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Posted 4/20/2008 4:44:09 AM
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I'm one of those amatuer photographers that likes to take pictures of landscapes and things that are a little bit odd.
I've gotten a good amount of positive feedback on my landscapes, and I was thinking about how to get them sold.
I've tried some stock agencies, but from what I can understand, most of them are interested in pictures with people in them, or isolated still life photography.
I tried to publish some of my pictures at http://www.artistrising.com/galleries/robinsmidsrod, but a few months into that it doesn't seem to work either.
Are there stock agencies that work with landscape photography, or do you have suggestions for other outlets that will work? I'm a web developer by profession, so naturally my preference is the web-related alternatives in marketing.
In some of the stores in my city I see artwork printed in big frames that are ready to be hung on the wall. What do you do to get your work into the collection of distributors like this? Do they only handle work from professionals, or do amatuers also have somewhere to go with their artwork?
I hope some of you have had success with selling your landscape photos, and I'm eager to hear how you did it.
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 Posted 4/20/2008 6:49:18 AM
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I wish I could report that my sales from my Internet offerings were great. Unfortunately, my website sales are insignificant. That's not how people find and buy my landscape images. That doesn't mean there isn't a market for wonderful landscapes and wildlife photos. It does mean you have to discover what your market is and how to merchandise your work.
Location is crucial. Four million tourists travel within visual distance of my retail locations each year. My work is displayed where everyone must funnel past. My landscape images which sell best represent the memories they want to take home with them to decorate their homes.... reminders of a place these people love and want to think of often. There's not much wilderness left and people treasure images of places which represent freedom and pristine beauty. You won't find humans or signs of civilization in my landscape images. That is by design. I have been strongly influenced by the photography of Ansel Adams and the writings of Edward Abbey, "Desert Solitaire". (Anyway, those are the bases for my inspiration.)
Format of your images is very important. I sell specifically sized images designed to offer an affordable product for a wide spectrum of buyers. Greeting cards, note pads, small matted prints, T-shirts, large matted prints, small framed prints, large framed prints and large museum wrapped gicleés. The largest gicleé I offer is 32x46. But, I have had inquiries for larger images. I highly recommend establishing a pro account at canvasondemand.com. They offer a high quality product at a great price. Other than the large canvas and very large prints, I print all other prints at home on my Canon i9900. (Looking to step up to a larger format printer this year.)
My markup is about 2.2x. In general, 90% of my photography goes home with the customer as a ready-to-hang framed print. My wife is an expert at colors, matting and framing. We do all our own framing and matting at our home workshop. We keep our costs low which helps keep our price point competitive. We are frequent shoppers at the occasion sales of frames at Michael's and HobbyLobby. We have our own sales tax license, so our purchase of framing and matting materials are tax free, because they are destined to be for resale.
Understand your competition! In my tourist town, it is not uncommon to find artwork for sale for thousands of dollars. Much of this is oil or acrylic or watercolor, but some of the old school photographers try to sell their large format film camera images for high prices, too. I do compete with the high end in quality of presentation, but my price point is much lower. Digital photography has equaled or exceeded the quality of the large format film photographer. This just happened in the past two years. And, my cost of producing a large format photo on canvas or 100 year archival paper is a fraction of the cost experienced by the film guy. Since I produce almost all my own framed work at home, I've discovered a very reliable market for what I offer.
Selling numbered and signed prints is a key to success. All of my prints are offered as limited edition, numbered prints with my signature and date of image capture. This makes each print or gicleé unique and special to the buyer. It really helps sales. I'm starting to experience repeat buyers... people who bought last year and are returning this year for this season's work. A very pleasant experience.
Currently, I work with five retail locations. At one location I rent a portion of a retail store. The other four are consignment arrangements. Typically, the retailer keeps 40% of all sales. This is another reason to keep your costs low, so that your 60% net pays back enough to you to allow at least a 100% margin.
