foto Priority

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

Oculi Home

oculus oc·u·lus (ŏk’yə-ləs)
n. pl. oc·u·li (-lī’) – Eye.

I have often argued that for such a small nation Australia has some of the best photographic talent in the world. In all genres, if you look carefully at the who’s who of the influential photographers of our time, there’s bound to be an Australian or two in there, kicking butt on the world stage.

In the field of Documentary / Reportage photography the Australian collective ‘Oculi’ has fast become the go to destination for current local based (and International) content. Featuring the work of 10 local photographers each with their own slant on local events and culture, the Oculi site offers an inspirational narrative on current events as seen through the eyes of our great photographic artists.

Definitely worth a look.

Visit Oculi

A few weeks ago we posted a story about the EOS Photo5 competition , by now those of you who registered should have received your little brown box and your mind is working overtime trying to come up with the winning image.

Well, meet Simon Harsent, Simon is one of the 5 judges chosen for this years EOS Photo5 competition.

With more awards than you can poke a stick at and a client list longer than a 600 f4, Simon discusses what keeps him inspired and who are his personal inspirations. He also shares some valuable hints and tips to set you on your way to create that winning image.

Simon’s work can be viewed at http://www.simonharsent.com/

Melt - ©Simon Harsent

Simon Harsent has won numerous national and international advertising awards including Cannes Lions, One Show, Clio, D&AD, London International, and Australia’s first Cannes Grand Prix.

As one of the world’s most awarded photographers Simons’s work has also been featured in many national and international publications and is also included in the permanent collection at the Queensland Art Gallery and the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. Simon was awarded Photographer of the year in 2008 at the Hall of Fame Awards in Singapore for his work on Levis.

In 2009 Simon completed his latest project Melt: Portrait of an iceberg, a study of Icebergs photographed off the coasts of both Newfoundland and Greenland.

Melt media release

“This portfolio begins with images of the massive icebergs as they enter Greenland’s Disco Bay from the Ilulissat Icefjord; it ends with the icebergs off the East Coast of Newfoundland, by which time they have travelled hundreds of miles, and have been so battered and broken down that they are little more than ghosts of what they once were” – Simon Harsent

I found his iceberg images absolutely amazing, the light, textures and sheer size of them are mind blowing.

Simons personal website
Portrait of an iceberg

By Jose Fernandez

Welcome to the wonderful world of the plastic camera. If you like surprises and an unusual look to your photos, the Holga may be a great addition to your kit.

So, what is a Holga? It’s a medium format camera that happens to be all plastic. Yes, even the lens is plastic. They are a very basic camera with one shutter speed of approximately 1/125 and bulb, two f/stops of approximately f/8 and 11, a 60mm PLASTIC lens with adjustable focusing, Built-in flash and uses 120 colour or black and white film.

You never know what you’re going to get with your Holga and no two Holga’s are the same. It’s a great camera to experiment with.

After trawling many Holga websites for the best deal, as well as checking out as many holga “fanatics” websites I could find, I finally ordered my first little toy, in fact is was the first film camera I had ever owned.

As soon as it arrived in the post, I ripped opened the box, loaded some film and grabbed some black tape, yes black tape and started sealing all the joins and cracks, anywhere where light could get in.

This camera is about fun, the unexpected, and the unusual. What you get is a look you can’t really achieve any other way and it is always a surprise to see your images when you get the prints or files back from the lab

It’s now been a couple of years since I first opened the box to my shiny (ok the plastic isn’t really that shiny) new Holga 120s, I haven’t used it in a while, but after writing this post, I think I have just inspired myself to roll on some Kodak 120 ultra colour 400 UC!

Oh and one word of advice – DON’T FORGET TO REMOVE THE LENS CAP!

Well known wedding photographer Graham Monro from GM Photographics has been known on occasion to pull out his holga, giving his clients the choice of something different.

Graham has a shiny new website where you can view all his fine art images, some of them using the plastic fantastic camera!

Checkout Grahams website for yourself at GM Photographics

For more information on the holga and an endless amount of reading and inspiration check out these websites dedicated to this little gem.
lomography
holgamods
Flickr
Holga Inspire

Jose

Fishy, Fishy - Chuck Bradley

Some think that still life photography is easy. Plonk an object on a tabletop and away you go. Personally, I feel that it couldn’t be further from the truth. Still Life photography requires a tonne of patience, an incredible understanding of light, a bucket full of finesse and a vision that goes way beyond the ordinary.

Blue Moon Jelly - Chuck Bradley

Chuck Bradley is a master at extracting beauty from simplicity. From a simple wine bottle to crushed and corroded found objects, I always find his work intriguing.  More recently with his Fishy, Fishy and Blue Moon Jelly series, Chuck has vivified the still life, bringing his usual tenacity and flair to moving objects. For a little while now I have been quietly drawing inspiration from his effortless compositions which are definitely worth a look.

by Daniel Linnet

Check out more of Chuck Bradley’s work

Naomi - Scott McGale

‘Editorially in the UK, Scott has shot for Vogue, Arena, Marie Claire, Elle, GQ, the Sunday Times Magazine among others. While in Australia he has shot for for Marie Claire, Instyle and Noise. His beauty and fashion work has been published in over 20 countries around the globe, including over a dozen Sunday Times Magazine covers.’

Scott will be our guest speaker at the forthcoming Shots @ The Arthouse – flash session on Sep 8, 2009 , where he will discuss some of his location lighting techniques as well as being available to answer any questions.

See more of Scott’s Work

Book a ‘Shots’ Session