The web is a wild and wonderful place for photography! I’ve been know to spend a little time there myself. One of the more common questions and requests I receive is to look at photographers website and provide suggestions to help them improve their prints sales. This comes from their having heard from others what a rich bounty awaits any who posts images on a website. Print sales are just a click away! Now if you are happy with any sale at all, then none of my discussion that follows matters. But those that have been reaching out to me were counting on a whole lot more. I hear from and I’m talking to those who are seeking to make real income from web print sales.
There is no doubt that some have done and do an amazing business on the web selling prints. But those are the exceptions, they are not the rule. I know because not only do I hear from all the heartbroken folks wondering where they went wrong, I’m in the business. I’m not trying to be a humbug here, I’m trying to bring a little reality to the equation. Let me put this to you in dollar terms, which always seems to make folks scratch their heads. If you sell a print for $100 (and if you do, why bother?) and it costs you $20 to make the print, how many prints do you need to sell just to pay the rent?
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” When it comes to print sales, this is a VERY important concept you can’t ignore! This means YOU have to get the right person to your website and they have to see the right image for you to make a sale. Think about those odds, does your website have that kind of traffic? Do you have a big enough inventory to support that? Most importantly, and this is the hardest question of all to answer, are your photographs really good enough to be prints? (And I’m not even talking about printing skills.)
WRP does make print sales from our website. But folks find our website from our none web presence much more than our web presence. Most of our print sales come from images seen in my articles and personal presentations than images seen from the blog. In our business plan, prints sales are a small slice of the overall production and by no means counted on as a mainstay. Now this is all information I’m just putting out there you could say as a FWIW. I think folks should be provided the reality even though it’s not always what folks want to hear. If you were expecting riches from your website in image sales and you’re not seeing it, it’s not a statement about you or your photography. There are literally thousands of other photographers experiencing the same thing and that’s simply because, a website itself does not create income. Remember, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
One of the great parts of Night of Lights is the firework show. It is done on the slopes and is gorgeous! We were there to just enjoy friends and the evening so shooting wasn’t a priority. Still shooting the Df at ISO3200, I switched lenses to the 24f1.4AFS, shot at f/1.4 and just enjoyed the evening. I was shooting haldheld, actually using just one hand so wanted a fast shutter speed. Knowing where the fireworks were being launched, I could tell when a shell was being shot off. I just framed up the Groomers Christmas tree and depressed the shutter release. I let the law of averages take care of the rest. Great show, enjoy the clicks.
Saturday night was our annual Night of Lights here in Mammoth. It’s a grand seasonal celebration on the slopes attended last night by six thousand folks (the gondola ride up and back is always a hoot). Well as you can imagine, I took a camera, figuring it would be another good test for the Df loaded with the 58f1.4AFS. Between working in the crowds, shooting in 25degree temps on the snow and the total dark outside venue, figured it would be a challenge. Last year I shot it with the D4 / 24f1.4AFS so I knew what that combo would produced. So I have a baseline to compare to. I was ready to rock it.
Now I’m no Allen Hess, Brad Moore or Drew Gurian (very talented shooters!) by any stretch of the imagination. My goal when shooting the band wasn’t anything more than to see what the Df / 58f1.4 would do in this dark world, hot lights and high ISO. Yeap, I shot at ISO3200 and I was VERY pleased with the results. The noise is LESS than what the D4 did previously in the same situation. I especially liked how the Df handled the mix lights shooting on AWB. No, photographically the images aren’t all that, well, good but it’s not like I did the Hess move to get up front. In the cold, with the crowd and with the situation, the Df did a great job. mtc
Back in the old days, prior to the blog, we had Moose News, an email blast we’d send out with Moose news. Once the blog went live, Moose News went away. Recently, a bunch of folks have called the office asking how folks are able to sign up for our workshops before they are announced on the blog. It’s because folks who have already attended our workshop be emailed when we have new offerings. With so many receiving their emails on their smart device, many of asked why not bring back Moose News. Well, we came up with a simple email list using MailChimp. So, fill out the form below and when we have something like a new workshop (have two news ones coming in 2014) you’ll receive an email and be the first to know. No, you won’t receive a ton of emails from us so you will have to watch for those that come. We’re keeping it simple, hope to stay in touch with a whole bunch more of you in the future.
I just finished my dear friend Gabe’s new book, Night Photography and it’s a great read! Gabe is just one of those rare folks who, with a simple introduction you’re best friends and when a camera is involved, a talented and inspired teacher. The Gabe we’ve come to know and laugh with is in this book cover to cover making it just a hoot to read. All you have to do is look at one of the photos of himself in the book to see what I mean!
What Gabe does such a great job at is simply getting you out behind the camera at night making really fine image fast, easy and successfully. You might recognize Gabe’s name, or even his photo. He’s my personal shopper at B&H and has turned me on to many new and cool tools I share with you here on the blog. Well, now when it comes to Night Photography, he shares all of that knowledge with all of you. I’m not sure I like sharing him come to think about it. He has some amazing images illustrating the book and two techniques I’m looking forward to trying out this weekend. I know you’ll love the book and get a lot out of what Gabe shares so get a copy and you’ll see why we’ve come to love Gabe!
