It seems like I ought to have one of these, so this will be a "Work-in-Progress" to act as a reference to all things FotoFink.
What is this?- www.FotoFink.net grew out of my pursuit of photography as a hobby, and my sons being active in high school sports. I started taking pictures of them, some other players accidentally got in the frame, parents asked if they could have pictures, etc etc, etc.
So, you are a professional photographer then? Well- half and half. I get paid, so in a very pure sense, that makes me a professional. This isn't how most of my income is derived though, its just how I like to spend my time. That gives me a lot of leeway with what I do here.
Just sports? What about weddings, senior portaits and such? Thanks for asking. Check
here for some details on that sort of shoot.
How come you don't just give these away? Conversely, Why are your prices so cheap?- Actually, I do give away a lot of photos. If any of the teams/schools need shots for yearbooks, programs, senior gifts, etc, I am happy to provide them at no charge, but appreciate a little publicity for the website. For most of the shots, however, I make a substantial investment of time, effort and funds to make this happen. A little financial reward doesn't hurt to justify all that. As far as pricing, I have gradually increased that over the last few years to a point now where I think I am right where the market dictates. My intent is to provide great photos, at the price level of good photos.
What about downloading? Why can't I steal your pictures like I do music?- Conscience and RIAA issues aside, there actually are a few galleries that you can download and save the photos to your computer. Most of the galleries are secure though, and you will get a polite message about copyrights if you try to save anything directly. Even in these "secure" galleries, there are still ways to get copies- Screen capture programs, or the Print Scr button are the obvious choices, and someone always thinks that its a good idea to take a picture of their computer screen (its not...) but there is a better way. My feeling on this is that if you are going to steal the photo, at least steal a good copy so we both look good. Near each photo there is a "SHARE" button. (If you don't see the share button, you are probably looking at the picture as a search result- go to the gallery and page through to view it from the gallery) Click it, choose "Get a link", then click copy next to the largest size available. Open a new browser tab/window, paste the link into the address bar, and through the magic of computers, you will see a copy of your photo, which can now be right-clicked to save. Bear in mind that the small and medium sizes will make pretty sad prints- but they work really well for posting online to Facebook, Google+, whatever. I am happy when you use my photos like that- It's actually flattering. Please though- MENTION FOTOFINK.NET when you post them- Every little bit of publicity helps!
Why are you telling us how to steal them? Because it is better to be pirated than to be unknown, and the prints that you buy are of MUCH higher quality than anything you can save from the email trick. If it's worth having the photo, it's worth a couple of bucks to get a print. If I sense that things are out of control in this area, I may start watermarking anything that is on display, but so far, I don't feel the need to do so.
How do you decide what games to shoot? When my children were playing, it was easy- I went to their games, and a few others that I had time for, usually Holy Redeemer teams. Now that they have moved on, I am drifting a bit. Several teams have asked me to shoot for them, and offered some free publicity in return. This seems to be a good arrangement, and I will probably continue along those lines, choosing a few teams to concentrate on each season. Ask as soon as possible if you want to set that up for a future season. I try to pay attention to teams that buy photos (duh...) or that give me better opportunities to market. These opportunities include- Selling prints on site (very popular), taking team and individual photos for the group, providing email addresses, purchasing collage prints for the seniors, etc. etc. The more we are able to work together, the better it goes for us both.
There are a lot of pictures on here- How can I find my favorite player? Good question. There are several ways. First, you can browse. Click a sport from the first page, then a season, then find a game they may have been in, and browse through the gallery. Second, there is a timeline search feature near the bottom of the first page- you can enter a date range that your player may have been caught on camera, and you will see only pictures from that time. Third, there is also a keyword search box. Keywords are attached to each photo- where possible they include the player's name, the team, sport, etc. Starting somewhere in the 2011-12 seasons, I began using the format Firstname_Lastname. Try entering that in the search box to see if you get results. Older photos may just be keyworded with first names. Keywords also appear under each photo preview in the galleries, they are clickable from there. Keywords are the easiest way, but not 100% accurate, since it is impossible for me to know all of you. If you want to help out, leave a comment for any unnamed or misnamed players, I'll try to make it right.
What's with all the pictures of fans? There's usually lots going on around the field too. Anyone who catches my eye may find themselves on the site.
My favorite player isn't on here- Don't you like me? I probably don't- but that has nothing to do with it. There are several ways to get your player enshrined in these pixels. I pretty much do this for fun, but I am not foolish- I'd rather take pictures for folks that want to buy them. So first- If you want more pictures, just ask! Send me an email (
sfinkernagel@hotmail.com), talk to me at a game, buy me a drink- I am pretty easy (just ask Mrs. FotoFink). Of course, buying pictures is a good way to see more also- again- I'm not foolish.
How about other sports? Again- Just ask. I have my favorites, but will consider anything.
My Son is on the Chess team for Tunkhannock- can you come there to take pictures? No. Even I have limits. I wish your son the very best when it comes time for a Prom date though.
Will you take Team and Individual photos for our team? Sure, if I have time. Just ask.
You have a picture/comment on here that I don't like. Can we do anything about that? Yes. If you don't like a particular picture, it's not likely that you will buy it. I will gladly remove it from the site if you ask me to. If it is a comment that you are offended by, I'll ask you to realize that I have a sarcastic sense of humor, and no offense is EVER intended. It is my hope that we can all wear our big-boy pants and get over it, but if not, again- let me know & I will probably accommodate you.
I don't get a lot of your jokes/references- can you explain any of them? There are a number of recurring themes on the site, here's a brief guide-
I am working on a musical project that seems like it will take my entire life to complete- I am converting all of my LPs (the black round things) to digital format. As I work my way through the alphabetical collection, I usually use song titles or lyrics as titles for the Blog posts. It's kind of pointless, but it helps keep me sane. In truth, this project has been suspended since the great computer crash of October 2010, so most of the references are just something I may be into at the time.
The "Separated at Birth" gallery will be updated periodically, as I see interesting folks who remind me of someone else. For some reason, Volleyball seems to give me the best material for that gallery. Again- all in fun.
"Fashion Faux Pas" never really took off, but I reserve the right to resurrect that as I am inspired.
"Cozy Mountain Retreat" = My home in Pocono Lake. Come visit sometime. Bring a coat.
"Our Staff" used to mean me. More and more though, I am hiring shooters and staff for some of the larger events that I shoot. Mrs. FotoFink is a huge help to me on occasion, especially with weddings. Most of the time, however, I am the only staff person.
Can I work for you? Probably. If you have an interest in shooting, you are usually welcome to tag along on a shoot. If your work is good, I will probably ask you to help out at a soccer tournament or horse show. If you are just starting out, I will gladly offer some advice to get your shots up to speed, so that again... I can put you to work on event days. I usually need people in the booth too- showing photos, smiling at the public... If you crave the excitement, let me know you are interested.
How about those cool collage posters? Or wallhogs? Or mosaics? Or luggage tags? Most of these specialty items will require you to contact me. Examples can be found
here. Contact me if you are interested in something like that- once again-
sfinkernagel@hotmail.com.
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