[g026r]

Taken from one of the elevated viewing platforms?

[gofour3]

Taken from one of the elevated viewing platforms?

Yep I took a lot of pictures from the viewing platforms on the West side, including the spot where JFK made his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. I have a few of the East German guard towers and you can see in some shots the solders watching me with binoculars.

On another crossing on the west side of West Berlin/East Germany border, they sent a jeep over to watch me. Got some nice shots of the guard dogs and jeeps.

I was a teenager with a new Pentax and had no fear!

Phil.

[dsmithhfx]

Yep I took a lot of pictures from the viewing platforms on the West side, including the spot where JFK made his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. I have a few of the East German guard towers and you can see in some shots the solders watching me with binoculars.

On another crossing on the west side of West Berlin/East Germany border, they sent a jeep over to watch me. Got some nice shots of the guard dogs and jeeps.

I was a teenager with a new Pentax and had no fear!

Phil.

When I first landed in Halifax, I went on the Macdonald (old) bridge overlooking the naval base with my sl35 and vivitar 75-205. In very short order, an mp pulled up and asked what I was doing there.

[Swift1]

Canon 7 rangefinder
Jupiter-12 35/2.8
Kodak Portra 400
Epson V750-M Pro

[Jellygeist]

As a retired professional I've done regular solo shows at various galleries in my region. Also a goodly number of group shows. My shows are of what I considered my personal work when I was a working pro. I have sold a reasonable number of prints. I would not try to make a living from it. Very, very few "fine art" photographers make substantial incomes from print sales. They make most of their money from day jobs, from commercial work, of from teaching photography.

I've slowed down a lot and in future expect to do one or two shows a year at local galleries. I can do the photography but the travel and schmoozing to market my work to major urban galleries is more than I care to take on at this stage in life. However, I intend to continue making prints to please myself. For me a good print is a much more true expression of photography than an "image" on a (usually uncalibrated) monitor.

Incidentally, much of my work is on FF digital. I continue to shoot film because I enjoy the process, including messing around with old cameras. Some of the film work is good enough to show, but usually as 12x18 prints from 35mm rather than the 24x36 prints I can easily pull from FF digital. There's nothing wrong with a good 12x18 print, but these days catching audience attention is more a matter of large size than of whether the image has anything interesting to say. Once you have peoples' attention, some begin to see the qualities in pictures that make them worth hanging on their walls and revisiting many times. From my perspective, that is what has made selling my prints worthwhile.

In terms of your image, jellygeist, it's colourful and probably saleable. If it's of a well-known local landmark, that increases the odds of sales. That sort of thing can be sold at local arts/crafts fairs. Cards can also work for shots in this style. However, a single image is unlikely to carry much weight in marketing prints. As a standalone image you might get paid peanuts for it from a stock agency. If you want to sell prints, in my view the image should be part of a body of work that demonstrates that your picture is an example of a consistent artistic vision rather than a fluke.

You may want to look around and see what people are charging for prints at fairs in your area. You will probably find that a lot of them are selling cheap and nasty prints for barely enough money to cover printing and framing expenses, with nothing for their time or operating costs. It's up to you to decide whether you want to compete in that market or aim higher.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

I don't plan on making any sort of living off of it, but it'd be nice to have my pictures out there in the physical world. Having at least one gallery show in my lifetime would be the highest I'd ever shoot for. Maybe a book since I get a little conceptual with my shooting sometimes.

I definitely don't want to sell cheap. My subject matter doesn't really fit into that market...which is fine, I'm not disparaging that market at all.

I originally set the price at $125 CDN, but I eventually decided that was a bit outrageous so I reduced it to $80 (I "took it out of the frame"). I advertised it on Instagram where the shot originally became popular.

I think what I might do is scrounge up enough money to put together a portfolio and shop it around. Maybe selling prints after only shooting seriously for about a year is a bit of silly hubris, but you only live once.

[builttospill]

Having at least one gallery show in my lifetime would be the highest I'd ever shoot for. Maybe a book since I get a little conceptual with my shooting sometimes.

I sell several prints through several different venues. A couple art galleries buy both digital and film prints from me, including this one from an MX, M50/2 and expired Kodak 200:

[builttospill]

K2 DMD, Kodak BW400CN, FA 43

[dsmithhfx]

[blan01]

Day trip to Newport RI last weekend

[g026r]

Very nice. What were you shooting with?

[Bengan]

Canon 7 rangefinder
Jupiter-12 35/2.8
Kodak Portra 400
Epson V750-M Pro

This is a really cool shot. I like it a lot

[builttospill]

Click to view photo

I like looking at your photos, but lately they've required me to click a link and leave the Forums to view them. Any way you can embed the link so we can all see them easier?

[John Poirier]

Canon 7 rangefinder
Jupiter-12 35/2.8
Kodak Portra 400
Epson V750-M Pro

That's a very fine shot.

[dsmithhfx]

[dsmithhfx]

This happens even when you're logged in?