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Reaching out to Scott Kelby
I dont know how to contact Scott Kelby directly, but maybe this will get back to him.
Scott recently held a contest and the winner of this contest would win a sideline pass to photograph a Florida State football game on the sideline. Other sports photographers became outraged and in the end, he in fact was denied his pass. You can read the entire post here.
I think this really sucks for this guy. I don’t think he is stealing any business from anyone. He just wants a chance to do something cool. And as a sports photographer, I can validate, it’s REALLY cool. Now I can’t make any promises to Scott, but I’m pretty sure I can make this happen. If you’re reading Scott, I shoot Louisiana Tech University football. It’s not Florida State, but it’s big time college football none the less. We play home games against Boise St and Hawaii this year. I’m just gonna throw this out there, if he and you are interested, I will try to pull some strings and be more than happy to walk the sidelines with Alex for a nationally televised football game, if I can make it happen. Scott, email me through my site and let me know.
I think it’s a sad day for sports photographers, honestly. Sorry guys. Just my opinion.
Matt






Good for you, Matt. At least you’re one pro who’s acting like a pro. I wonder if those guys were afraid the amateur would show them up? How petty can people be?
Finally, somebody with some common courtesy and sense. What Scott did was offer *amateurs* a chance to do something most of us will only dream of, and a handful of petty photographers feel the need to take that chance away from somebody who poses no direct threat to them.
Apparently the quite a number of people have stepped up to the plate and offered up a lot of alternative prizes for the winner, Alex. It’s nice to see that my own experiences of the photographic community as being a warm and social bunch that looks after and helps one another is not an isolated incident.
Alex’s plight affected me in no way. I had no stake in the contest at all, yet I felt furious anger at the actions taken by the few that got his pass revoked, I just wanted to say “Thank you” for restoring that little bit of faith that was chipped away by a bunch of selfish “Professionals”
Cheers,
Kris
Good on you Matt!! That is such a nice thing to do for Alex. I’ve just been reading about it all, and it saddens me that some people can hold such bitterness in their hearts to make this end up like it has….I hope you can make it happen for Alex
Way to go, Matt. I like your idea, and I hope it works. And thanks for the link that you provided to Scott’s contest. I am a member of sportsshooter.com, and I am appalled by the elitism and crass behavior by some of its members. This seems to be very common among some of the members, which drives me crazy.
Mike,
Don’t know you, but thank you for your offer to help Scott and Alex. I am 63 and a late comer to Pro Photography. Gratefully I do not depend on my main lively hood from shooting, though I would like too.
I am a guy who needs a lot of coaching, help and support. By and large the photography community is more than helpful to me.
I wish I was in your area that I could be you assistant for one those games
Grace to you
Ken in KY
You’re a good man, Charlie Brown !!! LOL. Seriously, nice!!
Way to go! A pro shooter who doesn’t act like a 5 year old bully in the sand box. You seem to really have caught the drive of what SK was trying to do…
Nice to see there are still some real pros out there. Who know how to act professionally.
That’s a great thing you’re doing, Matt.
From Kelby’s blog today it sounds like there are a number of kind offers coming in for this guy. That’s fantastic! It’s good to see pros acting like professionals. Helps take away the bad taste we aspiring photographers got the past couple of days. Also thought Mike Olivella’s post set things straight; but still doesn’t excuse the reaction from the other shooters.
I graduated from LA Tech and was surprised to see you’re shooting Bulldog football! That must be a thrill! If you ever have your own contest for us amateurs or need an assistant I’ll be glad to make the drive down from Little Rock.
Best of luck in all you do!
–Eric
Better not let the crybabbies at http://www.sportsshooter.com know about this or they will not let you join their elitist club.
I’m already a member
. http://www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=8030. See? There are some good guys on there too.
Matt: You are a true professional. Mayb FSU should revoke all of the “professional” photgraphers passes and let amatures take the photo’s. It is a amature game.
Your offer is the sort of thing that makes me proud of our country and gives me hope for the future. I had hoped to join SportsShooter someday, but it’s invitation only and I hadn’t made a contact yet. After this incident, I’m not certain that I’m interested any longer. I’m making contacts on my own and don’t have the time to fool with idiots like that. I’m sure there are some good people in there, but it sounds like the signal to noise ratio is way too high. Good for you for your offer and I hope that your kindness is repaid many times over.
Matt you’re a class act. I hope that Alex, the contest winner, is able to take you up on your offer. I know that’s been one of my dreams.
Matt I read this on Scott’s blog and it was unbelievable. Thanks for jumping in with an offer of help. It initially put a bad taste in my mouth about SportsShooters in general. You helped put this in perspective. There are some rotten apples in the barrel… but not all are bad.
P.S. I live in West Monroe. I did not know you were so close. Wishing you good light in all you do.
Shannon
Hey Matt. Good job looking out for us amateurs. I thought the contest was one of the greatest offers that I have ever seen. I didn’t get my submissions in on time, but I was so curious to see who was chosen. Very few people give us amateurs a chance to hone our skills. Hopefully you will be able to give the winner his chance to leaern from the pros. For the pros who protestrd, shame on you. You wouldn’t be a pro if someone had not have given you a cnance. Some amateurs act like pros and some pros are very amateurish. Good job Alex at taking the high road, and being a true professional. Your talent speaks for itself and will land you a big break somewhere else,