New member with a new website

Hi,

I'm new here and i want to say a big "hello" to all of you. I have recently opened a new photogallery website, called Photodecora. We have 5 different cathegories (landscapes, Paris, monuments, detail and structures) with good quality images in a flash page.

http://photodecora.freehostia.com

Please take a look and fell free to say your opinion.

Hola Diego

Welcome on board…

I visited your website…
How can you sell high resolution images with "full rights for reproduction" granted for 5$!

How do you want to survive, make journeys for your shootings, buy good professional cameras and lenses with so low prices?

You're are killing the market! and yourself by the way…

you said " fell free to say your opinion"… I did!

I know

Of course i know the market prices, but you have to understand that we are beggining with this project, and this is an temporal offer price, so we have to call people and let them try our system.

Thank you

Diego
I understand, everyone had to start one day, but you will attract only people attracted by bargains, once you'll raise your price you'll have to find new customers…

This has been longly discussed here in OPF

Diego, I wish to add that of course you're more than welcome, I'm just a bit nervous about this aspect of 'marketing'.
Please see no direct offense… you're most welcome!

Diego Gomez said:

Hi,

I'm new here and i want to say a big "hello" to all of you. I have recently opened a new photogallery website, called Photodecora. We have 5 different cathegories (landscapes, Paris, monuments, detail and structures) with good quality images in a flash page.

http://photodecora.freehostia.com

Please take a look and fell free to say your opinion.

Click to expand...

Hi Diego,

Welcome to OPF! You're an interesting guy! What's your background in photography and which of these pictures are yours? We're interested in the personal work of individual photographers and then we celebrate with you your own business and success! So let us know about your photography. Still, I do like you website and the original design. Creative but conservative.

To be a member here and to freely post, all you need is to participate as an individual. As a stock photography company we'd have to look into that.

Now to the subject Nicolas brought up. There are many sources for pictures. A lot of individual photographers have really substantial galleries and one can license their work. Stock companies right now are in a crisis. One of the bad things to do right now or any time is to devalue your own work.

Nicolas, BTW, is no casual shooter, but a recognized and award winning top tier and sought after international photographer. I personally value his work, design sense and especially sense of morality.
He wishes to protect the hard work and investments of all of us as photographers. I'd take pause and think about what he advises.

Of course, you can create a cheap "Bargain Basement" buzz about your collections, but then that's all they will ever be. People want unique photographs, you can't enter society as a whore and then later as a virgin when half the town knows you!

Lastly, you must present your own work to the public with the model you feel will succeed. I wish you well on your new enterprise; you have put a lot of thought and care into it.

Post some of your pictures here. I hope they’re the ones on you new website that I already like!

Asher

Lovely photos! Welcome.

Thank you for all your coments.

All the images that you can find in the webpage are mine (except one). It is a selection of many travels and personal experiences.

Returning to the marketing aspects, i agree with you that i cna't devaluate my own work, but i don't really find any other strategy to reach potential clients. I'm a begginer and since the webpage opened i have not recieved any proposal. I suppose there are a lot of marketing strategies that could help me, but i don't feel that the images price is low enough to make people buy them!!.

Again, thank you for your ideas.

Bye

Diego
Thank you for not being upset by my posts;-)

As already said, if you find a client with low price, it will stay a low price client…

Now, you may also consider that stock image market is over occupied by agencies like Corbis, unfortunately, freelance photographers cannot fight these agencies as we're too weak…

Another marketing strategy is not to sale stock photos but shooting for clients who needs particular photos.
You'll have to convince them that you have the style, skills, understanding, style and… rates that fit them!

Websites had never helped me for this (it helped to show some pics to already existing clients), I did (some years ago) played the proximity, good prints and relationships with my prospects/clients.

Make a severe selection, have prints made carefully (minimum size A4, A3 much better/impressive) and show your book. You may have different books with differents pics to show to different clients… Try to get some meetings with advertising agencies, magazine editors etc but only the one identified as close enough to your style of shooting.

