because a Reverend can't be wrong.
A friend of mine is decorating her apartment and wanted some of my photographs on the walls. So I made her a special ordering page with some very low prices. I figured I may as well offer the same to you as well.
I’ll leave this sale page up through the end of September. If you’d like an image that isn’t already there, send me an email and let me know and, chances are, I’ll get it added for you.
Share! Enjoy!
After reading Where are all the goddam photos, something in my head clicked. Not that photographers need a new way of doing things — I’d figured that out already — but that I wasn’t the only one in this same situation trying to do this same damn thing.
Every day I see Photographers making it big. And every day I see photographers loving the craft, doing what they can, and not even trying to make it. But I didn’t realize how many people there are out there in my exact same situation. And most of them aren’t photographers.
A big part of what makes a website designed to sell a product successful is whether that website stirs up a feeling of trust for the merchant and respect for the product. While ExposureManager is indeed completely customizable , making these custom changes requires heavy knowledge of HTML, CSS, and access to ExposureManager template documentation that isn’t available. So, while the potential is certainly there, the average visitor to an ExposureManager hosted gallery will find mediocre style and a web 1.0 feel. Zenfolio, on the other hand, offers a stunning visual experience, and a large selection of themes and customizations to let each user choose what best suits the work being presented. As Ian pointed out, this makes the service more valuable to the photographer right out of the box. But looks aren’t everything.
So which service is better suited to me? The short version: Zenfolio. Read on for the full report.
(If you decide to use Zenfolio, drop in Referral Code CVY-6UZ-T5M and you’ll save $5 and I will too)
Out of the box look. Zenfolio. As mentioned above.
Ease of use for Customers. Zenfolio.
Ease of use for Photographers. Zenfolio.
Suitable as more than just a print gallery. Zenfolio. With all of it’s advanced features, Zenfolio can quite easily be the ONLY service you’ll need for hosting your portfolio, your fine art images, custom work, portrature, and event photography. It’s feature set puts it up there with Flickr yet it still remains professional and utterly customizable to suit the photographer.
Templating. ExposureManager. The above mentioned templating feature. This allows for the ultimate in customization. Zenfolio claims this is coming soon to their service offering.
Monthly Cost. ExposureManager – kinda. Exposure manager runs $99.95/yr for their unlimited account. This is a mere $0.05 cheaper than Zenfolio and is essentially equal. However, ExposureManager does offer a $64.95/yr account with a 1GB storage limit. While Zenfolio has other product offering too, they do not allow for profits to be made on print sales and are therefore outside of the scope of this review. So, if you’re willing to deal with a 1GB storage limit, ExposureManager is cheaper. Otherwise, the cost is the same.
Commission. Zenfolio w/ Exceptions. ExposureManager charges 10% commission on the purchase price. Zenfolio charges 12% on profits only. For self-fulfillment orders, ExposureManager still charges 10% commission, however, ZenFolio drops the rate to 6% and still only charges commission on profit. If you do a lot of self-fulfillment, or if your profits are fairly low, ZenFolio will probably be significantly less expensive (but see the downside below on self-fulfillment). [Thanks to Phototouille for pointing out ExposureManager's change in policy and therefore tipping this item in Zenfolio's favor.]
Self-Fulfillment. ExposureManager. Both services operate in roughly the same fashion. While ZenFolio is a bit easier to use, the end result is the same. Custom Products and Custom Shipping methods are created and presented for purchase by the customer. ZenFolio gets an extra point for ease of use and for allowing product photos to accompany the items. Another extra point is awarded to ZenFolio for letting their cropping feature (see below) be used during self-fulfillment as well. But ExposureManager gets the gold star on this one for one reason alone. ZenFolio requires the Photographer to bill the customer outside of ZenFolio for Custom Products. ExposureManager handles these aspects as well.
Cropping. ZenFolio. Cropping is not an easy concept for a lot of print purchasers. They think “I want an 8×10″ so they buy an 8×10. They have no idea what that might do to the end result of the image being purchased didn’t happen to already be in 8×10 format. ExposureManager leaves you on your own to sort this out. I’ve opted for printing white borders on every image and requesting an email from the customer before placing an order if something else is needed. Not idea. ZenFolio has an interesting cropping module. It has a decent default and allows the customer to further specify exactly how they would like to see the image cropped. This feature is selectable on an image-to-image basis so the photographer can even turn it off on those images where he feels cropping should not be altered.
