Equine sports photographer as a career?

[hoilakzl]

Hey there, I've got a strong passion in both horses and photography, and I love taking pictures of equestrians at shows and such. Any sports photographers have advice on making it into a career? I understand it'd involve a lot of dedication, travel and not much of a social life but I'm comfortable and happy with all those things.
My only concern is that I'd also like to be a horse breeder, one or two good quality foals a year to work with. Is it hard to be a sports photographer who also has a life outside of it?

What might one's yearly wage look like? Am I being realistic?

I'm graduating this year and am looking into different career options and this paired with horse breeding and training is the most enjoyable I can think of. I don't plan on having kids- ever- so I don't see having a family as a big concern and I'm not concerned with living like a king, horses and photography and a roof over my head are good enough.

Sorry if I rambled a bit. In short, I've weighed the pros and cons of sports photography and am intrigued by and interested in it. Any advice from sports photographers? What could my wage be like and would I have any time on my hands to have my own life with my horses?
Thanks

[Crim Liar]

You would have to do a full business analysis, being honest about the market for the photographs, and the costs (travel, equipment, and time) involved in taking them. Could you make a career out of this on it's own, or would it need to be part of a larger portfolio of abilities. If you intend to make a career of this, you'll have to remember not to sell yourself short, there's no point in being cheap as that would leave you unable to pay the bills.

Personally, I'd have to say I'm a happy amateur. That means I have the day job to fall back on and pay the bills, and I get to photograph the things that interest me. I can still make a sometimes surprising amount of money, and I get to meet some great people in the process.

[snorlax]

I'll break down my experiences in the sports photography industry for you:

I started when I was 20. I shot the university sports teams for fun, my boyfriend at the time was on the rugby team. As the years went on I got more and more involved with the university's teams, I photographed rugby, soccer, field hockey etc. When I was around 24 one of my photos was used in a local newspaper, after that I started to get noticed. I was already quite popular in the area for weddings I had shot.
Over the years I had to invest a lot of money in equipment specifically suited to sports photography. I earned very little money shooting for publications and unfortunately had to invest almost too much money into my gear.
It wasn't until I was ~27 that I got a break. As I was in the middle of my Doctorate (PhD) I was doing work experience with the IRFU (Irish Rugby Football Union) and they found out that photography was a hobby of mine so started to give me photo passes to Ireland matches. It was from this that I started getting jobs to photograph other sports teams (Irish football, Irish boxing), those jobs came directly from the teams and I then got to sell my photos to publications for extra money.
This year, at the age of 29 I was granted a photo pass for the London Olympics to cover the Equestrian and boxing events for Ireland. At the event my work was noticed by the head of the American company "Reuters" and thus got granted permission to shoot Olympic Gymnastics for them.

So, it hasn't been an easy journey. Many things happened because of sheer luck.
My typical sports photography kit that I bring to all matches is:
Canon 1DX - ~€6,000
Canon 5D Mark III - ~€3,000
Canon 1D Mark IV - ~€4,000
Canon 16-35mm F/2.8 - ~€1,500
Canon 24-70mm F/2.8 II - ~€2,200
Canon 70-200mm F/2.8 IS II - ~€2,000
Canon 300mm F/2.8 IS I - ~€8,000
Canon 400mm F/2.8 IS II - ~€13,000

That's the gear I've built up over that period of time... the majority of that transfers over to my wedding/music work but the super telephoto lenses (300mm and 400mm) have practically no use outside of sports photography.
Working freelance, my estimated earnings from just sports photography per year would probably be about €9,000. And that's more than your typical freelance sports photographer. In contrast, my wedding photography would bring in about €45,000 per year as my gross income (without tax reductions or business reductions). This is well above the average annual earnings of an Irish citizen, and wedding photography isn't even a full time job for me. That income is based on about 23 jobs a year.
Photography isn't my main job because I have a daughter and a husband to look after. My time could come and I could get no bookings or no work one year and end up with no income. It's not a stable job and this is the main thing that puts people off. I work morning-afternoon as a rehabilitation physician for the IRFU.

There's very little money in sports photography. It's a great hobby to have, and can be started and enjoyed with any DSLR and a 70-300mm lens or 55-250mm lens (not an expensive combination).
If your aim is to shoot professionally and shoot for publications then unless you're good enough to land a job with a company (Reuters, Getty etc.) then you'll have a very hard time getting money. It's a competitive market.

I have a reasonable amount of free time to spend with my family, sports photography doesn't occupy my life more than any other job would. Except when I went to the Olympics, I was working 8am - 10pm every day, with very little rest. It's the worst yet best job experience of my life.
I would say it's best to look for other careers and take photos as a hobby, maybe turn your hobby into a career later on in life like I did.