Photo sales are plummeting

<p>Unfortunately Frans, you live in a city that has double digit unemployment figures. I think that has a lot to do w/ it. And the surrounding cities, where people may be coming from to visit Portland, are pretty much in the same boat. International tourist destinations like 'frisco and New York are probably not feeling the downturn as badly, but who knows? Depends on your marketing and prices I suppose. Certainly it's time to do something different.</p>

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<p>Unfortunately Frans, you live in a city that has double digit unemployment figures.</p>

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<p>Don't make the mistake to think this is just a local problem. And how about you folks in New York City and San Fransisco? Do you see a sharp downturn compared to a year ago? I bet you do. Please let us know.</p>

<p>I'm not a professional photographer (I'm just doing this as a hobby) and I haven't actually sold any photos yet. I have some displayed, but not sold any. Anyway, I just saw this topic and I wanted to add my thoughts.</p>

<p>I agree with Frans. Something is going on, something much worse than just a recession. I live in southern California, and this is the absolute worst I've ever seen things. I'm only 31 though, and so I don't have that much experience with past economic events. My parents said that the recession in the early 90's was kind of bad, but nothing like this. I was a kid then, and I really didn't understand what was going on. So maybe this is the first time I've been through a recession as an adult. But this is bad. I'm seeing things that I have NEVER seen before. To give you an idea of how bad things are....there's a Union Pacific Railroad yard by the freeway, and they have had HUNDREDS of locomotives just parked on the tracks in the yard for over a year, not being used. I drive by that area all the time, and I have never seen that in all the years I've lived in California. So I started asking around. You know why those locomotives are just sitting there? There's nothing for them to do. They don't need them, because there isn't enough freight to ship! <br /><br />Now tell me that isn't scary.</p>

<p>Stores are going out of business left and right where I live. There is a street downtown, where there is an entire block of car dealerships that have closed. There's one street where almost every building is abandoned and it looks like a ghost town. You drive to almost any city now, and you'll start to see more cracks and potholes in the streets because the city doesn't have the money to keep up with street repairs. <br /><br />I hate to say it, but I'm really not surprised at all that sales of art (including photography) would be way down. In fact, I would be extremely surprised if they <em>weren't.</em></p>

<p>Suggestion: since you are photographers, but may not be making a living photographically, give your work away.</p>

<p>Give it away.</p>

<p>Do it as selectively targeted as you want. There's less shame in giving prints away than photographing cute tourist crap and selling cheaply IMO. If you can't find somebody who wants your free prints, that tells you to sell your cameras.</p>

<p>For the past half dozen years I've been making portraits of acquaintances and people I just walk up to, asking if I may do it. I promise them prints and I produce them (myself...no labs). It's very rewarding personally. Subjects usually offer significant money after I've given them prints for free. A couple did that just last week. Several have asked me to photograph weddings, which I don't do because I'm no good at it. Give it a try. If it doesn't work, get rid of your cameras.</p>

<p>If you do hope eventually to make a living with photography it'll be a good way to sharpen your chops. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>btw, when people offer money I don't take it. I make my living in other ways.</p>

<p>To some degree those replying to the OP are "Professionals", myself included. When my Doctor, Lawyer or CPA start giving away their services I will consider giving away my Art Work. Until then I / We have bills to pay just like everyone else! In todays changing world of photography even Ansel Adams would have a difficult time trying to make a living from their Artwork. Like a lot of current "Top" Pro's they have to also Teach at workshops and some run tours. Most "Professional Photographers" have to juggle several hats just to make it work for them. I'm glad you don't take their money and are making your living doing something else. Maybe this week you can perform Your Job for free. How's that sound? Not to good I hope LOL I think we are complaining more about the scary shape that our country is in and how it's effecting our businesses and NOT are we good enough to sell our photo's. If you would be so kind to buy me a new Nikon D3x I would be more than happy to give you a free photo a year for the next 30 years! LOL </p>

<p>With all due respect John, there is no shame in making photographs to sell to tourists.</p>