Image Quality. Zenfolio. ExposureManager used to use EZPrints. EZPrints isn’t bad, by any means, but, they also aren’t the first choice of photographers in the know who have a choice. ExposureManager doesn’t use EZPrints any longer, but I’m not sure who they are using now. But it isn’t MPix. MPix, is one of the leading online printing houses for photographers. Their quality and service is well known and quite dependable. This is a huge plus in the eyes of photographers still trying to get over the worry of NOT seeing the final product before it ships to their customers. You want someone you can trust. And lots of photographers trust MPix.
Zenfolio offers a free 14 day trial, so you’ve got nothing to lose. Use referral code CVY-6UZ-T5M and we’ll both save $5.
What are your thoughts? Do you use a hosted solution to sell your artwork online? If so, who do you recommend?
In the past week I’ve done so much. But it feels like I haven’t done anything at all. Here’s what I managed to get done:
My father-in-law has been in town since last Tuesday. He leaves tomorrow. It’s been great having him around. However, with that comes a sense of obligation regarding how my time is spent. I know it isn’t required of me, but I do so anyway.
A friend/co-worker from NJ was in town for the week. We spent an evening at dinner with him.
There was also a Super-Bowl party at my Dad’s house on Sunday.
Made an impromptu trip to Oklahoma for some sunrise photography.
We bought a new car! This took 5 hours of one night, a few hours of phone calls one day, and another 3 hours on another day. But, it’s done. We got a 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander. Jess and I were using my pickup truck for 90% of our travel as a family and with Celeste we were just running out of room in it. This vehicle has a lot more room, gets much better gas mileage, and the little thises and thats that I needed out of a truck are mostly still there. But, for those of you in need of a free moving vehicle, I am no longer your friend with the truck.
We found some time to visit with our good friends, their three girls, and their brand new baby boy! Very exciting.
At work I facilitated the development of a new ticketing system and rolled out a trial of that system in one of our centers. I also completed my self-appraisal for 2007 (you’ll be happy to know, I did wonderfully. Especially since it was a self-appraisal) and completed my objectives for 2008. Of course there were lots of other smaller work stuffs too, but those are the ones that managed to cut into my non-work time.
Jess and I also partially planned a trip to the Texas Bayou for this weekend. Will finish planning today and tomorrow. We leave Friday morning.
Of course, there were lots of things I didn’t get done too.
My mom’s birthday present is still late. But it’s 99% done and Jess is saying it’ll be in the mail today. That’s a relief.
The following photographs are in some state of “not edited” from “almost finished” to “I haven’t even looked at them”: DITL photos from Jan 19th, DITL photos from Jan 23th, photos taken at Zion Cemetery, January family photoshoot, photos taken at sunrise on Lake Ray Roberts, sunset photos from Bear Creek park, hiking photos from Isle Du Bois state park, and the above mentioned photos from Oklahoma. Not to mention all the random photos taken here and there.
I need to do my taxes. My records from last year are in bad shape, so this will be quite time consuming. I’ve got a thick stack of papers in an envelope on my desk, and a giant virtual stack of bank statements to comb through. Not fun.
I missed the Super-Bowl party at Mike’s place, a friend’s birthday party on Friday, and a business meeting last Thursday. I would have loved to have attended all three, but I just ran out of time.
I didn’t manage to find time to set up an SVN server or work with some sample code for the business either. Thankfully, we’re still working on the foundation so actual code is less important than architecture and design decisions at this point.
My father-in-law cleaned the garage, washed Jess’ car, and hung shelves in Celeste’s room. These are things that I should have done but also didn’t have time to do. I’m very grateful for the help.