Sorry for the length of this post. Just wanted to share some experiences. i certainly do not have it all figured out, but my sales are growing. I'm always looking for ways to increase sales. And, of course, the number one way is to capture great landscape and wildlife images. Maybe others will have experiences and ideas to offer.
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Posted 4/20/2008 7:49:27 AM
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Once again....Richard...what a wonderful reply. The information you pass along in many forum posts is often pertinent, interesting and always a pleasure to read. I have never considered selling images, but last night I tried printing an 8 by 10 for a birthday present. This was my first attempt at printing, and I was amazed at how much I did not know!! Seems to me to be another whole new world of things to learn and understand...
Nice to hear that you have so much figured out....No apologies needed for length of post....though it is not my post..I wanted to thank you for sharing this and say
Good luck to Robin!
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Posted 4/20/2008 8:21:50 AM
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Sea Belle (4/20/2008)
Once again....Richard...what a wonderful reply. The information you pass along in many forum posts is often pertinent, interesting and always a pleasure to read. I have never considered selling images, but last night I tried printing an 8 by 10 for a birthday present. This was my first attempt at printing, and I was amazed at how much I did not know!! Seems to me to be another whole new world of things to learn and understand...
Nice to hear that you have so much figured out....No apologies needed for length of post....though it is not my post..I wanted to thank you for sharing this and say
Good luck to Robin!You said it all before I could! I'd also like to thank you, Richard...for your, in my mind, not long enough list of very good things to know and consider. It's one thing to read 'how to' from a book or online, but hear it first hand from someone who has done it....well...that's a 'horse of a different color'. Thanks! ~L
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Posted 4/20/2008 1:27:40 PM
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| Richard, once again I have to say that you go above and beyond to educate and help the rest of us. Although I don't expect to ever sell retail landscapes, your forum post was fascinating to read. In answer to the original post, you may find some microstock photo agencies that will accept your (or some) landscapes. I sell a few things through Fotolia. The problem is that the pay is not great. I've had about 30 sales and made about $30, so don't expect to get rich.
Go when you can, go where you can, shoot what you can
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Posted 4/21/2008 9:03:57 AM
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Yes great post Richard! The part about signing and dating them as a way to increase sales would have surprised me before but not now. For school we had to manage a gallery show project using at least 10 prints on display. Our groups theme was land, sea, and city scapes. I don't shoot much of these type of shots but a patron to the library where we had the show wanted to buy one of my seascapes as a wedding gift. Her first question was whether or not I sign and number them and the second was what is the largest I could make it.
Richard I have a question for you. How do you figure out how much it is costing you for ink per print when you print your own? Where can you find the best deals on ink and paper?
Linda
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Posted 4/21/2008 9:27:08 AM
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SkyBlueRose (4/21/2008)
...Richard I have a question for you. How do you figure out how much it is costing you for ink per print when you print your own? Where can you find the best deals on ink and paper?
Linda
I've printed enough big prints and consumed plenty of paper and ink to know the average cost of ink and paper. You do have to keep track of images printed and supplies reordered. It varies by size of print, of course, but a 13"x19" print in full color will cost about $5.00. That does not include the depreciation on the printer and computer, but those are fixed costs, (as in sunk costs). So, the relevant variable cost is the cost of the ink and paper.
With regards to best deals on ink and paper, I have strong opinions. I have tried generic inks because they are less than half the cost of the manufacturer's inks. Generic inks are terrible!!!! They don't flow well through my printer. They tend to leak all over the place, including my hands and onto the prints. I don't think generic inks hold up well in UV light and in general, over time. So, I constantly search for the best price and sales on the Canon inks designed for my printer.
For paper and inks, I really like the quality of products and service of RedRiverPaper. I especially like their premium papers. I use 68lb. UltraPro Satin 2.0 the most, but some of their new Arctic Polar Premium papers are very good, I hear.
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Posted 4/21/2008 11:15:35 AM
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Hats off Richard, what a nice man you are, always there to help others, this site and we all are honoured to have you with us. I really mean it.
A person who loses god loses everything, and a person who gets god gets everything.
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Posted 4/21/2008 5:12:30 PM
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