Good grief - I've created a monster!

I am really glad you are going to make some positive steps towards your dream; if my rant was the impetus that pushed you over the edge, it is something I can live with. You're a sensible lad so hopefully you won't go and do anything rash - like quit your day job right away. You will obviously need an income to sustain life whilst you go for your dream.

My thoughts on this are such; you have a natural talent and you really love to show it off - that is great! Accolades from friends, family and co-workers is very addictive - once you get a few compliments you will strive to please them over and over again. But you need something to accompany the raw talent you are exhibiting; you need accreditation. Check out local colleges and night schools and sign up for basic then advanced credited courses in photography. You've got a natural gift that needs to be nurtured and developed into a art form. The sad reality is that most 'professional' photographers need a second job to make ends meet - photography just doesn't pay much. Now, don't let that discourage you from trying. There are successful, rich and happy photographers in this world, and you will be one of them someday. Set up short term and long term goals for yourself. Don't be discouraged by any setbacks, learn from your mistakes and press forward.

If you require further positive affirmations, I am right here.

thanks so much mate.. means alot to me

i will certainly not leave my day job anytime soon..
the last few days i have kik started my future tho.. i had friends and family go thorugh my photos and select their favourites. i then narrowed those photos down to 100 shots and got them printed in 5x4. then i rung around some local photo frame wholesalers and cracked a deal with 500 frames. i bought some backing boards and i have centred the photos in them and framed them up.. so far i have framed 34 of them..
i looked in the local paper fro craft markets etc, and i have booked a stall at one of the locakl markets for next weekend. the stall costs $45 a day for 2 days.. im going to set up stall and see what happens..!


heres a photo i just took of one of my framed shots.. what do you guys think... im going through prices at the moment... i am leaning towards $15 each or 2 for $25? is that too much or too little in your honest oppinion..

im hoping that my photos will appeal to a wide range of people.. as i dont have one dominant style... it varies dramatically which i think is probably a good thing right?!


........

[Tyler]

Thought you might could use these.BoardPusher | Custom Skateboard Deck Graphics | Help
I use them for the decks I design as well.

[spyglass]

Hey Distorted Vision,

I do not know the culture of your country, but here in British Columbia, Canada (Go Canucks Go! - ha ha). Some artists have used restaurants & cafes to display and sell their art. The restaurnts love it because it fills their vacant walls. You simply hang and arrange your pieces, attach a small price tag or business card to the pictures. You also leave an inventory / price list with the restaurnt. The patrons can buy the work then and there. You pop round every week, fill the bare spots on the wall and collect your cash. You can also rotate your inventory between restaurants. After a while you get a feel for each business and their customer types. I see that artists now also go after furniture store to add to their display. The trick is to pick hip joints with decent lighting and high business flow.

Hope this helps, (eh)

Spyglass

[yeahwhatever]

here ya go.. what do you think??

Slap a signature on that and it's sold.....!
I got a place on my wall for those....now that's a canvas!!!

[roentarre]

Kevin, you will definitely succeed very soon and explore more before settling in one style of photography. I like the skate board copy work and they are very neat and well presented.

Once your website is completed, I would need your wisdom to have a look at my website

p.s. I got a few deals with some jazz clubs to shoot regularly in Richmond at the moment. You are welcome to join me for some regular weekly shoot out. (Only 50 bucks for me though a week)


James

[distorted_vision]

Kevin, you will definitely succeed very soon and explore more before settling in one style of photography. I like the skate board copy work and they are very neat and well presented.

Once your website is completed, I would need your wisdom to have a look at my website

p.s. I got a few deals with some jazz clubs to shoot regularly in Richmond at the moment. You are welcome to join me for some regular weekly shoot out. (Only 50 bucks for me though a week)


James

hey jimi. sorry for the late reply!! jazz clubs would be awesome!! im defineatly in for that if thats ok with you?!

ill give u a hand with youre website, no worries mate

[distorted_vision]

Slap a signature on that and it's sold.....!
I got a place on my wall for those....now that's a canvas!!!

hey mate.. if your serious.. ive been speaking to my mate about printing on blank decks and i can arrange it... so if your interested, let me know and i could arrange it.. they would be high quality and the same standard as any other deck graphics you would find on other decks..

kev..

[distorted_vision]

WELL GUYS.. thought id fill you in.... i had my 1st market display yesterday and i ended up selling 18 photographs!!
i started out with $25 for one picture and 2 for $40 and within the 1st 20 minutes i had already sold 5 frames..
i was pretty shocked and i also handed out over 100 buisness cards also.. and some flyers which i made up.

overall, it was very much a success and i am certainly planning my next market stall!!
so many people seemed really excited by my work and i kept getting comments like ' ure style is so much different ' - i was going to pull some corny line and say ' thats why they call me DEE VEE,' but i thought it probably wasnt a good idea as they wouldnt have a clue what i was talking about,!! hah!!

[Peter Zack]

That's great Kev. Glad to hear it. Also glad you raised the price to at least get a fair price for your efforts. If the market can handle $25/per then I'm glad you didn't go at $15/. So where did you get the frames? Local or mail/online order? Do they look as good as the picture you posted?

You've inspired me to give something similar a shot. There are not many paid photogs here and I think there's an opportunity to make some $$ here. I placed a simple ad last week for weddings and booked 6 in 2 days for this summer. I only wanted to do 4 Lol!!

