Selling photographs - DPChallenge Forums

10/07/2010 06:10:56 PM · #1

Hello! I am new here posting, although I have read this site for a while as "guest." Yes, I am the guest you've seen at the bottom of the page for the last week! :D

I bought my first camera for $5 in a 5 and 10 when I was about 5, and I still have the three pictures that came from it. I've moved onward and upward, started using digital in 2001.

I am not a professional, and I know that I am not a professional. There are things you talk about that leave me totally clueless. I would never be the one taking someone's wedding pictures, but I do take the occassional good photo. And that is where my question comes in.

Please give me good advice, but not heartlessly. I would like to try to sell some of my photos on Ebay and Etsy. I would like to do this with the least monetary risk to me, because I am not in the position for risk right now.

I would like to be able to sell my picture, and then have a place print it, and mail it from their lab. I was thinking Mpix for that?

Also, how should I figure what to charge? I don't want to charge too much since I'm not a professional, but I don't want to give it away either?

What size (5 X7, 8 X 10, 11 x 14) would be good for me to offer since I use a 8 pixel Olympus Stylus 820, not a DSLR, yet.? I don't want the print to look "ameuteurish" IYKWIM? What type of paper? What finish? Should I sign the front or back (I'm thinking front so it can't be copied and sold again)

And also, any tips that you could give me? Thank-you

Mary

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

10/07/2010 06:52:28 PM · #2

Wow, 18 views and not even a hello?

Hello! :D

kleski

Canon EOS-7D

10/07/2010 06:57:23 PM · #3

Become a member and you can use DPC prints to sell and print. The cost is only $25 a year.

oh yeah, Hello!

Message edited by author 2010-10-07 18:57:40.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

10/07/2010 07:07:21 PM · #4

Hello, mom! I don't sell prints here so I can't help with that. You can ask me about Topaz though :-)

R.

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D

10/07/2010 07:21:25 PM · #5

Hello Bear and Kileski!!! :)

David Ey

Nikon D80

10/07/2010 07:33:57 PM · #6

Hey mom, have you seen my hello?

Olympus 7-14mm f/4.0 Zuiko Digital Zoom

10/07/2010 07:39:37 PM · #7

I see it now on the forum. Hello David!

one2one

Olympus E-5

10/07/2010 08:49:14 PM · #8

"I use a 8 pixel Olympus Stylus 820"

That's got to be the tiniest sensor ever built. :)

Hi momsince1980. Have you checked local labs? It's always better to see a print before
sending them off to customers. I don't know how consistent Mpix is but I would make sure
you know their quality before having prints sent directly to your clients.

10/08/2010 05:41:16 PM · #9

Good advice about seein the print first.

10/16/2010 09:29:50 AM · #10

your best bet would be to get a smugmug account where all you have to do us upload your images, pick the products you want to offer, and then set your prices. you can look through other smugmug accounts to see what others are charging and then set your prices where you feel comfortable. smugmug has a strong reputation of delivering quality products and guaranteeing their products. that's what i would do if i was just getting started out.

10/17/2010 04:55:57 PM · #11

Thank-you Skip. Off to check out SmugMug!

Simms

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

10/17/2010 05:06:39 PM · #12

Welcome Mary!!

OK, the thing you have to ask yourself is -- do you think your work is of a sellable standard? Has anyone approached you before and asked to buy your prints? Can we see sample of your work - a lot of the people here are pretty cool but have a hard time telling people the truth about their shots.. Me? I tell it like it is.
So, you have decided to sell some prints.. GOOD ON YA!! so you understand colour and print profiles and how they relate to each other - you know how to softproof your work before sending it off to print? I am not saying you NEED to know this stuff, but if you want to make money from your work (which I am assuming is of a pretty high quality) then its a good idea knowing how the images on your calibrated screen will translate into print when factoring in things such as the printer being used and the media it is being printed on and also the finish (for example, blacks can look a lot different on different finishe/media such as gloss,matt,lustre, metallic or canvas).
BUT, you have made the right step in sticking your head above the wall and asking in here first, you will get HEAPS of great info if you require it.
Good luck - is a competitive market out there!

