Why Every Athlete Needs Sports Photos
Whether you're a high school track star, a weekend warrior, or a college athlete chasing a scholarship, one thing is certain: your athletic journey is worth documenting. Sports photography does more than just freeze moments, it tells the story of your grit, passion, and progress. Here’s why every athlete should invest in quality sports photos.
1. Capture the Hard Work Behind the Scenes
Behind every medal, record, or personal best is a mountain of effort. From early morning practices to late-night training sessions, your dedication deserves to be remembered. Professional sports photography showcases your commitment, capturing sweat, speed, and emotion in ways a quick phone snapshot simply can't.
2. Build a Personal Brand
In today's digital age, athletes are brands. Whether you're hoping to impress recruiters or grow your following on social media. High-quality images can elevate your online presence and help you stand out. Consistent, professional photos can be used across social platforms, websites, media kits, and even sponsorship proposals.
3. Create Lasting Memories
Seasons change, records are broken, and eventually, the final whistle blows. Sports photos serve as timeless keepsakes for you and your family. Years from now, you'll look back on the images that captured the rush of competition, the joy of victory, and the lessons learned in defeat.
4. Showcase for Scholarships or Scouting
If you're an athlete with aspirations of competing at the collegiate or professional level, great photography can give you an edge. Coaches and scouts want to see more than just stats, they want to see you in action. Strong visual content adds credibility to your athletic resume.
5. Team Bonding & Recognition
Team photo sessions are a great way to build camaraderie and celebrate group achievements. From individual portraits to team shots, these images foster team spirit and give everyone something to be proud of. These are perfect for yearbooks, awards nights, and social media highlights.
Athletics are full of unforgettable moments but those moments can be fleeting. Investing in sports photography ensures those memories are captured, celebrated, and shared. If you're an athlete (or the parent of one), don’t wait for the big game to roll around start building your visual legacy today.
📸 Interested in booking a session or learning more? Contact us here to chat about custom sports packages for individuals and teams.
6 Favorite Sports Photo Products
I photograph so many sports leagues throughout the year! In between the hustle and bustle of getting from one team to the next or delivering photos to them on the fly, I don’t often get to share what each product is or looks like! I think a lot of families probably have their favorite thing to order, which is great! But what if there is something else that you have to have and you just don’t know it yet?
I got you!
Here are the top 6 favorite sports photo products that I see ordered most often by parents at sports photography leagues.
1. Magnet
Magnets are 4x6 in size and printed with your childs photo on the front. The magnet is the length of the photo so no curling or bending!
2. Button
Buttons are so nice to have for your jacket at your childs sporting event! You can even attach them to your childs backpack or keep them as a keepsake as they grow up!
3. Memory Mate
Memory mates are 8x10 in size and are a rigid card stock frame. To photos slip into the frame, a 3.5 x 5 of the player and a 5x7 team photo. The back provides you an area for teammates to sign and give well wishes. The frame can fold in order to stand on its own.
4. Keychain
These acrylic keychains are 2 inches and are perfect for your car keyring or even a backpack! Kids love these and they are a great keepsake!
5. Prints
Prints are available in every size from wallet up to 8x10 for sports photos. These are great to frame and hang on the wall, put in your image box and even hand out to family members.
6. Trader Cards
These wallet sized cards are printed on rigid card stock and are printed on both sides. The front will feature your childs image along with their name and the year. The back has the team portrait along with the league name and coach name. These come in sets of 9 and are a wonderful option to hand out.
Special thanks to the Portland Wrestling Club for being featured in this post!
If you need league photos, be sure to contact us here!
How Michigan League Sports Photos Work
I photograph a lot of League sports in my area and each season there are new coaches, parent helpers or people in charge of setting up photos for the team. Each league runs a little different when it comes to photos and some leagues don’t get photos at all! If this is the case, reach out and let me know, I want to help!
Here are the steps to making sure you get photos for your sports teams and leagues:
Planning Steps:
Designate someone to schedule the session: If you are part of a league that has someone running it, reach out to that person to ensure there are not already plans to schedule a photographer. You can share my information with this person or offer to reach out to me yourself to get the ball rolling. Reaching out to me to schedule as soon as you can is always best. There are a lot of other teams trying to get photos as well, so to get an ideal spot, the earlier you can reach out is better. You can get a hold of me here!
Coordinate details: When you contact me, I will need to know how many teams are needing to be photographed, the approximate number of kids on the team(s), the desired location of the photos and get a practice/game schedule so we can coordinate a good day for pictures.
Ordering: I will provide a QR code which will need to be scanned by each member on your team (or throughout the league). You will also need to communicate the date of pictures to all those involved. Directions for ordering can be found here.
The day of pictures:
Timing: We will arrive at the photo location prior to start time in order to set up the equipment needed. Many times, several teams are being photographed at the same time or before and after your team. This means it is important to notify parents that they must be on time to their scheduled picture time. (note: team photos typically take an average of 15-20 minutes per team).
Team and Individual Photos: Each player must have their photo taken. During your photo time, we will photograph each player and take a team photo in the most efficient way possible.
After Your Photos: We edit and place the photos of your team to the ordering website within a week so that you can have the prints/products back quickly. Each family will order their own items online and they will be shipped directly to their home. Watch a video of the ordering process here.
That’s it! I do everything I can to assist you along the way through this process and even go out of the way to make your job easier when it comes to photo day! I have a lot of experience photographing league sports so please ask if you need any guidance at all! Reach out soon if you are ready to schedule team photos!