Please Critique My Pictures, Are They Good Enough To Sell?

A quick glance before I run out the door tells me they are good enough to sell. The dog shot looks overexposed to me though. You need to draw people to your site through whatever means you can -- social media, word of mouth, e-mail to friends and family, pigeon carrier, etc. Don't expect people to find you.

My first piece of advice would be to change the avatar to something less negative. (See what I did there.) That's your logo, that's you letting pople see what you are. (Although I need to change mine back from my flag logo to my me logo)

Just looked: you have no favorites, you belong to no groups, you're not following anyone and you haven't posted any blogs. You have just over 100 views. They're all related. It's like you opened a brick and mortar store, but have not done any advertising, don't let anyone know your hours of operation and, in fact, have kept the windows newspapered over.

If you're not involved with your own FAA site, what should anyone else be?

You can't simply dump the pictures here and then leave and expect people to find you.

be sure your advertising as much as possible.


while at a glance this is sharp and has good contrast, i would rate it a snap shot because there isn't anything special that the dog is doing other than being there. if taken at a certain moment where it can tell a story, then it would be better. you need more keywords - think in plurals, it's an animal, what kind of person might want it, etc. that description puts me to sleep, your trying to sell it, not tell us about your lazy dog.


there are only so many that will want a picture of a sculpture, besides being a copyright infringement, this is more of a discovery of a thing you saw. rather than creating something new from what you saw. if this was taken with a better background, on a rock over looking the sea. mixed in with the grass, something with less shadow, it would look less like a snap shot. since this is probably not your own sculpture, you won't have that flexibility.


the real question is - where would you hang this in your own house? that is the question you have to ask yourself when you make these. would it go into your private study? your living room? if you say neither of these then it's a no go. if someone asks you - why did you take a picture of that rusted thing and bent nails? could you start a conversation about it?


it's nice and sharp, and the modern bike adds a bit of reality. but it says- this is a vacation shot. because the crop is very tight, it's a bit tilted, the lighting is uneven and bland. there isn't anything special about this building. anyone that went there would have it already. and those that didn't, may not care one way or the other. it's your job to capture something that is different than what the commoners can make. take it at sunset, with the lights on, as an hdr to balance, give more space, etc.


you have an interesting angle on this one, but the lighting is uneven. the bridge (there's too much of it), is too bright and the main subject is lost in midtones. i'd rather see this more to the right, closer to the smaller arches. i see a town that has smoke out of the chimney's which add life and story. as it stands there isn't really enough to catch attention and hold it. since the biggest brightest thing is a tunnel arch. your keywords don't mention castle, mid-evil or anything like that.


i can see this selling, but you have almost no keywords. no description. tell us where this is, explain it in keywords as well, be detailed.


i'll be honest - i don't get it.


this can sell as well - the description is depressing however, change that to reflect the mood to get the buyers mindset to a nice morning, rather than death. the title does not fit this image at all, the day doesn't matter, make a title that fits the scene.

what i'm seeing is a handful of sharp snap shots, but they look like snaps - poor crops, crooked, poor lighting. they don't hold attention for long. your descriptions are either weak, or a bit depressing and don't talk about the scene, just your mindset. the tags are low. you should sell cards (increase the price if you have to, but they should be there). you need much more work. and you have to advertise these every day. it's not a upload and wait kind of thing. you should have a bio, tell us about your work and what you specialize in. you should have images of where you live. i saw scotland, france, etc, yet you live in england, show us those areas. there isn't any that i saw of your home town. many love england, it's where most of the horror and magic films are shown (harry potter, jack the ripper, sweeny todd), etc. capture that.


---Mike Savad

Market yourself to bring customers here. You don't have to favorite, follow, join groups or any of that to sell.

John, you have a good eye and some great photographs. I think the train images may not print - a bit rough in the enlargement - grainy.

I agree with Roy, you do have a good eye, but if YOU don't know if your images are good enough, they probably are not. A good question to ask yourself, is . . ." would someone who doesn't know me want to hang that image on their wall? It would also help if you have a niche, because I see no cohesive theme throughout your portfolio. Choose you favorite subject to photograph and practice, practice, practice.

John, you have to take everything you are getting here with a grain of salt.

Nearly every thing I shoot myself is considered by "some" here as a snap shot, vacation photo or some other undesirable something.

But I sell the hell out of them...

You may get some very good technical advice, but what will and will not sell is anyone's guess and no one really knows.

Like everyone else, you have some images that are going to be a hard sell, imho. But could very well be the best sellers. NOBODY knows that.

Contrary to what people would like to believe, the average buyer is NOT looking for the greatest piece of artwork to hang on their wall. They are looking for anything that they like and that literally could be anything.

