Colorado Rockies Hit a DAM Home Run with PhotoShelter

The Rockies Capture and Share the Magic of Baseball

The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the breathtaking sunset over Coors Field – the Colorado Rockies deliver an experience that goes beyond just baseball. But capturing those electrifying moments isn’t enough. Sharing them instantly with fans across the globe is where the real magic happens. A captivating image on social media can ignite a fanbase, build excitement, and even spark a trending hashtag. The Rockies knew this, but their outdated photo management system was holding them back. They needed a solution that could keep up with the speed of the game and the demands of their growing audience. 

The Challenge: Content Delivery Curveballs

Kyle Cooper, the team photographer for the Colorado Rockies, is responsible for capturing all the thrilling moments on the field. His workflow involves taking photos, editing them, and quickly distributing them to the social media team and other stakeholders. The team’s previous method of storing photos on an internal drive proved to be a significant challenge.

• Difficulty searching for photos. The internal drive, which Kyle referred to as “the K-Drive,” was a disorganized mess of folders within folders. “When looking for photos,” he explained, “I would click on a folder and then another folder to get to another folder. And if I didn’t find the folder I wanted, or I hit the wrong button, I’d be back at the beginning of the K-Drive and have to remember what hierarchy of folders I went through to get to where I needed to go.” This made it nearly impossible to quickly locate specific photos when they were needed.
• No easy way to share files. Sharing photos with partners and sponsors was a cumbersome process. The lack of a streamlined delivery method often resulted in the team resorting to texting low-resolution images.
• No real-time uploads or delivery. Getting images to social media in real-time was a major pain point. “Prior to [PhotoShelter], it was a group text message,” Kyle recalled. “And you would say, ‘Here’s this photo you can post.’ And it would be all low-res iMessage problems. And I’d get messages back saying, ‘Can you send that again? It doesn’t look too sharp on my phone.’”

“Before, you would download from the K-Drive, and you just have a file on your computer. And if it was too big to send in an email, then you had to figure out how to shrink it or Zip it and whatnot. Now, it’s easy just to have a gallery of full-size Jpegs, and I can send a link with a password, decide who gets to see it, and say, ‘Hey, you can distribute this to whoever you need.’”

Kyle Cooper, Team Photographer, Colorado Rockies

The Solution: PhotoShelter Takes the Rockies Extra Innings

The Rockies’ workflow was clunky and inefficient, but PhotoShelter stepped up to the plate and provided a robust solution that streamlined their photo management and distribution process. Now, they can easily organize photos, share them with stakeholders, and upload images in real-time.

• Seamless searching. PhotoShelter’s metadata capabilities allow the Rockies to tag their photos with relevant information, making it easy to search for specific players, actions, and more.
• FTP uploads streamline workflow. With PhotoShelter’s FTP upload feature, the team can upload photos in real-time, allowing the social media team instant access. As Kyle describes it, “I’ll typically go through and find my favorite photos. I’ll crop in the camera, or I’ll just send it how it is, and it goes straight to social within 30 seconds. Then, they can put it on a Story or whatever they need to do with it. We’ve gotten rid of all those problems with the FTP straight to an uploader folder on PhotoShelter.”
• Dedicated galleries for partners and sponsors. PhotoShelter enables the creation of dedicated galleries for partners and sponsors, making it easy to share relevant photos and ensure that agreements are being met. 
• Brand growth with PhotoShelter. The ability to quickly and efficiently share high-quality images on social media and marketing materials has helped the Rockies strengthen their brand and connect with fans. For Kyle, “Being able to give our fans a direct look at what’s happening, almost play by play, if they’re not there…That’s really helped grow social and our reach. But even on a customer service level, just the ease of delivering things, whether it be at our youth camp to a mom who spent two days watching their kid on the field…or sending an entire gallery of assets to our corporate sponsorship rep. We’re a big league team, and that makes us feel like we’re a big league team – being able to provide that kind of customer service and deliverables in a timely manner.”

“The leaps and bounds that PhotoShelter’s made for us, organizationally… It’s super easy to find stuff now. And being familiar with the PhotoShelter side, now I can point someone to a photo within probably two minutes of them asking me where it is. Whereas before, I didn’t know where things were on that K-Drive… good luck.”

Kyle Cooper, Team Photographer, Colorado Rockies

Real-Time Photo Delivery Fuels the Rockies’ Fan Experience with Visual Storytelling

The Colorado Rockies found themselves in a difficult situation with a clunky and inefficient photo management and distribution workflow. They needed a solution that would allow them to organize their photos, share them with stakeholders, and upload images in real-time. PhotoShelter stepped up to the plate and provided a robust platform that met all of their needs. With PhotoShelter, the Rockies can now focus on capturing amazing moments on the field and sharing them with their fans.

“Our entire archive lives on our PhotoShelter portal where you can download what you need. And it’s super easy to search through… It’s kind of the nucleus of anything imagery-related for our organization. [PhotoShelter] is everything you need when it comes to finding history, sponsorships, player photos, or the last home run hit.”

Kyle Cooper, Team Photographer, Colorado Rockies