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Genius Printing Exhibition - Resources |
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INSIGHT: Selling your images as an enthusiast photographer
You are sitting with your friends (or nowadays more likely on Facebook) showing some of your photos from a recent trip. One or more of your shots receive the comment, "wow, nice picture - you should sell your stuff, seriously!"
If you are like many budding photographers, you've had those kinds of comments about your work but are left with that empty feeling of uncertainty. "How do I sell my photography?" "WHERE do I sell it?" "And how much should I charge?"
Genius Printing sat down with one of our amazing judges, Samuel Burns to discuss this very problem. As an award winning Australian photographer who has extensively travelled Australia and North America, selling his work for many years, he brings into focus the answers that many of you have likely been unable to capture.
In this two part interview, we first focus on how much to charge for your work and where you can begin selling. In part two we'll look at ways in improve your skills and what sort of equipment you should look at.
PART ONE: Money, money, money!
How did you start out and where did you get the motivation / inspiration from?
Having always been fascinated with photography as a child I never had the opportunity to own a camera, yet the desire to learn about photography sat dormant in the back of my mind. At age 21 one of my friends purchased an early Digital SLR and managed to sell some photographs to a local newspaper, I figured if he could do it then so could I. One week later I bought my very own Digital SLR, thus began my passion for photography. Through countless hours of experimentation and research, studying other photographers' work and trial and error, I have developed my skills to where I am today.
Should photographers trust their own opinion (or that of their friends) about the quality of their work?
It is essential that you believe in yourself and the quality of your work. The photographic field can be a difficult one to crack. Be prepared for many hurdles and knock backs, perseverance is key as is a strong belief in your work and ideas. If your friends and family are saying wow, great shot then there is a fair chance other people will like your work or you have a natural ability that can be built upon. Photography forums, photo blogs and sites such as Flickr offer a great way to have your work critiqued, which in turn should help you gain a better understanding of where the quality of your work sits. Take criticism on board and learn from it. The beauty of being a photographer is that if the passion is there you will never stop learning and discovering. If you know your work is good and you're driven to become better and make it in photography then the most important thing is to just get out there and do it.
What are some ways a photographer can get their name out there / get their work out there?
In the digital era a photographer is presented with many opportunities to present their work to the public. Whilst you may not make sales, upload your best work to photo blogs and sites such as Flickr, use the comments and criticism to grow whilst also beginning to build some presence amongst your peers.
The second step I would recommend is to build your own website. There are plenty of purpose built template sites around these days they you can upload your work to and customize as you see fit, all for a modest fee. A few that spring to mind are IFP3.com, Clikpic.com, Photium.com. Do your research and see what other photographers are saying and what templates may work for you. There is no shortage of such website services out there.
Numerous micro stock companies such as istockphoto.com, shutterstock.com, ozimages.com.au, etc are willing to accept photographs from amateur or hobbyist photographers. In return they offer your images for sale through an online database. Typical clients may include web designers, graphic designers, advertising agencies, publishers or anyone searching for a specific image to suit their needs. Whilst I wouldn't expect to retire on the money you earn there are plenty of photographers earning some spare change through micro stock and it offers one more means of promoting your work. Who knows, your photograph may end up on the cover of the next bestselling novel!
Although the digital age presents us with many cheap means of marketing our work I have still found the traditional marketing methodologies to prove best. Nothing beats having people see your work in person, to see the quality of your prints with their own eyes and be presented with a tactile object. For this reason competitions, group and solo exhibitions or displays in retail stores and galleries offer a great method of promotion and are most likely to develop your name and make sales. At first I would concentrate on group shows, shows such as those run by Genius Printing and Brunswick Street Gallery offer fantastic opportunities for emerging photographers to have their work seen. Pursue shows such as these, approach local café's and get your work hanging, you never know who will see it and present you with further opportunities. The one thing that is certain, if your work is not out there it will never become known.
Well known photographers sell their work for thousands of dollars and others for a few hundred dollars. How can someone know what to charge?
Whether selling prints, digital files or quoting for a photo shoot pricing is one of the biggest challenges photographers are faced with and one area where there are no hard and fast rules.
Over the years pricing has presented many dilemmas for me personally. Am I charging too much? Too little? Will people buy more work if I lower my prices? One needs to look at what value you place on your work and your time, be realistic about where you stand in the market but at the same time don't undervalue your work.
Organisations such as The ACMP and AIPP and publications such as Capture Magazine are a great place to start when looking at the general industry standards. Another great method of pricing is to research, understand the quality of your work and where you fit into the market and look at what similar photographers are charging. Pay attention to what more and less established photographers are charging and it will soon become apparent what customers should expect to be paying. Just remember, you need to at least cover your time, and production costs. Giving your work away for next to nothing is helping nobody.
That makes sense, but many of our customers and those entering this competition are probably quite happy only making a few dollars so why not charge as low as a possible?
One of the big mistakes newcomers make is to price their work well below market value in the thought that they will sell work based on their pricing. This simply doesn't work and in the long term works against both yourself and the photographic industry as a whole. There will always be clients willing to pay for quality so my best advice would be to produce quality work and charge appropriately.
Stay tuned for PART TWO of this interview where we talk to Samuel about what type of images are most profitable, what medium to display your work on and how to improve your skills.
Subscribe to the competition mailing list (above) to receive updates throughout the competition period.
Samuel Burns is one of four judges for this competition. See the judging section to learn more.
Samuel Burns has a website where you can learn more about his work: http://www.samburns.com.au/
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