Rather then seeking critiques from a bunch of strangers, I would see a local teacher or join a camera club or find local "experts" that you can work with for advice.

In the mean time, sell what you got. Of course you want to tweak it to make sure it is cropped properly and technically right for printing. But sell what you have and add new as you improve.

I think the dog pic is just fine. I am not going to give you technical advise on it. But, it is a portrait. It does not have to be doing anything interesting. To a dog lover, especially if they happen to own or just lost a dog of that breed, that is as interesting as it has to be.

One other thing John, what Kevin said about joining groups, contests, following and all the other social networking in FAA is not necessary. The biggest sellers here never do any of that stuff. In fact, the bigger the seller is the less apt they are to be involved in any of that stuff.

It is about advertising and promoting YOURSELF outside of FAA and beyond Facebook and Twitter also.

Mike it is really not up to yourself to judge the art. What you may consider a snapshot really had NO place in a critique of whether work will sell as you do not call those shots. You may give advice on technical issues if you wish but leave the personal supposition out of the equation

Many images like the dog do sell. People like them

As Floyd said, buyers look for pieces they can feel happy with, something that perhaps speaks to THEM. If they have had that breed they may well love that image

he said he wanted a critique and he said is it good enough to sell - that's how i translated it. snap shot is a critique when it comes in the form of selling something. either the shot has magic or it doesn't. you can't just have technical clarity, that's usually not good enough to sell. you have to have an extra something else, or anyone would be able to sell things.


---Mike Savad

I like the dog portrait a lot. I don't think every image has to tell a story.

i'm not saying it won't sell, but you have to compare it to the competition mainly. when i critique i see it both as a photographer and a buyer and compare it with other things that i consider better, but still on a similar level of what i'm seeing. it's hard to explain. if you can market the images to people then they could sell, but still, i think unique sells better.

---Mike Savad

I have to agree with Mike on his points. The best way to self-critique is not look at any of your own work for a couple of days, then go back to your FAA page and look again as if you were a buyer.
Also, it might be a good idea to print these at home and bring them as a portfolio to local photographers to discuss. Keep in mind you need a thick skin if you want honesty. Don't take criticism to heart except to help you improve.
"Fairy Falls" would be better cropped in. That rock in the front is distracting. Try it as a horizontal beginning just above the rock. That same with "Steam"-too much track. You can still leave some as a leading line without losing the point of the image. "Simple" has too much space on the right. It can still be off-center if you want but I would crop that. "Augustus Archway" has too much black on the left. You can probably dodge the little bit of highlights showing so it doesn't print as a blob. "Seaworthy" is generally good and sellable, but some of the ship is blending with the rock formation behind it. Again, some dodging would help.
I see by your water images that you are falling for the "smooth water" fad. They still sell, but be careful not to overdo it. Vary it up a bit.

Most people have been here a lot longer, with larger portfolios and haven't sold a thing. To reiterate what everyone's saying, this site is a POD site and does not promote individuals-it is up to you to do all the promoting to get people here. Use social media, include FAA on business cards, etc.

I just peeked at your gallery and I like many that were there. This one in particular is fantastic to me.

Everyone has an audience. Just find yours. Yes, your images are great as far as I can see. Only one I see that many not print (black and white train) as it is a little blurry.

I like the element of the tracks in Steam. Each to his/her own I guess. I like "seaworthy?", excepting the name. This may be because I used to be a Sailor, and she's lookin' kinda sad. I like the dingy in the foreground.

I like "Old Gates". The texture of the stone really adds to the feeling of the image.

Hi John - I really like "Achtung" and I think you titled it perfectly since this beautiful dobie is clearly alert and focused on something. Really love the reflection in his eye and that the sun makes his coat shine. I think you'll capture lots of dobie lovers with this image.

Good luck on FAA and I wish you great success.

--Donna Proctor

Mike,

Abbie did not ask for your back chat. When she tells you something, you comply.

Silence = compliance.

wow.

I gotta tell you. I really don't like the tone around this place any more.

That's my 2 cents. Many others have mentioned this. You can listen or not as you choose.

I'll go along with HW.

John... I too agree with "most" of Mike's comments regarding storytelling and keeping an eye on the details that can make you image stand out in the crowd. Especially images of animals, plants, and landscapes. If you [ generic you, not you specifically ] are a flower specialist you are one among thousands. Try to find an angle that will set your flowers apart. Different angles, uncommon species, creative macro photography, dramatic lighting.. things like that. The same things can apply to animals, people, buildings...

I don't know what kind of camera you have, but when ever you are taking photos of selective areas of something like a structure be sure to get a wide shot of it that you can explore different crops later. A tight shot is a tight shot. What you shoot is what you have to work with, but if you have a wide view you can usually find at least a couple of interesting view. This is more important if you are shooting in an area that you would not easily go back to if you wanted to reshoot.

