Reply To: Introduction & critique request

[JCFindley]

Thanks Pic

Keep in mind, marketing is not necessarily advertising. Much marketing can be done for free with social media or relatively cheaply with business cards and hanging work in local venues to get your name out there.

Personally, I market very little but tend to shoot things that are not overly shot. Into Manhattan is a good example of art that is hard to sell. It is not that it isn’t a decent shot, but that bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge next to it are shot by every photographer that has ever been to NYC. That means there are a LOT of similar images for sale out there that are just as good. I can literally buy a 36 inch “canvas” wrap of the Brooklyn Bridge at Walmart for $28.77. Mine sell for ~$400.  That makes it hard to sell. This image does extremely well with views and people find it pretty easily on the net, people like it BUT so far it has sold on a handful of greeting cards and made very little money. http://jc-findley.artistwebsites.com/featured/obligatory-jc-findley.html

As I said on the other thread, bees on flowers are pretty and sure they sell, but any individual artist’s chance of selling their version is relatively slim. What has worked well for me is finding undeserved markets, be they places or subjects, and shoot them. By doing that I was able to build up a sales record and some name recognition and then was able to sell in more saturated arenas as well. Here are a few bridges that are NOT world famous but people that are in the area know them well. All but the last one make me good money, and the last one will it is just pretty new to the portfolio.  http://jc-findley.artistwebsites.com/featured/chesapeake-splendor-jc-findley.html , http://jc-findley.artistwebsites.com/featured/chesapeake-city-jc-findley.html , http://jc-findley.artistwebsites.com/featured/the-triboro-bridge-jc-findley.html , http://jc-findley.artistwebsites.com/featured/marine-parkway-bridge-jc-findley.html

Those are just bridge examples but it can apply to any subject. The key for me here is if I visit NYC,San Fran or Paris I will NOT be shooting the Empire State Building, Golden Gate Bridge or the Eiffel Tower respectively. For me it is all about finding interesting subjects that I do not see 900 other togs shooting when I get there.

Regarding making a living doing it: I am not yet making a “comfortable” living but I am working on it. When I started my goal was to make enough money to buy some gear and keep my wife off my back about spending money. I got laid off of my day job and decided I would put in 40 hours shooting and editing while I looked for a job. Putting in that kind of time allowed me to increase my portfolio rather prolifically and I started getting enough sales where I started to believe I could make a living doing this. I probably put in 60 to 80 hours a week now with the goal of adding two marketable prints a day on average. Yesterday, that meant waking up at 0330, driving to Jersey City and making my way to a deserted railroad line then hiking the line looking for shots. By 0800 I had already driven 20 miles, hiked another five, and was on my way back for hours of edit. Will any of them sell? Maybe, but at the very least it is an adventure. http://jc-findley.artistwebsites.com/featured/below-the-skyway-jc-findley.html .