As I mentioned in an earlier post, I created a new 2012 Kauai calendar and put it up for sale on Zazzle about a month ago. Four sales so far! I also noticed that the choice of calendars for Kauai is not great and the others are priced higher than mine, and so I’m planning to put up the commission from 15% to 25% shortly to see if the market can bear a new price. I’ve given a short talk...
Many of us have a collection of great images, and one interesting opportunity is to create a calendar and sell that. I’ve tried to interest local shops with calendars, but it is a hard business with the need to print the calendars, persuade shops to take them and then deal with any overstock. Last year I created a calendar on the Zazzle website, and sold 8 copies with no marketing effort. Now will 8 copies make a fortune – no,...
The subject of what objects and buildings can be submitted for commercial stock and what is prohibited is a complex and ever changing feast! One of the sources of information that is kept reasonably up to date is on the Shutterstock blog – Shutterbuzz – known image restrictions. Well worth reading and bearing in mind as you plan your shoots!
I’ve created a monthly newsletter that has just been sent to all the buyers of my eBook. Its purpose is to keep the book up to date by highlighting changes in the industry, new tips and tricks to increase revenue, new sites worth considering and any notable products I have come across that will make your lives easier in feeding the Stock Photo monster….
I was very fortunate to be able to present a session on Stock Photography to the Manassas Warrenton Camera Club in Virginia last night. If you are ever in the area, please come along to the Club meetings on the first and third Thursdays in the month to meet a great bunch of people and hear some fascinating speakers… I wanted to keep the talk light-hearted but still informative and so put together a PowerPoint presentation trying to cover the...
Back in April, I mentioned the 123di Digital Photography Course, and gave an overview, gleaned from their web site, of the course contents. It appeared to be a pretty comprehensive computer based training course, but I didn’t have the time, at that stage, to properly review the details. I’ve now spent many hours going through the course, and I’m now in a much better position to give my full review of the course and its content. But, where to start...
As a previous post explained, I’ve recently bought the Canon 100mm f2.8L macro lens using my earnings from a great July! I happened to buy it used from a seller on Amazon – I had been following sales on eBay, but then I saw a seller on Amazon offering the lens with an included Canon UV filter for $934 and it arrived very quickly in excellent condition. There is an Amazon guarantee to help you sort out issues with a...
I recently bought a new macro lens (paid for with an excellent month of sales in July!), and my research identified the real need for a macro focusing rail if I was going to do this properly. The Velbon Super Mag slider was the result. I bought the Canon 100mm f2.8 for two reasons – it seems to be the lens of choice for some great images on DP Challenge, and its review on The Digital Picture was very good...
I have been searching for some time for an easy to use flash diffusion system. I use a white umbrella when I am taking a head and shoulders shot, but for quick use in the studio (ok table top..), the umbrella is a bit big and gets in the way. I’ve been working a lot with a new macro lens and I wanted something that would spread the light but be very manoeuvrable. The Rogue FlashBenders have turned out to...
With the purchase of my first real macro lens, I have been investigating the world of the small! One of the things I learned in my research is that the depth of focus of macro images is very small, and there is a limit to how much you can increase the depth of focus with smaller apertures. As I tried to explain in a long post on Photography Talk, there is a sweet spot for clarity and depth of field...
