Free event photos are becoming a very popular part of race swag.
— Look for them at these events:
— The Great Sacandaga Challenge Triathlon each June
— Scranton Half-Marathon each April.
— The Bernie's Run 5K July 4 at Wilkes-Barre PA.
— The Tour De Force 5K, 10K and Half-Marathon Aug. 20 at Point Au Roche State Park, near Plattsburgh, N.Y.
— The 2017 ATC Endurance triathlon series. We were at Cooperstown June 3 and will be at Delta Lake July 15 and Old Forge Aug. 13.
— The 2017 Vermont Sun Triathlon series. We expect to be at Lake Dunmore for these races on July 16 and Aug. 13.
— Lyme Sprint Triathlon Aug. 6.
— The Old Forge NY Marathon, Half-Marathon and 5K on Sept. 9.
— The 2017 Vermont Sun runs Sept. 24 at Lake Dunmore.
— CRSS Race for Hope Sept. 30.
Free branded event photos provide a lot of bang for your sponsorship buck. Click the links at the top of our Web page to get the full story.
We tag our photos by bib numbers … if we can see your number. If there is no readable number, the photo is tagged U (unreadable). Entering U in the bib sort tool on the photos page gets you a folder of those images.
Sometimes bibs can be obscured by clothing, another runner next to you, your own hand passing the bib as we shoot … lots of possibilities.
The best idea is to securely pin down all 4 corners of your bib and wear it front and center on your top layer of clothing. It’s tough to miss a bib attached that way.
Although those bib belts are handy, people sometimes forget to move the number forward when they see a photographer or when they are approaching the finish.
Some good ideas from triathletes: Body marking can be helpful, but what if you mark your right shoulder and the photographer is on your left? Some people Sharpie their numbers on the backs of their hands. That works very well. If you mark on your legs, mark the front rather than the side. That way the number can be seen from any angle.
Swim photos can be especially hard to tag, because wetsuits often cover body markings. Along with numbers on the backs of hands, a good idea is to Sharpie your number on your swim cap. It's tough to miss there.
A few silly folks have Sharpied numbers on their foreheads. While that works great for photographers and finish line personnel, people anywhere but at the race might give you strange looks … so that may not be the best idea.
And for cyclists: Put your helmet number front and center. If a stick-on frame number is provided, attach it as far forward as possible. Numbers attached below the seat often are difficult to read.
During a recent race, some folks reminded me of three of the best ways to NOT get photographed at the races:
1. Make a mad dash for the finish from 50 yards out. Trying to catch just one more person before the line all too often puts that overtaken person between you and the camera at the wrong time. It's uncany how finish line sprinters almost always pass on the side away from the camera.
2. Finish in the middle of a large group of runners. It's so easy for the person(s) in the middle of a pack to get shielded by those on the outer edges. To increase your chances for good photos, make sure you are one of those people on the edges.
3. The same goes for following very closely. It's tough to photograph the second person when two people arrive at the finish almost belly-to-back.
Almost off of our photo products are custom items. That presents a problem sometimes with the shopping cart, which our service provider designed with a cookie-cutter approach for general use.
As a result, the crop tool in the shopping cart will not work with our custom products. If you want to crop a photo, send a note to phendrick7602127@roadrunner.com with the photo’s file number and a description of what you would like. We almost always can work something out.
The same goes for special and group photos. Don’t be bashful about asking our photographers to do a shot of your group. A racer favorite is a portrait with the finish arch looming overhead.