I’ve found myself utterly exhausted lately. Yesterday I woke up at 4:30am and went to bed at 9:15pm. While that’s only 7 hours of sleep and perfectly acceptable in most people’s worlds, that’s unlike me. I’m fairly used to making it on 5 or 6 hours at most. Despite the fact that it feels impossible to squeeze any more time or energy out of me, I need to find the time to get a short walk/run in after dinner each day. It’ll help a lot with my energy levels.
Despite the fact that I make a point to hold her and spend some quality time with her several times each day, I feel like I haven’t really had a chance to just relax and enjoy Celeste. Most of the time I do spend with her is spent changing diapers, trying to keep her from crying, or trying to put her to sleep.
So, if you haven’t heard from me in a while and you’ve been wondering why, this should serve as a small glimpse at that answer. More later… ha ha.
It’s that time again. You know the one where I debate photography as a career or at least as a means of paying for itself until I make it big. You know…
In this installment I’m trying to gauge what a reasonable price might be for my work. Not the price I’d charge in a gallery, or even the price I’d charge from an online store containing my best work. I’ll get to that. Right now, I’m looking for a reasonable price to charge for the images I put in Arranging Light on a slightly-regular basis. Once that’s going, I’ll start arranging my work into a set of galleries that will sell for a bit more.
The thought is I’ll offer most of the images there at low price for a limited time after publication. Right now, I’m thinking I’ll leave them for sale at this price for roughly one month after the first copy of an image sells. I’m also planning on computing my exact profit and offering a download only version of the image at that price for those that prefer to print themselves and save a bit on shipping.
So, I’m wondering… what do you think a fair price is? Not what I deserve for my work, or what you’d talk someone else into paying for my work, but what you, yourself, would consider a fair enough price to convince you to purchase an image you liked on impulse.
(Having some trouble with the Poll? Click here to take it for now.)
Thanks for your input. It means a lot.
I had hoped that by making a posting here about the unknown enthusiast that the culprit would show his face. And so he did. It turns out he is frequent reader of this site who decided to buy “portrait of a cow under a rising sun”:http://djamesphoto.com/arranginglight/2006/08/30/portrait-of-a-cow-under-a-rising-sun/ as a birthday present for his father.
In order to keep this confusion from happening again, I’ve set some preliminary prices for the images on “Arranging Light”:http://djamesphoto.com/arranginglight/. Feel free to click around the photoblog and order whatever you’d like. You can also go straight to the “Ordering Gallery”:http://danieljames.exposuremanager.com/g/arranginglight, though it is much less interesting to look at in my opinion. As I continue to work on the site, more images will be added. I hope to have two images for every day in August and every day that has elapsed in September before I’m done.
To encourage you to check out the new site and offer your feedback on the site and the ordering process, I’ve created a coupon code you can use to get 50% off of any of the products offered. The code is: *ENTHUSIASM*. Just enter it at checkout time for 50% off. Once the site has its grand opening, I’ll disable the coupon.
Decorate your living room, spruce up the outhouse, spread the word, tell your friends, tell your family, tell a stranger, sing it on the streets, keep it to your self, write on a piece of paper and use it in the bathroom. Whatever makes you happy.
Thanks for your interest in my work. And thanks to Robert for placing and order to get me off my butt in getting some of the administrative work done around here.
I did it.
I just placed an order for all of the pre-sold copies of the book. The Pre-Sale is officially over.
For those of you that didn’t Pre-Order, when you finally realize how badly you want a copy you can “order one yourself”:http://www.lulu.com/content/233962 directly from the printer for $60. Otherwise, email me and barter your way into one.
I sent out an email to those of you that purchased it. But, just in case you didn’t get it, please email me with your mailing address. Since some of you pre-ordered a long time ago, I want to ensure that your address hasn’t changed before I go off mailing something to you.
I’m glad it’s over. I enjoyed making it. Then I regretting getting started. Then you, my friends, supporters, and patrons, convinced me that it was a good thing. So I continued on. Three trial copies later and I finally got it.
All in all, not counting what may sell from this point forward, I made $152.12. I wont even tell you how many hours I spent on the book alone, let alone the images in it. That’s just depressing. What important is that it’s done, I’m happy I did it, and it’s absolutely beautiful.
Thank you, again, to all of you wonderful people who supported me through this and believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. You mean a lot to me.
