My First Show - July 2010 - DPChallenge Forums

07/01/2010 04:24:10 PM · #1

A while back (in April) I mentioned I was scheduled to have my own show at the local Starbucks, but that ended up getting postponed due to them double booking. They moved me to July, and so you know what that means...

I'm up! (Well, my photos are up, but I'm pretty up about it :) )

I just came back from hanging them, and the shots were generating a lot of buzz and positive feedback. I ended up going with all canvases. I have a lot of them now, and that's what I'm most keen on selling too.

Just before I left, I snapped a few shots with my wife's little Lumix TZ3. Wasn't going for great shots...just documenting the event.

For publicity, I am giving out bookmarks (as discussed in another thread) and my new cards. Plus, I hung up a little advert/info 8x10 in a frame. You can see it hanging there, but here's the content:

They will be there for a month.

I also have shows now scheduled in Oct and Nov at several other coffee houses in the area. Now if I can only get a "real" show in the art circles. :)

Thanks to those who gave me advice about the show, and to the DPC community in general, with whom I am excited to share this news.

I did miss getting one shot up...water colors. But the manager showed me a spot I can go hang in later this week. And she said I would be welcome to come and rotate (i.e., add other photos) mid month if I wanted. Woot!

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

07/01/2010 04:29:11 PM · #2

An impressive gallery, Neil! Hope you sell some and get a few jobs out of the show. Keep us updated:)

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

07/01/2010 04:30:09 PM · #3

How fun!! Book marks are a fabulous idea! And the advert looks great -- your shots look like the glow.

Have you been sitting in the starbucks all day to see if people are noticing and what they've been saying?

MinsoPhoto

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

07/01/2010 08:52:58 PM · #4

Nice work, congrats. Hope this is a huge success for you.

JustCaree

Canon EOS-1000D Rebel XS

07/01/2010 09:20:17 PM · #5

WOW!!! Impressive!!

briantammy

Olympus PEN E-P3

Konica Minolta MF 85mm f/1.7

07/01/2010 09:33:13 PM · #6

how cool.

spiritualspatula

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

07/01/2010 09:35:28 PM · #7

Congratulations Neil! Glad to see you got the bookmarks and (almost) everything ready in time. It all looks excellent.

Nikon D200

07/01/2010 09:40:02 PM · #8

Great job, Neil.

Did you get your free business cards yet?

CJinCA

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

07/01/2010 09:50:55 PM · #9

CONGRATULATIONS Neil! The gallery looks terrific. Good Luck with your shows and I hope you make a lot of sales! :-)

bassbone

Nikon Df

Nikon MF 105mm f/2.5 AIS

07/01/2010 09:54:00 PM · #10

Great stuff Neil. Congrats on the awesome gallery showing.

SandyP

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 USM

07/01/2010 09:55:04 PM · #11

What an honor! Your work really looks fantastic hanging on that wall! I'm very happy for you! Congratulations!

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

07/01/2010 11:20:22 PM · #12

Thanks!

If the buzz I saw today keeps up, things should go well. Plus, I was worried that they would not have a lot of people coming through there once school ended (it's near the high school), but there was a lot of traffic there today.

I'm going to try some Moo cards too. Can't beat the price for free!

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

07/01/2010 11:25:03 PM · #13

Very nice, Neil - congrats!! The little 8x10 minicatalog is a great idea. And ALL Starbucks get decent foot traffic. There are tons of addicts out there, not that I would know anything about that, of course....

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

07/02/2010 02:36:49 PM · #14

Coming full circle, I got three new canvases in the mail today. Came out great, but I found it most amusing that I got a $5 Starbucks gift card with my order, which, of course, will pay for my coffee when I go to "visit" my other canvases!

I hadn't thought about it much before, but I guess there's a kind of partnership with CanvasOnDemand and Starbucks. I should tell them that my Canvases, all produced by them, are now on display at Starbucks!

mycelium

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

07/02/2010 02:44:00 PM · #15

Just noticed this thread. Way to go, Neil! That's fabulous, and the display on the wall looks great. It really is rare for a Starbucks to have such high-quality imagery adorning its walls.