Try to get some infos about the rates of other photogs in your area, and set your fare about the low average of them if you want to compete with prices… but once more the competiton is better seen thru quality than rates…


I know, I know, it's easier to write than to do, but after all, we all have been beginners and some time, hearing others experience may help… but stay away from so low rates or even free stuff!

Bonne chance!

Hi Diego,

but i don't feel that the images price is low enough to make people buy them!!.

Click to expand...

It's not price, it's more like perceived value for money. I mean, there are loads of free images around that folk can't be bothered downloading.

So, you need to convince folk your images are worth the asking price. There is too much 'email this, send that, look here, remember that number. It needs to be one click purchase. It will be a ring tone 'spur of the moment' sort of purchase, at that end of the market.

If you want that end, then look at the ads on e-bay and the like - you need need words like 'wow!!!!! quality images at give-away prices,' in big red letters, 'buy two for the price of one' or similar. You need to direct it at the cheap market segment.

Then, you have to pay the search engines to find you, whatever anyone is looking for.

There is nothing to convince me to buy your images, you need to work harder to make a sale imho. even for $5.00, you need to 'talk it up'.

Best wishes,

Ray

Diego,

To extend Nicolas' suggestions, take your portfolio personally to the local magazines and travel agencies. Get to the travel department of the newspapers.

Make calenders for clubs and Churches or charities and so forth. Eventually you will be asked to do shoots for an associated project. Act professional and you will be treated such.

Work with an established photographer for a year. Eventually there may be jobs that (s)he cannot take and you will have gotten in to the real world.

Keep with us, eventually we may have galleries with marketing, but not yet!

Asher

Ray,

I suppose that the photography itself should be the most important thing that makes someone buy it, isn't it?. I'm sorry that you didn't find it on my webpage.

It is very clear that i will have to make an ever greater effort to make my photos work!!

Bye

Diego,

I have returned to your website a number of times. The design is attractive and one gets to the pictures very fast with not too much flash.

I like a number of the pictures. The snakely road running through fields, a set of paths through trees , ducks on a small pond, a leafless tree and nearby hut above and to the left of a green hedge all are interesting. However, the pictures seem to be incomplete.

I'd suggest post one of these so we can respond to your work in a helpful and constrcutive fashion. Just insert your image url between and we'll try to get you feedback that is honest and worthwhile.

Asher

Dear Asher,

I'm glad you liked the photos (did you know there are photos of 4 cathegories more?). I have no problem in posting an image, and will do it ASAP. What do you mean with "seem to be incomplete"?.

I'm not sure Diego!

That's why I want a nice picture to examine. There's an impression of softness. However, I cannot tell from what you show.

Asher

Dear Asher,

It's a shame you think there's something wrong, instead of thinking that sometimes the image quality lives in the special light conditions. I strong recomend you to visit the place (Cantabria, Spain). Additionally, you have to think about image resolution and size restrictions tha i had to put in my webpage.

I can't add my images because it needs an URL address, and, as you probably know, my webpage is flash, so it hasn't specific URL for specific locations.

The only thing i can do is give you these links, from a Spanish photography contest, where you can find 2 images.

http://concurso.magazinedigital.com/foto.php?foto_id=24541&o=&str=nicola&pageID=4
http://concurso.magazinedigital.com/foto.php?foto_id=24538&o=&str=nicola&pageID=6

Hope you like them.

Diego Gomez said:

Dear Asher,

It's a shame you think there's something wrong,

Click to expand...

I never implied anything is wrong! Just that I don't know yet what to make of some of the pictures since they are small files and likely have jpg compression and since I am not familiar with your artisitc intent I can only describe what I see, soft images.

Some of the images I like are particularly soft. In fact I often go out of my way to use lenses wide open for that effect. I like your website. I just needed to see a better file in order to fairly give any opinion.

Diego Gomez said:

instead of thinking that sometimes the image quality lives in the special light conditions. I strong recomend you to visit the place (Cantabria, Spain). Additionally, you have to think about image resolution and size restrictions tha i had to put in my webpage.

Click to expand...