Message edited by author 2010-10-17 17:07:15.

10/17/2010 07:58:18 PM · #13

Originally posted by Simms:

you're kidding, of course, that anyone needs to know any of that stuff to make money. high-end art buyers might nit-pick, but the average consumer is so used to just seeing stuff on the internet that almost any print is going to look good, especially if it comes from a half-decent lab...

;-)

Simms

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

10/18/2010 05:34:43 AM · #14

Originally posted by Skip:

Originally posted by Simms:
Welcome Mary!!

OK, the thing you have to ask yourself is -- do you think your work is of a sellable standard? Has anyone approached you before and asked to buy your prints? Can we see sample of your work - a lot of the people here are pretty cool but have a hard time telling people the truth about their shots.. Me? I tell it like it is.
So, you have decided to sell some prints.. GOOD ON YA!! so you understand colour and print profiles and how they relate to each other - you know how to softproof your work before sending it off to print? I am not saying you NEED to know this stuff, but if you want to make money from your work (which I am assuming is of a pretty high quality) then its a good idea knowing how the images on your calibrated screen will translate into print when factoring in things such as the printer being used and the media it is being printed on and also the finish (for example, blacks can look a lot different on different finishe/media such as gloss,matt,lustre, metallic or canvas).
BUT, you have made the right step in sticking your head above the wall and asking in here first, you will get HEAPS of great info if you require it.
Good luck - is a competitive market out there!

you're kidding, of course, that anyone needs to know any of that stuff to make money. high-end art buyers might nit-pick, but the average consumer is so used to just seeing stuff on the internet that almost any print is going to look good, especially if it comes from a half-decent lab...

;-)

Ijust call it professional pride. If you dont have pride in your own work then why expect anyone to pay Â£Â£Â£ (or $$$) for it.

10/18/2010 06:15:06 AM · #15

Originally posted by Simms:

Originally posted by Skip:

Originally posted by Simms:
Welcome Mary!!

OK, the thing you have to ask yourself is -- do you think your work is of a sellable standard? Has anyone approached you before and asked to buy your prints? Can we see sample of your work - a lot of the people here are pretty cool but have a hard time telling people the truth about their shots.. Me? I tell it like it is.
So, you have decided to sell some prints.. GOOD ON YA!! so you understand colour and print profiles and how they relate to each other - you know how to softproof your work before sending it off to print? I am not saying you NEED to know this stuff, but if you want to make money from your work (which I am assuming is of a pretty high quality) then its a good idea knowing how the images on your calibrated screen will translate into print when factoring in things such as the printer being used and the media it is being printed on and also the finish (for example, blacks can look a lot different on different finishe/media such as gloss,matt,lustre, metallic or canvas).
BUT, you have made the right step in sticking your head above the wall and asking in here first, you will get HEAPS of great info if you require it.
Good luck - is a competitive market out there!

you're kidding, of course, that anyone needs to know any of that stuff to make money. high-end art buyers might nit-pick, but the average consumer is so used to just seeing stuff on the internet that almost any print is going to look good, especially if it comes from a half-decent lab...

;-)

I just call it professional pride. If you dont have pride in your own work then why expect anyone to pay Â£Â£Â£ (or $$$) for it.

i'd call it common sense...the more you learn, the more you earn ;-)

Olympus 50mm f/1.8 MF Normal Zuiko

10/19/2010 04:19:31 PM · #16

LOL!!! Thank-you!

I have sold a couple of pictures, black and white, to a newspaper.
In school, the teacher thought I had promise, but my parents didn't believe in "artsy" things, so I never got to study further.

I would love, love love to learn more. Skip, I have NO idea of anything you are talking about, but I would like to learn.