Beagleboy

Canon EOS-30D

Tokina AF 12-24mm f/4.0 AT-X Pro DX

07/02/2010 02:46:22 PM · #16

Je suis le impressed

07/02/2010 10:08:25 PM · #17

End of the second day...if my web site stats are any indication, people aren't going home and looking me up.

6 views in July so far...and 4 or 5 were already there before I went and put them up yesterday.

I'm being patient...just was hoping for a big response. We'll see what the weekend brings!

07/03/2010 11:05:41 AM · #18

Ideas for Publicity?

I just created an "Event" on Facebook. I guess I should see if I can get a note in the paper, but not sure how to do that.

//www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=140793145935346

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

07/03/2010 11:10:27 AM · #19

Neil, I'm a little curious about your show. I like the display and the brochure with details of how to get prints. But, is there ary kind of price list on show for the prints? It would concern me if I was at that Starbucks and wanted to buy a print, only to find no mention or hint of the price range. Without this people will shy away because they will not know what to expect pricewise?

Message edited by author 2010-07-03 11:11:11.

MacDonald

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

07/03/2010 11:35:48 AM · #20

Neil, when I had my show, the museum made postcards up from 4 shots that went well together and sent them out to their mailing list of members and friends of the museum..the asked me to give them a list of names of my friends & co-workers and sent them out to them as well. You could do a similar thing by having the post cards made up and send them to friends, co-workers who might come and take friends .. also, post them in local bookstores, libraries and any commercial venue that will let you .. Less expensive than posters and it seemed to work well for mine. Just a thought.

07/03/2010 11:37:55 AM · #21

Originally posted by SteveJ:

Yes, but they may not like what they see :)

After I was done hanging the shots, someone came up to me and was asking about my "Sailor's Delight" photo (Castle Hill Light in Rhode Island.) He then asked me the price. Actually, I didn't remember it at the time, but I told him they varied between $250 and $350. (These are large canvases, remember.) He didn't order one on the spot.

Since then, I've actually harmonized the prices, and set them all to $250 on my site (the ArtWanted version of that), which includes shipping in the US.

A while back, I made myself a price list for my art prints, which puts them a bit more in the realm of fine art prints (my event and headshot pricing is different, of course.)

For example, regular lustre prints (rounding up, and taking out the shipping allowance which is bundled in on my site):

8x10: $30
10x15: $50 (also 11x14)
12x18: $65
16x20: $90
Canvas Prints, ready to hang (depended on size, and the print itself.) $200-350

But now, I've priced all Canvas prints in the 16x20 or 16x24 range at $250 (includes shipping). Do you think that's too expensive?

The reason I didn't post prices is that I wanted them to go to the website and order. I guess I could have put prices and my phone number or email address. What do you think?

07/03/2010 11:45:41 AM · #22

I think you are priced about right. I know I would like to know the prices whilst looking, even if I didn't order one straight away, rather than deciding which I liked, going home full of enthusiam, only to find the prices on the website were way above my budget. That would be a bummer for me. I think the email and phone number is a good idea as a trial for a few days.

07/03/2010 11:48:59 AM · #23

Originally posted by SteveJ:

Thanks. It would be pretty easy for me to go in and swap my little sign (see below) out for a different one with prices and my number. So I may do that in a few days and give it a try.

07/03/2010 11:53:45 AM · #24

Originally posted by Saker:

ooh...congrat's on that. A museum or gallery show is what I am striving for!

As far as the cards, that sounds like a good idea, but somehow, I don't think that Starbucks will be inviting anyone. But the fact that it's a coffee house means they will have regular daily traffic, and regular people to spread the word (one couple who was talking to me as I was hanging them said they are there every day. Their friends joined them, and as I was leaving about 30 minutes later the group was still sitting there discussing the photos. That alone was pretty exciting to me.)

The next question is how to turn those who see it into customers!

I did the facebook "event" as a notice to my friends so I don't have to email to them and intrude on them. And of course, I'm not looking to make my friends for profit customers (I've given and sold to friends but generally when sold it's at cost.)

The cards sound like a good idea though and I will give it a try.

Message edited by author 2010-07-03 11:59:36.