Selling Your Photography

[RossCampbell]

Hi Everyone.


Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but there's a few things I would like to know:


First of all i want to know if anyone has any experience with selling your photos printed on canvas. Is this a good way of selling your photography? Is there a market for them?


Can you make good money from this? And is there people making a living from selling on Stock sites?


I've created a website for myself, and decided to make my pictures available for purchase. Check it out an let me know what you think.


Ross Campbell Photography | Photos To Think About | A Wordless Story

 

[Light Guru]

Well the issue is really how are you going to get people to your website to buy them.

Putting up a website does not mean that people will magically start visiting it and buying from it.

As for selling on stock sites thats a whole different ball game, and from what I hear it is supper hard.

 

[RossCampbell]

Putting up a website does not mean that people will magically start visiting it and buying from it.

I am aware that people won't magically start visiting my site.
I tried to add some of my photo's to shutterstock, two were not accepted because of too much noise, and those pictures were taking on ISO 400 with my Canon EOS 550D.
I think their standards are very high.

 

[tirediron]

Moving to the Business District.

 

[tirediron]

...I think their standards are very high.

They are, not unreasonably so, but they are high. Selling images from a website is probably the single least-productive way to attemtp to make money from photography. I have had a web presence for the last seven years and I can count the number of images I've sold on the fingers of one hand and still have enough unused fingers to make change for a nickle.

Now that's not to say that you can't make money in this fashion, but your images have to be of the very highest quality, and without meaning to sound too harsh, I don't believe yours are quite there yet. You have some good scenes, but there are many technical issues ranging from tilted horizons to poor exposure, high noise, etc..

I would suggest reading up on the technical side of things, and posting images here for critique. Peer feedback and review is an excellent way to improve your work.

 

[pixmedic]

demand for a product will depend on a lot of things..
location, the product you are selling, the QUALITY of the product you are selling, and the clientele you are marketing to.

 

[mishele]

Ahhh, if you are looking to get into the Fine Art world, be prepared for a long road. =) If you want more info. on that route, just yell.

 

[Light Guru]

Ahhh, if you are looking to get into the Fine Art world, be prepared for a long road. =) If you want more info. on that route, just yell.

If its Fine Art photography that you are trying to sell then stay away from the micro stock sites like shutter stock, why would people buy a art print from you when they can buy the your same image on a microstock site for cheeper and get it cheaply printed. Basically i feel that putting your fine are images on a microstock site cheapens them.

if you want to sell fine are photography then check out the book Marketing Fine Art Photography

And remember it is VARY VARY VARY hard to make a living at selling fine art photography.

 

[RossCampbell]

Thank's everyone for the reply's . Another question, which are the best stock photo sites around. (High acceptance rate ect)

 

[mishele]

This info. is a little dated but still a good read....
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...elling-stock-photography-image-libraries.html

 

[RossCampbell]

...I think their standards are very high.

They are, not unreasonably so, but they are high. Selling images from a website is probably the single least-productive way to attemtp to make money from photography. I have had a web presence for the last seven years and I can count the number of images I've sold on the fingers of one hand and still have enough unused fingers to make change for a nickle.

Now that's not to say that you can't make money in this fashion, but your images have to be of the very highest quality, and without meaning to sound too harsh, I don't believe yours are quite there yet. You have some good scenes, but there are many technical issues ranging from tilted horizons to poor exposure, high noise, etc..

I would suggest reading up on the technical side of things, and posting images here for critique. Peer feedback and review is an excellent way to improve your work.

Thank you for your reply. I know that they only accept very good photos. I have got alot of learning to do. Maybe in the future my photo's would be good enough to sell on stock sites.

 

[orljustin]

Thank's everyone for the reply's . Another question, which are the best stock photo sites around. (High acceptance rate ect)

"replies". "photos". Do not add an apostrophe to everything you pluralize.

"Best" is in the eye of the beholder. If the extent of your efforts is submitting 2 images to Shutterstock, this isn't really your thing.

 

[KmH]

Here is a stock photography blog you may find useful - Yuri Arcurs | Home of the world's top selling microstock photographer

Do you know the differences between RF (Royalty-Free) and RM (Rights-Managed) use licensing of stock images?

How about the differences between microstock agencies and regular stock agencies.

 

[orljustin]

How about the differences between microstock agencies and regular stock agencies.

So, what is the difference?

 

[Big Mike]

First of all i want to know if anyone has any experience with selling your photos printed on canvas. Is this a good way of selling your photography? Is there a market for them?

I've sold a handful of large canvas prints. They are a nice product because they can be 'gallery wrapped' and will look nice if they are hung without a frame. Although, they can be nicely framed as well. Either way, they make a nice 'art piece'.

I don't know if anyone's mentioned it above, but another way to sell your photos is in-person. Set up a booth at art/craft shows...or any type of event that caters to the type of people who buy the type of art you want to sell. Taking that to a higher level, get your photos into a gallery or in public display somewhere (restaurants or cafes).