Thank you in advance for reading, and for any support you can give…
(Long story short, I’m selling a limited edition print to raise money for CoppaFeel!, and you can purchase it here.)
My inspirational wife Laura is a BRCA1 gene mutation carrier, which means that she had a 60-85% chance of developing breast cancer, and a 40-60% chance of ovarian cancer.
After a decade of worry and constant anxiety, in 2019 she had her ovaries removed, and then, in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, she had a double mastectomy and reconstruction.
Both surgeries have drastically reduced her risk of developing those cancers, but have had other consequences, such as going into menopause at the age of 34.
However, having faced down that challenge, she’s taking on another one this week - a weeklong 100km trek to raise money for CoppaFeel! - a brilliant breast cancer charity.
Originally scheduled for the Saharan desert, C19 has meant a relocation to the Scottish Highlands, and arguably a tougher route and almost certainly trickier weather - they got soaked for 8 hours straight yesterday.
Laura has already raised over £3000 to help people stand the best possible chance of surviving breast cancer, and whilst my only physical contribution has been holding the fort at home, I am helping with a final push to try and raise as much money as possible for a cause that is equally close to my heart.
Having spoken to Laura briefly yesterday, I know that she, and the 99 other inspirational women (and a couple of men) who are on the trek are already relying on the motivation of seeing fundraising totals tick up, as they tackle a genuinely demanding physical and mental challenge.
Whilst my giant meringues were a hit at our cake sale, I have gone back to what I know best for this final push, and created a special limited edition Carefree Golf Photography print.
I have chosen this striking image of Royal County Down’s iconic entrance sign as it means a lot to us personally, after our relocation to Northern Ireland this year. I also hope that the glorious sunset in the background inspires the same uplifting feeling that it gives me.
Limited to 50 prints, all proceeds will be going to straight to CoppaFeel!. I’ll be posting the live donations every day, to help Laura over the line on Saturday.
Though the prints are exactly the same quality as I would sell through the store normally, I’ve tried to make them as affordable as I can, and £30 still makes a fantastic contribution to the charity. But for anyone who is wishes to donate a little more, I’ve included an option to upgrade to a single digit numbered print.
Finally, if anyone else is going through challenging personal times, please get in touch.
Thank you in advance, and check your boobs x
Mike Hyde Carefree Golf Photography Founder
In a recent conversation with a well respected GM, they mentioned a golden rule that their club websites would always reflect the seasonality about four weeks ahead. That meant that prospective visitors would be seeing a more accurate reflection of the course and conditions that they would play.
Not rocket science, but not something that seems to happen on the ground. An at-a-glance survey of the top 10 courses in an English county in the Midlands had one course with autumnal pictures, and the rest showcasing their normal summer imagery.
This is impossible if you only have one set of marketing imagery, and set us thinking about other reasons to maintain a library of seasonal imagery at your golf course:
- Having a full suite of imagery makes the club manager’s job easier. If you’re crafting a Spring Society Special, you don’t want to waste time searching more the ‘least imperfect’ image from your album of summer sunset pictures. Know you can reach for your spring folder, pick anything out and move on.
- Your course changes during the seasons, and may look completely different from month to month. Proactively reflect that in your marketing and people will be curious about visiting all year round. Our photography also changes depending on the conditions. Sweeping sunset panoramas are probably less likely than in summer, but wintry conditions can also force us to be even more creative - looking for interesting details in the course and searching out eye-catching angles.
- All clubs have seasonal green fee, society or membership offer, but you can’t effectively market a ‘Winter Warmer’ package with an image of a high summer. Match your imagery to your offer for messaging the resonates with your customers. Even if you’re renowned for selling the ‘2006 Open Championship Experience’, pictures of baked out fairways won’t appeal to somebody looking to book a March round to shake off their winter rust!
- We’re golfers ourselves, so we know what to capture, and what to leave for another visit. If some parts of your course aren’t in the best nick, we’ll find ways to work around them. We understand that a bare tree line behind a green might not look enticing, but how about silhouetting that same tree line against the sun on a frosty morning?
- Beautiful course photography isn’t always ‘typical’. Golden hour summer photography is always fantastic to look at, but the more muted shades of spring, autumn and winter can be as equally attractive (and more in keeping with reality!).
- You can’t control the weather, but if all of your touch points in the booking process have been accompanied with imagery of beautiful summer sunsets, it’s perhaps not a golfer’s fault if they’ve set unreasonable expectations for their day. People are likely to be more accepting of course conditioning, and to enjoy their day, regardless of the weather, if your marketing and communications matches the product.
- Not every use of course imagery will be for marketing to new customers. Your members are already convinced about your product. In the same way you wouldn’t run the Santa Scramble in July, your calendar of communications should reflect the rhythm of the seasons, and accurate imagery plays a key role in enticing your members onto the course to make the most of their memberships.
- How many websites boast, “Our course is playable all year around”? Show people!
- Admittedly, we take more pictures in the summer, when the light lasts longer and every part of the course and club looks perfect. You’ll receive many more images from a summer shoot with us, but that takes longer to shoot and edit, and therefore costs more. Winter shoots are more about quality over quantity, and since we’re likely to spend less time shooting (we need to keep our fingers warm!), the editing process will be more efficient too. Therefore, we are able to offer particularly cost effective packages over the winter.
Finally, we know what you’re thinking - “Have they forgotten about Coronavirus?”. We understand that clubs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are facing another difficult period, but we believe there are compelling reasons to look at updating your imagery now.
- Nobody knows when this lockdown might ease, but should we still be in wintry conditions when courses open again, then if you have recently updated your imagery you’ll be a step ahead of your competitors.
- Next winter will roll around soon enough - if you follow the ‘four week website rule’ above, then you’re going to be marketing winter green fees again at the beginning of October (and winter society deals before that). Those eight months will fly by with everything we’re likely to face this year, so tick something off your to-do list now!
- With no golfers on the course, there’s an opportunity for some more creativity and for us to take a bit longer on each hole than might otherwise be the case.
- If you are a members club, you can use the imagery in your communications with your members, which will be playing a key role in maintaining their engagement ahead of crucial renewal periods.
- We understand that course conditioning might not be exactly where you’d like it to be, but don’t worry too much about that. We can work around obvious areas, and as long as there’s some definition on the course, we’ll make your course look good!
Carefree Golf Photography is currently offering Winter Special photoshoots, starting at just £297.
Contact us today for more details.
