Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => Discussing Photographic Styles => Topic started by: wmchauncey on January 31, 2016, 11:35:27 am
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Please bear with me if you have seen these before in various places.
Age has relegated more to doing studio photography and using Photoshop as a toy as opposed to a tool.
Although smoke images themselves are not unusual, I have not seen them created into various subjects.
Am getting a variety of differing opinions as to their marketing value, although their venue juried opinions are favorable.
What say you all?
My latest is displayed here...http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=107807.0
and others are on my https://1x.com/member/chauncey43
My favorite is this swan treatment.
(http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l383/chauncey43/Swans-negative-copy11.jpg) (http://s329.photobucket.com/user/chauncey43/media/Swans-negative-copy11.jpg.html)
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C'mon guys...110 views and nobody has even an opinion.
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The question has been answered ages ago: "the proof of pudding ..." ;)
In other words, no one can say in advance is something like this saleable or not. Try to sell it, repeatedly, and see. They say Colonel Sanders failed 1009 times before the first sale.
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It's not my thing. I wouldn't buy it, but then I wouldn't buy a Kanye West CD either, but plenty of people do.
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Slobodan's right, Chauncey. What he didn't mention is that selling something requires effort and expense. So the question always is: Is there any chance I can sell this product at a profit -- or even without a loss. Usually, if it appears the answer is "no" then it isn't worth the effort and expense. But sometimes selling something you've produced is an ego trip. In that case, a loss may be quite acceptable. (This is all economics 101).
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"The Australian dealer Max Hutchinson once insisted … that anyone who couldn't sell a handful of air with an idea in it didn't deserve to call himself an art dealer."
p23 25 Women: Essays on Their Art (https://books.google.com/books?id=K5UpCwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP5&dq=25%20women%20essays%20on%20their%20art&pg=PA25#v=onepage&q=australian&f=false)
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If you are looking for another data point...
These are nice pictures, but I would not buy one at a price that you would need to charge to recoup expenses not including your time.
But it would depend on the price you would want to charge.
It is really tough to answer the question, "is this worth money?". There are many things that I would gladly pay a dollar for but would not pay five dollars for.
Good luck with it. It is a pretty photograph.
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Alright, not the definitive answers I was seeking, but...I appreciate the responses... ;)
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What you were looking for was a "yes." But life just isn't that simple.
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Alright, not the definitive answers I was seeking, but...I appreciate the responses... ;)
Can you give us some additional information on what sort of definitive answer you were looking for?
As I read the question, it did not sound like it could have a definitive answer.
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I was wondering about the practicality of displaying/selling them in one of our Arts and Crafts shows.
Were I to do that, and don't want to frame prints...that leaves canvas or metal...which?
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I was wondering about the practicality of displaying/selling them in one of our Arts and Crafts shows.
Were I to do that, and don't want to frame prints...that leaves canvas or metal...which?
Ah, that... that's easy. I can tell you that. Even better, for a small fee, I can also tell you which stock is going to triple in the next six months. Deal? ;)
Now seriously, if I could tell you that, i wouldn't, as I would be busy making millions knowing what sells. Just like stock brokers would.
All I can tell you instead is my experience so far and what conclusions can be drawn from it. The only definitive conclusion to be drawn is that there are no definitive conclusions.
I offer matted, open-edition paper prints, and limited-edition canvas, framed canvas, brushed and high-gloss aluminum, and acrylic. Some shows I would end up selling only a handful of matted prints (the cheapest), some only the most expensive one (large framed canvas). The last show I sold four large metals and one large framed canvas and none of the cheaper stuff. Sometimes you can blame the economy, location, weather, whatnot, for selling nothing at a show, and yet...the guy next to you would make a killing. You start doubting your photographic skill after that, and yet...the next show you make a killing with exactly the same offering.
I like canvas. Some art fairs, however, spurn it officially. I just had to pass on three shows in the area for that. It is practical and light to transport and hang, it is non-reflective and looks good in all lighting environments (both dark and bright). It may be displayed in homes without framing in many decor environments, and it also looks good framed. You'd think that after years of seeing canvas prints and reproductions in places like Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Ikea, etc., the public is not only familiar with, but tired of it. And yet, you'd be surprised how surprised are some visitors that it is a photograph printed on canvas in my booth.
Framed or unframed? That is the question. This (http://www.slobodanblagojevic.com/p691731907/e5fb5decf) is my bestseller (Rainy Parisian Summer, for older members who got tired of me posting it on LuLa). It sells well framed, because the frame (and canvas) apparently enhances the similarity with an impressionistic painting (it is, actually, a straight-out-of-camera jpeg). At the last show, I had a chance to test it. I just sold it framed and replaced it on the wall with a spare, unframed one... the client who bought the framed one stopped by later on and I asked if they would have bought the unframed one. The answer was a categorical no. The moral of the story? You can't really draw a general conclusion that frames sell better than unframed. But I can make a conclusion that this image, with that subject matter, works the best when printed on canvas and framed.
Metals are glorious, both brushed and high-gloss, when paired with a proper subject matter. They are also practical to transport and hang, though much more expensive (more or less equivalent to a framed canvas). Brushed aluminum, however, requires good lighting in the booth, as it becomes dark and dull in absence of it. High-gloss has a reflectivity problem. However, for most public, it is a new and surprising medium and sells well.
There you go. Go figure ;)
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I just spent a couple hours perusing various sites that sell prints, from Amazon to Art.com.
The prices being charged seem to be about 20% of what folks are charging at the shows we're talking about.
Local show prices seem to be around $.20/sq inch for canvas and $ 1.10/sq inch for metal.
Metal seems to be just becoming popular...prices gotta come down somewhat.
The only reason that I'm interested is the novelty of my recent stuff...it does seem to be a crapshoot.
Appreciate your detailed response Slobodan...now I know an expert... ;)
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I just spent a couple hours perusing various sites that sell prints, from Amazon to Art.com.
The prices being charged seem to be about 20% of what folks are charging at the shows we're talking about.
Local show prices seem to be around $.20/sq inch for canvas and $ 1.10/sq inch for metal.
Metal seems to be just becoming popular...prices gotta come down somewhat.
The only reason that I'm interested is the novelty of my recent stuff...it does seem to be a crapshoot.
Appreciate your detailed response Slobodan...now I know an expert... ;)
At $.20/sq inch an 11x14 would be $30.80. Just a quick look around the web for some of the consumer printers has quick gallery wraps costing more than that (Mpix was $70.00 and even Costco was $29.00 for a 12x16). Are you sure about your prices?
tom Frerichs
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At $.20/sq inch an 11x14 would be $30.80. Just a quick look around the web for some of the consumer printers has quick gallery wraps costing more than that (Mpix was $70.00 and even Costco was $29.00 for a 12x16). Are you sure about your prices?
$0.20 sounds really low, below cost for even the cheapest consumer labs. Something around $0.67-0.83 is more likely. The metal is about right.
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The 20 cents/sq inch is for regular cheapie prints...my bad.
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There was a story in Rangefinder magazine a while back about a fellow who got involved, as a hobby, of taking photos of liquids in various situations, such as drops falling and splashing. He got ad contracts from some companies, such as Smirnoff, to use his photos in their promotions. You might want to track down that article to see how he went from hobby to paying work.