For the person buying, £9.75 is a bit much for a 7 x 5, which is tiny. The smallest I'd go for is an 8" by 12" if I was desperate, but ideally it would be a 12" by 18", which I'd happily pay £15 or so for. Then again, I wouldn't buy a photo of myself, for myself - not that much of an egotist - it would have to be a photo of a loved one; either family or girlfriend.
The only issue I have with sportive photographers is that I've yet to see any of them take a photo that makes me think 'wow'. The photos some of them take are so boring that a child could have taken them with a £1 disposeable. In their defence, it is hard to be creative when you are under pressure to ensure that you shoot every single rider and that each one is perfectly in focus, and that you probably only have one chance to do so. And it can't be very profitable either, so why make anything more than the most basic effort?
But on the other hand, I'm sure more people would buy the photos if they were excellent as opposed to just 'acceptable'. The photographers should at least stand/sit somewhere with a really good background. Perhaps get in close with a wide angle lens to make the shot more dynamic. Or use a slower shutter speed and pan with the rider for a bit of motion-blurred background... Or go one step further and use one or two off-camera flashes... with attached battery packs to make them last all day... Perhaps that would be too good though and not everyone can be Seb Rogers or Dan Barham...