I have some pics on flickr, not my best work, yet. Under momsince1980

Thankyou!

emorgan49

Olympus E-5

10/19/2010 06:15:45 PM · #17

Think locally - people will buy a photo of their own quaint town library before not a generic quaint library.

10/20/2010 11:55:24 AM · #18

[thumb]//www.flickr.com/photos/momsince1980/[/thumb]

These are my pics on Flickr

Mom
[thumb]marynate.blogspot.com[/thumb]

Artifacts

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

10/20/2010 06:48:21 PM · #19

Originally posted by momsince1980:

... I am not a professional, and I know that I am not a professional. There are things you talk about that leave me totally clueless. I would never be the one taking someone's wedding pictures, but I do take the occassional good photo. .. any tips that you could give me? Thank-you

I will start with the best tip I have...

Please yourself first!

That is a tip as useful for a top professional photographer with the best equipment in the world as it is for you with your pocket Olympus 820.

If you take pride in what you do and always do it to the best of your ability and like it then you will achieve success with whatever camera you use.

Regarding print sizes:
Your Olympus should be able to easily handle all the print sizes you listed.
My old Sony produced a 5 megapixel image that captures much less data than your 8 megapixel Olympus and I recently cropped one of my old images taken with it and blew it up to 9 FEET tall by 28 FEET wide. That is huge. It is being set into a wall in a hospital. So its possible to make a huge print taken with a modest camera. Bigger pictures, however, require additional work to retain quality and the larger the image the more work they will need.

Regarding Prices:
You can start by going through the collections at DPCPrints to see what photographers there charge for various sizes of pictures they offer for sale. Figure the prices for yours to be about the same as theirs for similar pictures.

Mike

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

10/20/2010 07:44:51 PM · #20

has anyone ever contacted anyone here about images on the site? just curious

WriteHeart

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

10/20/2010 07:49:34 PM · #21

fixed link (hopefully)

MelonMusketeer

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

10/20/2010 08:52:01 PM · #22

Can't help you, but Howdy anyway.
Getting a membership here and putting a few prints for sale would be a great way to test the market. You would not only get your prints out there to sell, but you would also have access to the perks of being a member.
This is a good site. Addictive, but good.

10/22/2010 06:32:08 AM · #23

Originally posted by mike_311:

has anyone ever contacted anyone here about images on the site? just curious

as far as "anyone ever" goes, the answer is "yes" ;-)

i've bought some, i've sold a few, and i imagine some have sold more than a few. i know a LOT have been 'used without permission'...

there is a HIGH degree of marketability for images on this site, but it won't happen through the site. it's up to individuals to do their own thing, whether on their own or in collaboration with others.

louinsd

Sony DSLR-A900

Sony 16mm f2.8 (E-mount)

10/22/2010 09:55:26 AM · #24

Originally posted by momsince1980:

[thumb]//www.flickr.com/photos/momsince1980/[/thumb]

These are my pics on Flickr

Mom
[thumb]marynate.blogspot.com[/thumb]

Hi Mom,

One of the reasons that I joined this site was to do a reality check on myself. I would love to make some money selling my photographs, but to be quite honest I really don't think I'm at the level of quality yet that people would dig into thier pockets and pay for. As you can see on here, I have a couple of pictures that have scored in the 6's but nothing that has gone any higher.

I just say this as I kind of think you are in the same boat. Your pictures are very nice, but I'm just not sure they are at a point that someone would pay to put them on their wall yet. Keep in mind that I'm not an art critic, and that I'm only expressing my own opinion.

The other reason why I joined this site is that it causes me to try new things. You seem to be limited in your discressionary funds (most moms are) and may not have the clams to join... You may want to follow the challenges and try some new things. Explore different methods and ideas. You seem to be passionate about photography, why don't you try to play, learn and grow for a while.

Just my thoughts...

Lou