Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the Sports Photos USA system.
1. How does the Sports Photos USA gym portrait program work? The most important thing to learn is that this is a risk-free proposition. Our famous 4-way guarantee (see the link in the menu at the bottom of the page) protects you. We want you to LOVE the art we create for you. If you don't, we will fix the problem or you get your money back.
We bring our virtual reality set, cameras, computer preview system, and lighting equipment to your gym and be set up on the days your gym requested. Check with your coach or gym manager about for the specific dates.Gymnasts will "rotate through" the portrait set during their class period once during the week. We will have poses for all non-team gymnasts and younger team members. We will capture several images of each pose so we will have the best expression on your face in the final portrait.
Your images should be in the gallery the day following your class session. The minute your order is submitted, it is transmitted to our professional lab where it is produced and shipped directly to the address you entered when placing your order. If your order contains a poster, you will receive an email from us as soon as we have designed your poster. We will attach a preview of your poster for you to approve before we send it to the lab for production. Please respond promptly when you get that email.
Team members from levels 6 through 10 get to perform 7 poses on set. How do I help my gymnast pick poses? It is always nice to allow her to do poses she WANTS to do, BUT let common sense guide you. If she has never done a particular skill, it probably will look that way in the portrait.
The first thing to remember is to stay within your child's ability range. A nine-year-old gymnast may be a rank beginner or an accomplished competitor. It is fairly easy to make a strong gymnast look good in lower level poses, but it is EXTREMELY HARD to make a beginner look really good in more advanced poses. When my daughter competed, I always selected poses from last year's routines (she had already MASTERED those moves---and she looked awesome.
Check with your coach for ideas. You can also visit our pose page to see sample poses.
Have your child practice her poses. If she looks very similar to what you see in the sample, that may be a good pose to choose. I will help her to refine the pose for the camera when she is on the set.
If choosing a pose is simply overwhelming to you, we can help. When your gymnast arrives on set, we will ask if she has picked poses. We will be more than happy to assist in posing.
Have your child practice her poses. If she looks very similar to what you see in the sample, that may be a good pose to choose. I will help her to refine the pose for the camera when she is on the set.
If choosing a pose is simply overwhelming to you, we can help. When your gymnast arrives on set, we will ask if she has picked poses. We will be more than happy to assist in posing.
2. Do I get to choose my background(s)? Last year, we experimented with people picking backgrounds. The vast majority of people told me to pick the background. A few wanted the ability to choose their backgrounds. This year, everyone gets to select their own background(s). When you are looking at a pose in the preview window, simply click "Background" and you can pick from many different choices.
3. How does the session scheduling system work? The gym will take care of this by scheduling time for team members to be on set. All other gymnasts will be photographed during their class time once during the week.
4. Why do you use Paypal for payments? Millions of people use Paypal daily worldwide. With PayPal, your financial information and purchases are better protected. You save time shopping online and sending money. And you get more ways to cover your payments. Your financial information is never shared with us. In fact, it's securely protected by Paypal's data encryption technology, reducing the risk of online fraud and identity theft. In short, it protects you and me in the process. We have used Paypal for thousands of transactions over the last few years and have never had a bad experience.
5. When do I see my previews? You will look at the images we create for you in the online gallery the day after your session. You can view them on the your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. It is MUCH more enjoyable to use a full sized computer or laptop, but if you must use a phone, it can be done.
6. Do you do your own printing? No. We leave that to the professionals. Every order we receive is sent to our professional lab partner to be printed. An image is only as good as the printed version, and we take pride in giving our clients only perfectly printed portraits.
7. How long does it take to get my portraits? Normally, all portraits are delivered to the address you gave us when you ordered within 3 weeks from the day you order.
8. I’d really like some images for Facebook, what can I do? You can also order downloadable images from the online gallery.
5. When do I see my previews? You will look at the images we create for you in the online gallery the day after your session. You can view them on the your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. It is MUCH more enjoyable to use a full sized computer or laptop, but if you must use a phone, it can be done.
6. Do you do your own printing? No. We leave that to the professionals. Every order we receive is sent to our professional lab partner to be printed. An image is only as good as the printed version, and we take pride in giving our clients only perfectly printed portraits.
7. How long does it take to get my portraits? Normally, all portraits are delivered to the address you gave us when you ordered within 3 weeks from the day you order.
8. I’d really like some images for Facebook, what can I do? You can also order downloadable images from the online gallery.
9. Do you do fundraisers? We have the easiest fundraising program on the planet! We believe that local support is imperative and we are happy to help where we can. Are you in charge of a fundraisers for your group or team? Give us a call and we can talk!
10. What should I wear? Your leotard should NOT contain the color of the background. We use a Virtual Rality photo set which allows you to easily change the backgrounds on your images when you order. The background on the set will be a chromakey green or blue. We will email everyone at the gym so that you can know beforehand which background we will use at your gym. If your leotard contains the color of the background, that color will be removed along with the background when you view and order. Such an image requires extra labor for one of our artists to manually extract your gymnast from the background. There will be a $5 charge per image to do a manual extraction. You can avoid that charge by simply wearing a leotard which doesn't have the background color in it.
11. What packages do you offer? We offer a variety of prints, packages, posters, blankets, specialty items, and downloadable image files.
12. When can I order? Your can order just minutes after your session is completed. We will have tablets onsite for you to use. Alternatively, you can order from home later. Remember that there is a bonus for ordering early. Those who add their OrderID (you receive your OrderID in your email receipt after ordering) to our list while we are still at the them gym get a $55 photo calendar featuring your gymnast for FREE!
13. What if my order is damaged during shipping? If your package is damaged, grab your cellphone and take a picture. Email me the picture and include your OrderID in the email. We will get a replacement to you quickly.
14. My daughter is on team, and the coach told us the time for team pictures. Do I need to schedule a session for my gymnast? No. There will be enough time in the time block set aside for the team for each gymnast's individual session.