foto Priority

Shutterbug Photography Festival, now in its fourth year, is open for submissions from any photographer earning under $20,000 per year. As well as a prize pool of $10,000, 15 finalists will have their work shown on the big screen at the huge Shutterbug Projection night in July 2010.

Submissions can be made online from until the 30th May 2010.

Check out the shutterbug website for all details of entry…good luck!

Have you ever tried to sell your images online? Not sure what websites to use? Or which images attract the most attention from buyers out there? Well, hopefully I can cover some of your burning questions.

I spoke with Phill Danze who has experienced some great success selling images online. Phill is also a long time student of Sydney photo Workshops and has had one on one tuition with Daniel Linnet to try and perfect his craft. Phill shares with me some insider knowledge about what keeps him inspired to keep selling and promoting himself as a photographer.

Trying to decide which photos in your collection would sell the best, or attract the most attention could be a difficult task.  Which images are you having success with?
“In stock my best selling pictures are those that are a series of rocks with inspirational words on them and shots with a recycling or environment theme.”

Then there’s choosing the correct website.  There are many out there that allow you to sell your work.
“I mainly use two agencies for stock and have found most sales success with iStock, not enough to give up my day job but over time it has enabled me to upgrade my equipment and get the satisfaction of seeing my work used in the market place.”

© Phillip Danze

“I also use two online platforms for fine art and of the two, Redbubble is the one I get the occasional sale from. Fine art you need to market yourself, the platform is just that, the means to show your work and provide a place for people to buy it – it is up to you to drive traffic to your work.”

Phill has been lucky in that his “regular” job has allowed him to travel and keep him motivated “I’ve travelled a lot internationally with my job so I bought a digital SLR and took some courses on how to use it plus learn the basics of composition and lighting.”

Remaining inspired about photography is a challenge for all photographers; from amateurs to professionals. We often have t0 find new avenues of inspiration to keep us motivated and on top of the game. “I stay inspired by reading photography magazines, websites, liaising with fellow photographers and seeing their work, plus doing courses and workshops.”

Phill has been fortunate enough to travel to some pretty magical destinations. I asked Phill to describe some of the most interesting places he has photographed around the world, “There would be two, Macquarie Island and Antarctica. The wildlife was stunning and the remoteness and minimal human presence in these places added to the experience and pressure of getting the shot the first time. I also learned a lot about photography in either damp and drizzly conditions, or in freezing, high wind conditions.”

“I owe the success of my shots to some practice before leaving Australia and some tuition with Daniel Linnet”

When it comes to advice about selling images online, Phill offers some final tips and tricks of the trade “Think about what you want to sell and who your market is. There are plenty of sites where you can sell your own work and I recommend you only put your very best work out there as if someone looks at an average shot, they may not look at your other work. Think of themes or concepts to create a collection of shots. Market your work and leverage events or celebrations to promote sales of your work. Stock on the other hand requires you to use an agency and they will inspect your files before accepting them into their database of pictures. They require very high quality files and in my experience do not tolerate poorly composed pictures, artifacting, chromatic aberrations, or over processed work (i.e. keep the post camera processing to a minimum). Finally, be patient, there are a lot of budding photographers out there (not to mention professional photographers) and it could take a while to get your first sale. Most of the enjoyment I get from selling online is that is challenges me to be a better photographer and to think about what I am doing and trying to convey when taking a picture.

Check out Phills images at Red Bubble and istockphoto

Paul Ferman Photography Exhibition – SHELTER

9 February 2010 – 6 March 2010 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Paul Ferman, born in Germany of English parents, migrated to Australia in the 1950′s and has been a regular exhibitor in Australia and Europe since 1994.

Ferman won both the Ulrick – Schubert Photographic Award and the Pat Corrigan Acquisitive Award CCP Melbourne, 2007.

Paul Fermans’ new exhibition at King Street Gallery on William, titled “Shelter”, is a series of photographic work taken in Japan and positioned under major capital city freeways and bridges.

For more info on this exhibition and more check out the King Street Gallery website.

carriageARTworks is a FREE annual event, celebrating artwork and art culture from Sydney’s city fringe. The exhibition will feature work on canvas, sculpture, photography, mixed media, video art, performance art and textiles.

25 March 2010 – 24 April 2010 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

CarriageWorks, 245 Wilson Street Eveleigh

For more info see the carriageARTworks webpage

Gazing at the Contemporary World: Japanese Photography from the 1970s

Featuring 76 photographs by 23 internationally renowned Japanese photographers, this exhibition is a panoramic view of Japan’s changing landscape since the 1970s. Curated by Rei Masuda, Chief Curator of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, this exhibition is currently on an international tour.

22 February 2010 – 4 March 2010 Monday – Friday & Saturday 27 Feb 11am – 4pm

Venue – Japan Foundation Gallery

Level 1, Chifley Plaza,
2 Chifley Square
Sydney 2000
Phone: 02 8239 0055

Last week in London you may have heard about a rally at Trafalgar Square, attended by 2000+ photographers in opposition of Section 44 of the Terrorist Act. It was basically a mass gathering in defense of street photography, not only by photographers but anyone who values visual imagery.

There was one brief, it was to

At 3pm on the dot everyone will take their cameras out and start photographing something interesting, this might be:
• The hundreds of other photographers
• A puzzled security guard trying to work out what’s going on
• Security Guards trying to stop someone from taking photographs
• Interesting architectural features

Many of you probably have been made aware of what has been going on here, but since the act was passed, photographers have been subjected to ridiculous scrutiny and harassment and misinterpretation of the laws by police.

Check out The official website for all the latest news and pics from the protest.

I think as photographers at any level we should be kept up to date and informed of what our rights are, we have pretty tough laws over here in Australia at the moment but will they start to go over the top!

For more info on your rights in NSW have a look here

Please feel free to share your stories on this subject, have you been ordered to delete your images, or walked out of the area by police or security guards?

Storybook Wolf - by José Luis Rodriguez

In an interesting twist to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year results, the ultimate £10,000 winner Jose Luis Rodriguez has been stripped of his award amid suspicion that the shot was indeed staged.

Read the full story in the Guardian

Jonathon Jones follow up on Art Blog

What are your thoughts?