Exactly! That's why you shouldn't be surprised at questions. Who knows, maybe we'll visit Spain too next year. In the meanwhile, all I have to see is your work. So I have to do my best with what you can share!

Diego Gomez said:

I can't add my images because it needs an URL address, and, as you probably know, my webpage is flash, so it hasn't specific URL for specific locations.

Click to expand...

There are a number of solutions, some free. Look at Flikr, pBase, Smugmug and similar!

Diego Gomez said:

The only thing i can do is give you these links, from a Spanish photography contest, where you can find 2 images.

Click to expand...

Well then, one can simply make them appear here!



I already selected this one earlier! Yes, the filtered light through the trees is delicate. Your next image is unique too.

Dear Asher,

The images have JPEG compression in the webpage. If a put full resolution tiff images, there's no need to buy them!!

It's great you like the images!!. I hope you're not the only one....

Yours

Hi Diego,

I suppose that the photography itself should be the most important thing that makes someone buy it, isn't it?. I'm sorry that you didn't find it on my webpage.

Click to expand...

Because primarily the flash presentation, for me, doesn't work. (I mean it functions OK, but I guess, psychologically, your site is exercising too much control over what _I_, perhaps a potential customer, wants to do, and then, if I want to buy, a page of complicated hoops to jump through - just not worth it for a $5.00 purchase of an image that I can't even see properly. You yourself have mentioned about the poor resolution, etc. and folk are used to simple shopping cart purchases, paypal and the like. If you have not grabbed the attention in the first few seconds, they will go elsewhere.

The two images you linked to, come over much better. But these should never be sold for $5.00. This sort of quality needs to be sold differently, if you want to maximise your profit.

It is one thing to be able to take good/perfect photos. It is quite another to market and sell them.

I think we must be brutally honest with ourselves. Ask and answer a lot of questions, along the lines of-

1) why do I need a web site?
2) if I need it, what is it's purpose?
3) am I good enough at web design to get that purpose across?
4) how do I drive the people that I want to see my stuff, to my website?

For example, you see the background to the two images you have linked, the history, the significance of the location. Just a paragraph or two on the trees, or the balls, would make the difference to potential purchasers. Folk would be buying into something more than a collection of coloured dots.

I have just spoken with a professional photographer who I respect. He actually sells prints from his website. He has had the site and name for ten years, he says it is because it comes up high in the search engines. A friend of his, started a similar site a year ago. similar images, prices, etc. He has sold nothing.

So, you have to do more than a flash presentation, if it was that easy, everybody would be doing it.

Best wishes,

Ray

Dear Ray,

I agree with you that i have to make an even greater effort to reach potential clients, but, you know, i have spend a lot of time performing the webpage design and thinking about what to do, what to say....

Of course that i'll try to improve it with future changes, but, step by step. It isn't my primary job (i'm a neuroscience researcher!!) and it takes so much time...

I promise i'll try to change my proposal, because your ideas seems to be the best.

Thanks again

Diego Gomez said:

Dear Asher,

The images have JPEG compression in the webpage. If a put full resolution tiff images, there's no need to buy them!!

It's great you like the images!!. I hope you're not the only one....

Yours

Click to expand...

True but the images still have to be compelling enough for people to want to buy a good sized print from you with one click of the PayPal or whatever button.

Pictures have to be so good that only your great print would satisfy them. The copiers will not buy anyway! You can put on the image your © and embed your info for licensing in the IPTC code with the file so you have some redress if a commercial exploitation is made.

However, if you have a series with numbered prints, no one can compete with your quality! Commerical sites will expect to pay for use since that how professional companies run. They wont waste future time with lawyers when they can simply pay you much less now!

You cannot go into the free market and not show your wares and expect a sale, not unless your name is Andy Warhall or John Lennon!


Asher

BTW, I still like your website, even though I agree with Ray that it might not actually work for you. I like it because I like the artistic effort and the rapidity that the pleasant flash creative effort ended! It went to the beat and I felt no animosity (as I usually do and then leave most flash sites as they mostly annoy me). I like the name and the color and the way you have arranged things. You might consider a big button to allow us to skip the flash the next time around!