Our customers will attest to this. On average, 60-80% of the photos on a CD are magazine/editorial quality and that is essentially 60-80% of the photos we shoot. Over the past 14 years I have worked for Newman-Haas (CART), Walker Racing(IRL), Williams-BMW F1, Joest Audi, Audi Sport NA, BMW NA, Porsche Cars NA and many other teams and companies doing their race and advertising work. We are not hired by the above on a regular basis or contracted to seasons of races to to get 1-2 out of 100. We'd have been fired and long since been unemployed had we hit that ratio. We are the largest track photography company in America and "got" there on hard work, reputation and quality.
"With that said, I like your service and I'm sure its priced appropriately. "
- Thank you. We
"Also, Leslie couldnt answer how many megapix the full size shots were. I'm still interested in knowing and you are lucky I didnt try to steal your dog! Wow, what a beauty."
- The images are 6-10MP, dependng on setting and camera. She didn't answer your question directly, as megapixels are a very poor way or rating image file quality and clarity. A 4MP pro DSLR will destroy a 10MP consumer point and shoot for resolution. You have to consider the size of the sensor, the distortion level of the processor, the quality of the optics, the exposure and so much more when looking at the detail ability or enlargement capability of any digial camera.
Quoting Megapixels is like quoting Watts Per Channel. You can buy a 400WPC Jensen amp at KMart for $99 and a 400 WPC Nakamichi amp at a high end audio shop for $1,500. Both have the same power spec, but the Nak. will DESTROY the Jensen in volume, clarity, richness, etc.
Trust me that we've done the sides of semi trailers with our images, as long as the files are treated correctly. Our files, exactly as provided to the CD purchasers, will go 40x60" without any grain in 99% of instances.
Leslie didn't likely answer as it's just to involved to explain at times when many customers are in the trailer. Sorry.
Yep, Otto kicks ***. We love him a ton and he travels with us most everywhere. Being a registered service dog, he even fly's in cabin with us on planes. He's been on ski lifts, in casinos, on escalators, elevators, gone jogging on the Vegas strip and chased us on skis down Grand Targhee in Wyoming. We'll miss him when he's gone, as he's irreplaceable.
Cheers,
Mike S