I will be placing an order for printing and shipment of my three Exhibit images on Monday. I get a heavy discount when I purchase in quantity, so, for those who are interested, I’m offering a Signed, Titled, and Numbered Special Edition 11×14″ print of any one of the final three selections for $20. These images are large enough to hang above a fire place or on a medium sized wall. They will also look great in an office cubicle to show your co-workers that your style is just a cut above the rest. Art from living artists like myself also makes a great gift for people who are hard to buy for.
If you’re interested, PayPal $20 to me (daniel AT djamesphoto DOT com) or use the button below.
Thank you for your consideration and support.
Thank you all very much for your help in making my final image selections for my upcoming exhibit and the KERA ArtMug submission. In case you were wondering, of the “12 images I asked you to choose from”:http://djamesphoto.com/photos/200609_exhibit_sel, here is how they ranked in order of popularity amongst all those who informed me of their selections via Comment, Email, LiveJournal, MySpace, or in person.
* 1) Unused Railway
* 2) Fragile
* 2) Road With Many Exits
* 4) Free or Best Offer
* 5) Waiting For a Ride
* 5) Neon Bordered Triangle
* 7) Stay Behind the Fence
* 7) Looking out into the Bayou
* 9) A Thoughtful Side
* 10) Pretend We Were Never Here
* 11) Softer Lines
You’ll notice there are only 11 here. That’s because the 12th image, “I’ll build tomorrow” didn’t receive any votes. I should add, just to show how terrible I am at selecting images that other people will like, that it was in my personal top 3 (along with “Stay Behind the Fence” and “Pretend We Were Never Here” with “Unused Railway” as a runner up).
However, just because an image is popular, does not mean it is the best candidate for display. First of all, I know how these images print and some look better printed than others. Additionally, I want to show variety in my work, as well as include images that may look different than the images of the other exhibitors. Therefore, using your selections as a guide, I made these choices.
I sent “Unused Railway” in for the “KERA ArtMug”:http://kera.org/artmug/ competition. I think that the image is artsy enough to be considered less common, will look good displayed at a relatively small size, uses wide tonal range which will make it stand out, presents a distinct mood for a somewhat common theme, and the subject matter is quite indicative of Texas. Additionally, it was taken here in Dallas / Fort Worth, the very Metropolitan area served by KERA.
For the exhibit I’ve decided to show the following three images.
First, “Unused Railway” for all of the reasons listed above. Additionally, this is an example of some of the very dramatic hand-blended work that I enjoy creating. This process adds even more art to the photography and really shows what is possible in today’s digital darkroom.
Secondly, I’ve chosen “Fragile”. This image contains a human element without being a portrait showing my ability to work in a studio environment. Additionally, it is a highly conceptual piece with a statement to make. Furthermore, this image is personally important to me and I am deeply moved that so many of you selected it. It is important because the concept behind this photograph was something I created entirely without a model in mind and then set out to find someone interested in posing for it. I got a lot of funny looks and odd questions regarding how and why I would do it. I am grateful that “Bonnie”:http://empurple.com/ (and her lovely legs) shared in my vision for this image and that she had faith in me to carry it out. I am even more grateful that she (reluctantly) agreed to prance around in her underwear in order to make it happen. I owe a large portion of the success of this image to her.
Finally, I’ve chosen “Neon Bordered Triangle”. This abstract image shows yet another facet of my work: using lines, color, and textures to present shape and form without context. Additionally, taken on the streets of Downtown Fort Worth, it has hints of my love for Urban Landscapes and City Photography.
I was almost inclined to include, instead of “Neon Bordered Triangle”, either “Pretend We Were Never Here”, because it really shows off my talent in landscape work, or “Stay Behind The Fence”, because of its theme of Urban Decay and City Life. But, I think the selections I’ve made show a well rounded face to my work, offer something for all tastes, and are all images that will look good on display.
Again, thank you all very much, and I hope to see you in Grapevine on Saturday, September the 16th where you can see these images for yourself.
Aside from any inferred reasons, I never did explain *why* I decided to go out of business.