<p>You are concluding that what they do is shameful and valueless.<br>

Considering that the above posters make their living selling photos, telling them to give them away is not helpful. What they are doing is looking for a business strategy to make money from what they know and love.</p>

<p>What you are seeing is how very hard it is to make a living at what so many people think is an easy and pleasurable business.</p>

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<p ><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=1031365">Randall Pukalo</a> , Jul 05, 2009; 11:14 a.m.</p>

 

<p>"The REAL unemeployment rate is MUCH higher than 9.5% - the unemployment statistics only track those who are currently recieving unemployment benefits - once they exhaust those, they are droppped from the calculations! They have then "found work". Sad they dont use a more accurate method."</p>

<p>The above quote is absolutely, 100% correct. Things are much worse than we are being led to believe. I'm trying to improve my skills while business is in the dumper so I'll be ready to catch the wave when it rises again - in about 2 years.</p>

 

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<p>photographing cute tourist crap</p>

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<p>OK. Here's a link to <strong><em>my cute tourist crap</em></strong>: <a href="http://www.picasaweb.google.com/frans2001">www.picasaweb.google.com/frans2001</a><br>

I call it artistically documenting and interpreting Portland's landmarks. But who am I?</p>

<p>My photograph sales are rising. I book about a year in advance of a clients gig.</p>

<p>There are more photographs being created today than ever before in the history of humanity. Because humans are social creatures, with the many mediums to express themselves; there is a tremendous opportunity for professional photographers to make a real nice living in the 21st century.</p>

<p>Sorry, if you believe this as bragging but I'm extremely busy with people who are paying for the way I interpret life with the photographs I make.<br /> <br /> I believe the best days for professional photographers are in the future.</p>

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<p ><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=529904">Matt Snider</a> , Jul 05, 2009; 09:56 p.m.<br>

<a rel="nofollow" href="../photodb/user?user_id=1031365">Randall Pukalo</a> , Jul 05, 2009; 11:14 a.m.<br>

"The REAL unemeployment rate is MUCH higher than 9.5% - the unemployment statistics only track those who are currently recieving unemployment benefits - once they exhaust those, they are droppped from the calculations! They have then "found work". Sad they dont use a more accurate method."<br>

The above quote is absolutely, 100% correct.</p>

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<p>It's not 100% correct, it's about 70% correct. Yes they use unemployment benefits to collect a bulk of the data, but the final numbers are not just that, they also do projections based layoffs and firings and differentiate the numbers between people actively looking for work and people who have given up looking for work. They keep tabs on people who have given up looking for work, because those people will be dropped from getting unemployment benefits, so they have some kind of idea of who is in and who is out of the system. And while 9.5% doesn't sound like alot of people... how does 29 million sound?</p>

<p>The world is going to hell and the sky is falling, what's new?!</p>

<p>Frans, dont you see the signs everywhere "Putting Oregon Back to Work" ? :) I live South of Salem, go to work to portland a lot, so yes when I have to drive 1 hour to get some work; it sucks but what can I do.<br>

Youre gallery is nice, I like Portland a lot; lots of places to photograph.<br>

Good luck in with your sales :)</p>

<p>In hard times, you have just got to try harder! Get more images that are different to what you already sell.</p>

 

<p>Good Day All.<br>

I believe that the culprit is the economy, and there are many economic indicator that reflect that fact.<br>

While we were in this recession late in the Bush administration this guy obama is financially sinking this country for generations to come. He told the country himself that he wanted to spread the wealth and that is what he is doing with his stimulus package, omnibus package, cap & trade, socialized medicine. People are down right scared right now. Most people with a brain know that the country is broke and those politicians keep spending what we do not have. While in theory many of these programs and bills sound good the cold hard reality is how are they going to be paid for. Higher taxes on all of us is the answer. The top 5% do not have the income to pay for all of these programs, & that is reality.<br>

The general public is trending towards spending on necessities not so much on things like luxuries such as photographic art. So get use to it. If you voted for this guy or any of the liberally spending congress and are now upset you have nothing to complain about. They told you what they were going to do before you voted for them. If you voted for people that have a brain and can say no once in awhile then you have the right to complain.<br>

