June 24, 2023 Update:
I have just reinstated the option of ordering race photos from the race galleries. As always, other responsibilities and activities might delay fulfillment of any particular order. Please email me with any questions or comments. Please use my gmail address. (See below.)
Bob
May 18 Update:
Something happened to my long-standing email address ([email protected]). Email me at [email protected] for the time being.
Bob
April 19, 2023:
Hi Everyone,
It has been a great run, engaging in ski race photography pretty intensively for the last 12 or so years. It requires serious physical and mental effort, and eats up far too much time. It has been fabulous watching young racers progress and observing their athletic efforts and achievements. But it is time to let someone else "routinely" photograph all the Alyeska Ski Club races. I've been involved in many ways with the club since about 1970, more than 50 years. It has been wonderfully rewarding, for many reasons. But for me, the required effort is no longer sustainable.
I will fulfill all the pre-season package sales (thanks, everyone, for the orders), and will donate approximately $2,000 to the ski club juniors program this race season as a result of the race photo sales.
I am temporarily suspending all race photo sales to concentrate on the pre-season package fulfillment, and am also simply too busy to work on new orders. I will probably reinstate ordering for race photos in June but possibly only for a limited window of several months.
Thanks, everyone.
Bob
Here is the 2023 pre-season package program description (ended 2023 season).
Pre-Season Ski Race Package #1 $100 - Click here to Buy Now
This one-racer package gives purchasers 5 high-resolution digital images taken, selected, and edited by me at the end of the 2022-23 season of one racer. This simplifies photo orders for time-crunched purchasers who can’t conveniently comb through all the season race galleries. It is more expensive than the usual 5-Pack because it is much more time consuming for me: it means tracking the racer during each race during the season, collecting all the racer’s images as the season progresses, selecting and editing the best representative images after the season ends, and sending download instructions for the final selections. For those comfortable selecting photos themselves, the usual purchase options, such as the usual 5-Pack, are cheaper.
This package is offered pre-season only; it must be purchased before January 11, 2023 so I can track the racer when the races start; I am offering only 15 Pre-Season Packages this season, to prevent overload and maximize satisfaction; each package applies to only one specified racer; selection will maximize action, quality, and race variety to the extent images and conditions permit; my goal is World Cup-quality race images; each digital file will be about 3MB (my originals are about 30MB) and suitable for at least 8x12 inch high quality prints at 300 dpi; depending on demand, fulfillment may not be complete before June, 2023; I will donate the proceeds to the Alyeska Ski Club juniors program; if they wish, purchasers can suggest favorite uploaded gallery shots for inclusion as the season progresses, but this package and the price assumes I will do all the selections.
January 8, 2023 Update: All 15 packages have now been purchased, so I advanced the expiration date. The 15-package limit was essential to prevent totally clogging and overwhelming my photo work (and skiing) and interfering with the usual media and print sales work, especially during this ski season. There are 23(!) race/photo days this season, so even without the packages, there will be too many long days. For anyone who wanted to purchase but wasn't able, I'm sorry. But the usual print and digital purchase options remain, and I lowered all the other ski race prices a month or so ago.
Finally, I understand the challenge faced by parents who don't want to review all the race galleries to find a few photos they might want to order. One problem is that it is almost impossible to upload racer names to all the photos, but even if all the racers names were there, some people would have a hard time finding time to check the galleries. I can't possibly manually upload all the names and continue shooting and uploading. And attempts by me and the club to find someone who could upload the names were unsuccessful. So, someone has to find the images, and most adults don't have the time. Here's a suggestion: Since the kids seem to have no trouble finding their photos, parents should simply hire their kids to find the photos and add the chosen images to a favorites list. Instead of paying $100 for a pre-season package, pay a racer $50 to find the photos, and use the remainder to buy a few digital images. Everyone wins: kids make money, parents get photos, I save loads of time.
Pre-Season Package #1 FAQs
When is payment due?
When the package is purchased (before January 11, 2023).
Can a package include more than one racer? No. It is racer specific, for one racer.
Can a package cover more than one season? No.
Can someone purchase more than one package? Yes, subject to the 15-package total limit.
Is the price reduced if the purchaser selects any specific images from the galleries? No.
What if the racer is unable to race?
Payments will be refunded if pre-season injury prevents racing. Refunds will be prorated if partial fulfillment is possible (injury later in the season, for example). (In a typical two-run race I normally take 20-50 images of a racer; 80% or more are technically high quality, so there are a lot to choose from.)
What kind of a business delays fulfillment, perhaps until June?
It isn’t a business; it is my volunteer effort to support the ski club, provide a service, and distribute high-quality race photos.
Why is the package so much more expensive than the usual 5-Pack?
Because collecting all the race images of the racer and then selecting and editing the best 5 for all the races entered is very time consuming for me. You can save money by simply reviewing the galleries and buying the usual 5-Pack. The extra cost of the Pre-Season Package may be worth it to people who don’t have time to do their own selections. And in fact, the most economical approach would be to pay racers about $20 to find all their photos, and then buy the favorites at the usual prices.
Can I purchase more images? Yes. When you pre-order this new five-image package, you can preorder two more by clicking on Add to the pre-order, for $40 more. And you can always purchase images, including small, low-res images, or big prints, during the season, directly from the galleries as usual. If you purchase high-res digital images during the season, to keep diversity, I won't use those images as part of the five-image package.
What is the image quality?
My race images have frequently run in the Anchorage Daily News print and electronic editions for the last 10 years; they have occasionally run in Ski Racing Media, the Juneau Empire, and the Fairbanks News-Miner. A racer using two of my images won the 2018 RacePlace Catalogue cover contest. My photos, both race and fine art, have appeared in juried and non-juried shows. I use super-quality professional gear (currently a Canon R3 and various lenses).
Still have questions? Email me. (If you are a U18 or below, please copy a parent or adult to observe club and USSS protocols.)