I’ve told you that “I quit”:http://revjim.net/2006/08/25/out-of-business/ and mentioned some of the good things that will come from doing so. I’ve listed in detail all of “the dreams that are going away with it”:http://revjim.net/2006/08/28/whats-really-lost/. I even gave a small display of my “recovered joy”:http://revjim.net/2006/08/29/the-good-side-of-a-bad-thing/ that comes from no longer spending so much time and energy on the potentially money making aspects of Photography, and just doing what I love.
So now the hard part.
My reasons for quitting all boil down to time, money, and support. I work a full time, 40+ hour a week job. I spend 2+ hours each day commuting. I have a house to maintain and a wife to spend time with. With all of this and more, free time is scarce.
In this very limited free time there’s a lot to be done. Even if the work was rolling in by the carload, I still have to work the sessions I’ve scheduled and prepare new images to place online in hopes of selling. Unfortunately, the work isn’t rolling in, so I lower my prices a bit to give myself a small advantage and I spend a lot of time advertising. I scour the Internet for new potential customers. I post images and commentary in multiple local message boards, photography forums, modelling hubs, parenting sites, and community portals looking for work and trying to keep my name out there. I spend time conversing with small business owners and people selling products in hopes of finding scraps of potential commercial work. I create advertising material, and dream up new products and services to advertise. I consider new projects and write compelling descriptions and announcements in order to find support for my effort. I look for local art shows and photography contests that I can join. And much, much, much more.
I accept that my free time will be a scarcity until I can get big enough to quit my day-job. But, I spend so much time, money, and effort advertising and so little of it actually taking and editing photographs that it begins to feel utterly fruitless. And, when I finally do get a job or two, I can’t perform them, keep up with advertising, and maintain my day-job without gasping for air.
I’ve tried raising my prices, I’ve tried lowering my prices, I’ve tried offering different types of products. My prices are not the problem. In a world full of cheap digital cameras where everyone and their dog is a “photographer”, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of wanna-be photogs. EXPOSURE is the problem, and I just can’t seem to do enough to get the exposure I need on my own.
I’ve suggested, asked, pleaded, begged, and offered compensation to my friends, family, acquaintances, and past subjects to help advertise both my prints and my services through their word-of-mouth. I’ve undertaken countless hours of rather boring portrait sessions with no payment and, in some cases, free prints being offered because I think that subject will bring more paying business. I’ve managed to get a handful of referrals from various people for which I am eternally grateful. Sometimes those referrals even manage to turn into paying sessions. But, that is a very rare case indeed. I’ve booked very few paying sessions.
With the exception of a small group of friends and my dad, I’ve gotten very little support, encouragement, or advertising from my friends and family, the people I would expect to get the most from. In fact, on the whole, I’ve gotten more support and respect from the people that I’ve met through photography and my endeavors than I have from those that I knew before I started this. If I can’t get my friends, my family, or my wife to take me and my business seriously, how am I ever going to find enough clients to make a living doing this?
Now, don’t misread what I’ve said. I don’t in any way feel that my friends and family are obligated in any way to advertise for me. If I offer you free or discounted services, then a small tip, website credit, or bit of advertising is certainly appreciated and often expected. But, I don’t believe that the majority of my friends and family are in any way obligated to support me in any fashion. However, if I do happen to manage to actually make it through all of this, you better believe that I will shower my appreciation on those that helped me get there. But please don’t feel like I’m accusing anyone because I was unable to get my business where I wanted it. I put the blame on only myself, fate, and good old-fashioned luck.
So, I talked with the people that would listen (some of whom continued to use the word “hobby” even though I continued to use the word “business”) and came to a conclusion. It just isn’t worth it to pour more hard-earned money and limited free-time into dealing with the business aspects of it all and advertising myself when I don’t have the support I need to actually get a foot hold. Instead, I can put that time into doing what I enjoy, and put that money toward travelling the world, equipment to make it easier to enjoy this art form, and savings for the future of my family.
I think it’s best to move on with life, relegate myself to staying put for the time being, and get back to enjoying photography and meeting new people. In the future, if our progressing life happens to leave a hole and an opportunity to get started again and the conditions seem right, then I’ll go for it.