Another thing to consider is what someone is charging for their work. Just to sell something for the sake of selling something is not good business. As most of us know you have to see value in your work and charge accordingly. You have to have work that the average person taking pictures can not produce. To many time I have heard people say of my work, oh I could do that when I and many others know they can not. However just remember the general populous is often a flock of sheep that are dumber than a box of rocks.</p>

 

<p>The Market is definately oversaturated. There are so many images on the web these days that in a way the Novelty has worn off. It is true that during a bad economy photography sales plumet, but I think the world wide web has also had a major impact. </p>

<p>The more things change the more they remain the same. Every recession has caused this kind of reaction. Discressionary spending is down and will stay down for a long while.</p>

<p>One needs to find out what will sell in this market. I know cute; goslings, puppys, kittens and birds: still seems to sell locally. A local amateur just upgraded to a Nikon D90 by selling cute at the local Farmer's Market on Saturaday mornings.</p>

<p>Seems to me it was conservatives that brought this economic miracle to us all.</p>

<p><em> One reason we're having a hard time selling photographs is noted above - these days, with modern cameras being so good, every Tom, Dick, and Harry (apologies in advance to anyone here with these names) in the world can just buy a camera and take a good picture, so the attitude is "why should I pay this guy $150 for that picture of the flower when I can take one like that myself?" I exhibit in galleries, and I have actually HEARD people say this. It matters not that my photo is probably "better" than most. Money is tight now, and as we all know, selling photographs has always been tough. And by the same token and as noted above, there are just so many images out there these days so the competition is getting tougher.</em></p>

<p>"Seems to me it was conservatives that brought this economic miracle to us all." Well said, Glenn. And an "Understatement of the Year w/Tragic Humor" category nominee, for sure!</p>

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<p>...If you voted for people that have a brain and can say no once in awhile then you have the right to complain...</p>

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<p>Wayne, do you mean someone like your boy W? The one who never vetoed a single spending bill that his "conservative" Republican Congress brought before him? In eight years. After inheriting a sizable surplus. Try to get real. Even politics aside, and I feel little strong allegiance either way on that, are we living on the same planet, or is this the "Photo Twilight Zone"?</p>

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<p>Glenn wrote:</p>

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<p>One needs to find out what will sell in this market...</p>

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<p>Seems the logical approach to take. I have this <strong>one </strong> New Zealand scenic on my home wall. A friend who is a wedding and portrait professional once suggested that if I made multiple budget standard machine copies, <strong>did the framing myself of course </strong> that it would sell at the fence near the zoo on Sundays. Like all business, go for low production cost. Get the frames in Tijuana etc. Spray them yourself. Goal is to just sustain oneself in hard times and these are the hardest in memory. And incidentally, have a side line if you can. Network with others in the same fix. Do o teaching of photoshop at an adult ed school?....Subcontract with studios during wedding season....</p>

<p>In Hawaii it has always been a ferocious racket for the professional photographer due to price competition. No quarter from community college grads who chose photography,live at home ,will work almost for free.<br /> I wish you well. Retired fortunately and have enough to manage. Will travel less,but do my best to contribute to the arts and media with donations.</p>

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<p>Just as a for instance,not as an exemplary photo - this is the Mount Cook landscape that the chap said people might buy framed to plug their wall space. Home visitors will even say " Gee, that is a nice frame. So,heck, you are selling space fillers and frames..tourist stuff. Why not.</p><div></div>

<p><em>"...artistically documenting and interpreting Portland's landmarks"</em><br>

<strong>How are sales?</strong> </p>

<p><em>"...there is no shame in making photographs to sell to tourists."</em><br>

Lacking tourists, a shameless person may want to address a different market, perhaps with a different craft (<strong>waiting on tables</strong> is big with actors).</p>

<p><em>".. find out what will sell in this market. I know cute; goslings, puppys, kittens and birds.."</em><br>

Glenn, Glenn, Glenn! Who knew you were <strong>a softie at heart</strong> ? :-)</p>