[Peter Zack]

It occured to me that you should get one of those decent LCD picture frames and if you can get power at your table, Load a selection of your work there. You can take custom orders for images that are not on display. Might be a great way to boost sales and prices for larger versions.

[distorted_vision]

That's great Kev. Glad to hear it. Also glad you raised the price to at least get a fair price for your efforts. If the market can handle $25/per then I'm glad you didn't go at $15/. So where did you get the frames? Local or mail/online order? Do they look as good as the picture you posted?

You've inspired me to give something similar a shot. There are not many paid photogs here and I think there's an opportunity to make some $$ here. I placed a simple ad last week for weddings and booked 6 in 2 days for this summer. I only wanted to do 4 Lol!!

THANKS mate!

yerh, i was pretty happy how it all went down! they were selling easily for $25 which was great! one guy gave insisted on giving me $50 for the 2 shots, but i declined and sold them for $45.
i ended up getting my frames from a local distributer.i have bought 500 of them in total, so as you can imagine.. i have to make sure i sell them, because the outlay was quite expensive... . . they are surprisingly nice frames for the money and look great on a wall,, the only thing i change with them, is on the back of the frame, i staple on some thick brown paper, to cover up the backing,along with a sticker with my details on it, so you cant open it without ripping off the paper.. its a technique that i noticed when i went looking at local shops that sold printed art. it has a much nicer finish and looks more professional in my oppinion and does not take to much effort.. just have to relocate the brackets for the hanging wire.

to give u an idea.. after the stall costs and the money it cost me to make each frame, i made a profit of $312 yesterday and thats for 2.5 hours work.

thats awesome about the wedding shoots mate!!! good luck with that one

[distorted_vision]

It occured to me that you should get one of those decent LCD picture frames and if you can get power at your table, Load a selection of your work there. You can take custom orders for images that are not on display. Might be a great way to boost sales and prices for larger versions.

hey mate, thats a fantastic idea.. i was thinking along those lines.. i have power also, so thats useful!

my idea was to have my computer there with my screen and people can scroll through my images and pick out the ones they want.. when the pick the ones they want, ill ask them to come back in 15 minutes, i can use my printer or just sort through my folio and frame it up on the spot, or like you mentioned.. take orders etc.. especialy if its enlargements they are after... thats one thing im not sure about?? whether i should offer larger sizes than 5x4.. ?? hmm??

at the moment my set up is 3 BIG folders.. 1 for street and abstract.. 1 for ocean and nature. and 1 for macros and random shots.

people can flick through the folders, pick out the shot they want and then i simply take out a copy , adhere and centre it to a backing card, sign it and seal it off with the backing paper and hanging wire. this process takes me about 3 minutes and its good, because it draws a crowd, as people want to see what im doing..

i have a made perspex jig to place the photos onto the backing card perfectly centred, so i dont havto worry about lining it up by sight. saves time also!

i have about 20 random pictures in frames also, just displayed on some wooden cabinets that i knocked up.. 2 big towers pretty much and the frames are staggered over the towers with price tags hanging off..

most people look at the frames, then goto the albums and pick out the pics they like.. so i think i have a good system at the moment?

any advice mate?

[vievetrick]

Great news and congrats on the sales. Sounds like you are off to a great start and may be able to spend that money on some new gear

Hey, sounds like you should think about setting up a website. (if you have not already) repeat sales and bigger prints = $$$

Good luck.

[distorted_vision]

Great news and congrats on the sales. Sounds like you are off to a great start and may be able to spend that money on some new gear

Hey, sounds like you should think about setting up a website. (if you have not already) repeat sales and bigger prints = $$$

Good luck.

thankx mate yeh, the website shall be online in 2 weeks tops.!!! cant wait!

[Peter Zack]

vievetrick has a good idea there, Make sure the website is on the business cards and the back of the printed shots you sell. Remind people that there will be updates with new images. The computer at the site is a good idea and you can have the comuter just scroll a slide show when people aren't browsing the folders.

As for enlargements and prints, I'd do it all on a per order basis. Only so people see some value. If they see you whipping off prints right on the spot, they'll think that was cheap and easy, why does he charge $25.00? It just would seem like there's more work involved "placing an order" and waiting till you're back next week.

You should have an enlargement price list. For that you'll need to contact a local printer. I'd take an image and have them do one or two enlargements (11x14") and if possible mount them on a foamacore backing so you can display how they would look. Even better if you can find a couple of decent frames with matts at a reasonable price. Prices for a shot this large will be much higher at retail. I'd expect you will have to charge around $100- $150 to make a decent profit but that would be inline or less with anything they could find in a picture shop.

[yeahwhatever]

hey mate.. if your serious.. ive been speaking to my mate about printing on blank decks and i can arrange it... so if your interested, let me know and i could arrange it.. they would be high quality and the same standard as any other deck graphics you would find on other decks..

kev..

Definitely, Im interested 100%.
As of late, I have been laid off from work here and there
due to the "winter" slow season here, but things are getting back on track!!
So give me a bit of time to get caught up on bill's, then its a sure deal!!

Also, good to hear you did well with market display!!
Great pay for 2.5 hours!!!!

I will PM you soon for more info and to keep in touch, if you're
good with that.....