David Clark Photography: my big experiment

[dcclark]

So for quite a while now, the idea of selling my photos (both online and in local galleries) has been going through my mind... both because of encouragement from friends, family, and even strangers who have seen my work, but also out of curiosity to see what would happen.

Well, earlier this year, I earned some unexpected extra cash (I teach college math; I taught an extra class section for a month), and decided to put that money towards startup funds for a photo-selling business. I felt that my work was reasonable, but not exactly amazing compared to others that I see -- but then again, I personally am very happy with my work, themes, and technical and creative ability. So this extra cash helped push me to actually go ahead and figure out how to sell my work.

As of last night, it's finally up and running: David Clark Photography!

It's been a weird process -- I've learned a lot about business, galleries, and even myself and my photography in the process. There were all sorts of things I hadn't considered before -- like the need for business cards (heck, I'm a grad student -- we barely need clothes!), and the possibility that some galleries would want an exclusive deal in the area. Also, I'm only attempting to sell prints -- not hiring myself out for portraits, events, etc., which makes me different from about 90% of similar sites out there. It also means a much smaller audience. But, I know my audience: I'm mostly targeted at the tourist-related business in this area, which has a fairly good art and gallery economy running. (And I'm working on promotional deals with a variety of local history / tourist / information websites, which is essentially what this entire region of Michigan is about.)

Anyhow, this is all rambling. I have a 1 year subscription on Zenfolio, and at the end of that year, I'm going to reevaluate, see if I made back (or came near) my expenses, and decide whether I should keep this side-business going. In the meantime, it's a grand experiment, and I keep learning more every day!

Oh, and ... any random critiques, comments, complaints about the layout, etc. are quite welcome. Thanks for listening to my excited pragmatism...