On the 27th July the summer Olympic Games will open in London, UK. They will then be followed by the Paralympics, which start on the 29th August. The Olympics is one of only a few truly international events and, therefore, provides a great opportunity for stock image sales around the world.

In this blog we’ll explore 3 themes relating to the Olympics/Paralympics which could provide a rich seam of photographic and illustrative opportunities: sport, nations and London. We’ll also look at the copyrights applied to various Olympic symbols to help you avoid any pitfalls.

You can also visit the London 2012 website for more information and ideas.

Sport

Photographs and illustrations relating to the 26 Olympic and 20 Paralympic sports will be particularly popular in the run up to the Games. The best sellers are likely to be professional quality photographs or illustrations of people playing the sports. The less popular sports, particularly the Paralympic events, won’t be as well represented within the existing stock image market, so there will be less competition for sales.

Remember that you must have a model release form for all recognisable people within your images, so you can’t just pop down to your local running track and start taking photos!

Below are the events which will be featured in this year’s Olympics and Paralympics.

Olympics:

  • Aquatics
  • Archery
  • Athletics
  • Badminton
  • Basketball
  • Boxing
  • Canoe
  • Cycling
  • Equestrian
  • Fencing
  • Football
  • Gymnastics
  • Handball
  • Hockey
  • Judo
  • Modern Pentathlon
  • Rowing
  • Sailing
  • Shooting
  • Table Tennis
  • Taekwondo
  • Tennis
  • Triathlon
  • Volleyball
  • Weightlifting
  • Wrestling

Paralympics:

  • Paralympic Archery
  • Paralympic Athletics
  • Boccia
  • Paralympic Cycling
  • Paralympic Equestrian
  • Football 5-a-side
  • Football 7-a-side
  • Goalball
  • Paralympic Judo
  • Powerlifting
  • Paralympic Rowing
  • Paralympic Sailing
  • Paralympic Shooting
  • Paralympic Swimming
  • Paralympic Table Tennis
  • Sitting Volleyball
  • Wheelchair Basketball
  • Wheelchair Fencing
  • Wheelchair Rugby
  • Wheelchair Tennis

Nations

With over 150 nations competing in the Olympic and Paralympic Games there is likely to be a demand for images relating to them, particularly symbols of each nationality (eg flags). We suggest focusing on the countries which are most likely to be medallists at the games but steering away from nations such as the USA where FreeDigitalPhotos already has a wealth of national images.

London

The 2012 Summer Games are being held in London, UK. High quality images of famous London landmarks are likely to be in demand, but more popular will be images from the Olympic Park itself. If you are in the UK and are registered with a photo journalist organisation you may be able to join a pre-Games tour of the Park and get some early shots in.

As well as the main Olympic Park venue, other locations around the UK are being used for the Games, and therefore provide more image sales opportunities. The locations include:

  • Brands Hatch (Kent)
  • Hadleigh Farm (Essex)
  • Football stadiums including the Millennium Stadium, Old Trafford and Hampden Park
  • Greenwich Park (London)
  • Hampton Court Palace (London)
  • Horse Guards Parade (London)
  • Hyde Park (London)
  • Lee Valley White Water Centre (Hertfordshire)
  • Lord’s Cricket Ground (London)
  • The Mall (London)
  • Weymouth and Portland (Dorset)
  • Wimbledon (London)

Olympic copyrights

Many visual devices related to the Olympics and Paralympics are protected by copyright and, therefore, cannot be be submitted as images for sale through FreeDigitalPhotos.net. This includes (but isn’t limited to):

  • The Olympic Symbol
  • The Paralympic Symbol
  • The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Emblems
  • The London 2012 mascots
  • The words ‘London 2012′
  • The words ‘Olympic’, ‘Olympiad’, ‘Olympian’, their plurals and words very similar to them – eg ‘Olympix’
  • The words ‘Paralympic’, ‘Paralympiad’, ‘Paralympian’, their plurals and words very similar to them – eg ‘Paralympix’
  • The Olympic Motto: ‘Citius Altius Fortius’ / ‘Faster Higher Stronger’
  • The Paralympic Motto: ‘Spirit in Motion’
  • london2012.com (and various derivatives)
  • The London 2012 sports pictograms

The London 2012 website contains useful information about copyrights specific to these Games within their FAQ page.

 

Banner image: Salvatore Vuono