<p><em>"...the general populous is often a flock of sheep that are dumber than a box of rocks."</em><br>

At last! Someone with <strong>the guts to advocate North Korean political theory</strong>.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>"Glenn, Glenn, Glenn! Who knew you were <strong>a softie at heart</strong> ? :-)"</p>

<p>Don't be fooled John. Just because I know what cute is doesn't mean I like cute or shoot it. Only my grandchildren can pull the heart strings.</p>

<p>Gerry:<br>

Nice Photo.<br>

You missed the point, or I could not have explained it well enough, either way it is obvious that it was not accurately taken.. I acknowledged the faults of the past administration. What I was pointing out that in addition to that this present administration has spent more money in his first 100 days than all administrations previously in the history of the USA. I do not know about where you are in Hawaii but in this part of the country people were nervous before that happened and now they are down right scared as they see friends, family and neighbors loosing jobs, houses etc. and the constant talk in this "liberal" state is how there is too much money being spent by all of government now, by both the administration and the congress. Ninety percent of the people I run into are really, really scared about the future right now. They are cutting back on all things never mind the point I was making of cutting back on nonessential spending like photography. I was trying to illustrate some economic reasons for peoples changing spending habits. My Photography is only one of our three business's that is down as are the other two. The business that I see that are busy are putting themselves out of business because the are charging so little money that they are actually loosing money.<br>

I also point out to them that they asked for what is being spent now and they have to live with what they asked for. Where is that money going to come from? You, me, our kids and grand kids etc, people know it and are pulling in their horns now instead of latter. The bottom line is that the economy is a large factor in effecting peoples spending habits. You can lead a horse to water but you can not make him drink. You can make fantastic photographic art but you can not make them by.<br>

Now if you would please, be careful about who you say my boy is or was. I never indicated that I supported one party over another. I tried to point out the foibles of both. Personally I think that they are all to blame and should be held accontiable. I would dare to venture that if one could not see the fault of all, present and past, then I would tend to agree with you that we are living in the " Photo Twilite Zone ". Like that Photo.</p>

<p>Others wrote:<br /><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=1717776">Patrick Dempsey</a> <a href="../member-status-icons"><img title="Frequent poster" src="http://static.photo.net/v3graphics/member-status-icons/1roll.gif" alt="" /></a>, Jul 06, 2009; 01:16 a.m.</p>

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<p><a rel="nofollow" href="../photodb/user?user_id=529904">Matt Snider</a> , Jul 05, 2009; 09:56 p.m.<br /><a rel="nofollow" href="../photodb/user?user_id=1031365">Randall Pukalo</a> , Jul 05, 2009; 11:14 a.m.<br />"The REAL unemeployment rate is MUCH higher than 9.5% - the unemployment statistics only track those who are currently recieving unemployment benefits - once they exhaust those, they are droppped from the calculations! They have then "found work". Sad they dont use a more accurate method."<br />The above quote is absolutely, 100% correct.</p>

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<p>It's not 100% correct, it's about 70% correct. Yes they use unemployment benefits to collect a bulk of the data, but the final numbers are not just that, they also do projections based layoffs and firings and differentiate the numbers between people actively looking for work and people who have given up looking for work. They keep tabs on people who have given up looking for work, because those people will be dropped from getting unemployment benefits, so they have some kind of idea of who is in and who is out of the system. And while 9.5% doesn't sound like alot of people... how does 29 million sound?</p>

<p><strong>Free Rider answers</strong>:<br /><br />Nope, not correct. The unemployment rate is part of the Household Survey. A sample of households is chosen and the people asked whether or not they are working. Working part time is working. Not working and not looking for a job is not in the labor force. The unemployment rate is the ratio of those not working over those in the labor force.<br /><br />"The <strong>Current Population Survey (CPS)</strong> is a monthly survey of households conducted by the Bureau of Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It provides a comprehensive body of data on the: <strong>labor force</strong>, <strong>employment</strong>, <strong>unemployment</strong> and <strong>persons not in the labor force" <a href="http://www.bls.gov/cps/">http://www.bls.gov/cps/</a></strong></p>