Doing Something With These Images...Selling, Showing, Publishing, Etc.

[Sage7]

I'm new to photography and although I've only just begun to learn, I've already

had a couple of people ask if I could display my images. Their questions began

to spawn questions of my own.

 

1. How do I print these images in a quality format where people could appreicate

looking at them? How could I frame these images? Would it be best to have

someone do these things for me and exactly where would I go?

 

2. I've seen a couple of shops where people have sold their work. I'm curious

as to how one generates an audience or interest people in buying photographs?

How do you put a price to them?

 

3. How do you publish your images? What if I wanted to try and have my pictures

published, how would I do this?

 

Thanks for your time. I look forward to your posts.

 

All the best,

 

Joseph.

[beauh44]

Hi Joseph, I feel only mildly qualified to take a stab at your question #1; however I can BS a little on some of the others! :-)

 

If you don't already own a home, "digital darkroom" and understand lots of relatively new concepts like color management, inkjet printing, scanning (if you're using film) etc., I'd send your files/negs/slides to a good printer unless you have the spare time to learn how to get good results with lots of new equipment and software. I've been banging my head on the wall for 3-4 years now (printing at home) and learn something new every day. Most people are probably smarter than I am, though.

 

Framing's pretty tough too in order to get superior results but again I'm sure you could learn it if you don't already know how. Much depends on volume. If you had the good fortune to have someone order 150 prints of your work you'd simply have to find a place that can do it; that would be pretty tough at home.

 

For example, I usually print my own on an inkjet but if I've shot a wedding or something that a bunch of prints are called for, I'll farm that out to some place like Mpix. If I stick to their regular Kodak paper and send them color, sRGB files, they come back looking great for the most part - and if you're not happy they'll try again without charge.

 

You'll have more control doing it yourself but if you have the good fortune to become very busy, you'll be at your computer so much you won't be taking pictures!

 

I'm sure this varies but I live in a small town. Nobody here's gonna pay me much - if anything - for me to hang a print of Bigfoot if I had one. However, there are plenty who'd do it "gratis" - for free - and put my name and/or business card up there beside the print. Your location may vary and if you are in a big city your prints must stand out.

 

Pricing is relative too. If you live in a big city you can figure that there are, at the very least, a LOT of excellent photographers. The competition is steep. If you have another flower or bird photo, it better be a really, really good one!

 

You can publish your images yourself. (Goggle self published photo) Or you can make small copies for the web and submit them to stock agencies, magazines, advertising companies, etc. to see if they might want to buy your work.

 

Be patient. All of these things don't happen all at once for most people. It takes a while. I haven't seen your work; perhaps it's superior to most but if by chance it's not you'll have to practice your craft of photography and you just might prefer to spend the day taking pictures than cursing an inkjet printer with a clogged head. Good luck!

[frank uhlig]

" ...I'm new to photography and although I've only just begun to learn, I've already had a couple of people ask if I could ...."

 

I think they were just complementing your early work, no more, no less.

 

Wait a couple of years before you go after "publishing" etc. And refine your craft into consistency and high quality instead; and then later maybe into art. Straw fires do not last long; and one never knows what kind of flames burn inside of oneself regarding photo images after the first set of nice shots.

 

By that time you will know from the grapevine what to do to exhibit, market, sell, ... Good luck and hard work to you!

[dusty2004]

I can answer some of your questions in regards to having your work published. First let me warn you that you must be able to deal with rejection. Second it is simply hard work and there are no short cuts.

Patience and perserverance and a dogged determination will help too. My first step into having work published was to enter competitions in photographic magazines. This helps your confidence. From there on I moved to greeting card companies. I simply wrote to them to see if they were open to submissions. If so I presented a portfolio of my best images. Quality is important here not quantity. I was fortunate that in most cases they accepted a set of images. This again boosts your confidence. From there I went upmarket and approached larger firms. Many larger firms actually seek submissions. Write to them for further details or check the internet for their requirments. I would like to stress that your work must a least match their quality. I had a least ten years of experience behind me before I even considered to submit my work. It is a very exciting thing to see your work on cards and calenders. My last piece of advice to you is spend a lot of time sharpening your axe before you cut down a tree. It will save disappointment. My best wishes to you Joseph.

[Sage7]

I wanted to say thank you all for taking the time to write with such great advice. I appreciate your words & your time, I'm very impressed with the insight from all of your experience. I'll take the words to heart & continue to "sharpen my axe." Thank you.