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Establishing Your Business

February 12th, 2016

We live in a world awash in images. It is estimated that over 3 trillion photographs are now taken annually. How does an photographer get his work seen let alone sold in this tsunami of visuals?

We have to go back to some of the great photographers of the past. Robert Capa comes to my mind. Born Endre Ernő Friedman in Hungary, he moved to Paris and decided to become a photographer. He chose the name Capa for several reasons. It sounded American and, with his girlfriend Gerda Taro, sold his work to newspapers as that “American photographer.” (He also chose the name Capa (meaning “shark” in Hungarian) as it was his nickname as a child.

I am certainly not suggesting that one take the dangerous path that Capa chose. He died in Vietnam in 1954 after stepping on a land mine. But, there are lessons to be learned from his work.

First, like many famous photographers, the key is “reinvention.” One might call it stretching the truth or prevarication, but one has to give an audience a reason to buy. Unfortunately, talent is not always reason enough. Buyers often purchase as pride of possession or investment. The photographer has to give potential buyers a “reason” to invest in their work.

Build a bio’ as part of your reinvention. Translation means showing confidence in your work and stretching the biography. I am not saying lie. For example, if you have published your work on FAA, then you are a published photographer! If you have a website, be sure to put your work from FAA on your website so potential customers can buy easily.

Also, seek out free websites not so much for the sales but to see which of your photographs are the most popular. This gives you independent critique of your best work. It also gives you more credibility.

Watch the successful artists on FAA and note how they get exposure. They “favorite” images. A lot! They establish “followers!” Lots of followers! Shift your work around occasionally. What I mean is, if you have 100 pieces, every now and then shift your best work to the front using the edit command in FAA. This does a lot of things. For one thing it keeps your website fresh. It keeps your best work in the forefront. It also keeps the “bots” exposing your work.

Once you have established some of the above, you might consider “open” exhibits such as bank lobbies, movie theaters, etc. Any venue that has traffic.

I’m going to talk about this in my next post so stay close.

Hugh and Dianas Excellent Adventures

September 22nd, 2012

Sunday, September 23, we leave for Dublin and Paris.
We will be shooting in Dublin, Galway and Paris.
We will keep you updated on this new adventure.