While it is try that rules are meant to be broken.... an angled shot might be just the thing... but "generally" again paying attention to the details is sometimes what will make a buyer choose your dog image over someone else's. Usually they won't consciously know why they like yours better, but they will.

The other topic that Mike mentioned and has been talked abut by others in the forum is LOCATION... people who live [ or have lived in the past ] in a location are more apt to purchase an image of that location. An image of a long established restaurant in England will have no "meaning" to someone in the U.S.A. but many people in the area may have had their first of many dates with their spouse there.. or any other such "connections" with a location that the rest of us would not have.

Choose some of your images and do a search here for similar ones and decide for yourself how yours measures up to them.

Lots of luck..

bob


Edit....

@HW. ditto

Now that I read what Mike said, I think what he was trying to say was the dog would maybe sell better with a fake mustache and purple hat.

Oh, and don't forget the yellow bow-tie!


Jeffery! Take your hand off that 'eject button" I was just trying to lighten it up a little!

i might be in the wrong by calling it a snap shot - is there a more politically correct version of that word that doesn't punch like that? mind you this is a question to all, and not some kind of talk back. just so i can soften it a little bit without making it sound insulting.

with the dog, most dogs kind of look like that. just kind of sitting there. when you think of a hound dog - what is the very first thing that pops into your head? i see a droopy looking dog looking up with puppy eyes. and a chihuahua? i see a small dog with beady eyes, staring back at you. each dog has a personality and the challenge is to catch it. if your dog is usually asleep - show that, or if it's doing something interesting, show that instead.

the main point in selling is, you need a shot that will catch attention, and anything that looks common will be bypassed, but more importantly, you want a buyer to say - awwww look at that little puppy wuppy i can eat him right up, i wonder what else he has in there. and from there you could get a sale - not always from that one, but others. so if you lead people in with the winter ones, and keep it at that level or higher, you will have a higher level of people staying in the gallery. right now the album is a bit random from what i remember.


---Mike Savad

John, what are you really looking for here? An honest critique like the one Mike gave you, or a pep talk? It seems Mike's honest critiques are being silenced and no longer welcome here since a few weeks ago, I can be wrong, but if you really want an honest critique, unfortunately you won't find it here anymore. Maybe it's because a lot of newbies don't know what they are asking for and come here asking for a critique when they really want a pep talk, and when they do get that honest critique and it's not what they expected, they pack up and leave and that's probably bad for business. So John, I ask again, what are you REALLY looking for here? And if you do say an honest critique, you have to promise you won't just pack up and leave if you don't hear what you wanted to hear; and don't forget to sign the release (lol). FWIW, it was a lot easier and we sure did learn a lot more when clearifications and disclaimers were not necessary before giving a critique when the critique was already asked for. -W

Any advice would be gratefully received.
Thanks
John

I believe that speaks for itself!! What's the need to continue to ask him what he wants? Why have threads if people can't answer the questions?

Wow! Didn't mean to start a war on here, calm down folks :)
Seriously, thank you all for the comments, good and bad. I did ask purposely for a critique, so was prepared for any crushing comments :)
I will take all the advice received and put it to good use, again, thank you.


I do want to answer some specific comments..
Robert - "Someone who is unsure of him/herself as an artist does not need our "opinions" "
I would never class myself as an artist, maybe a reasonable photographer at best. Surely opinions matter, if not why does anyone bother. A purchase is an opinion and I bet it feels great to get your first sale. That "I knew it was good" moment?

Mike - "magic or it doesn't. you can't just have technical clarity, that's usually not good enough to sell. you have to have an extra something else, or anyone would be able to sell things".
Some great advice. I looked at your work and you do seem to have found a niche which is clearly popular. I'm not a fan of highly processed HDR's, I rarely ever take them unless I need to be certain I can get the full tonal range. processing wise, the b&w castle is about as far as I would normally go, I might try upping the settings for a different look.

Bob - Yea I hate that I didnt get space at the one side of the swan it was one of those rushed shots. I kick myself every time I look at it :(

You have a great attitude, John. I hope you achieve lots of success!

Maybe I am about to commit a social felony here and maybe I will get an unexpected vacation..but..I feel like this place is becoming some kind of politically correct boot-camp.
It's shame because I used to get a lot out of the forum, I learnt about the business, technical and promotional sides of things from many great members..and yes, I have been on the receiving end of some of Mike's get-yourself-seen sermons and if-you-use-keywords-like-that-you'll-get-in-trouble rants..My favorite was what-do-you-mean-your-a-journalist-and-you-can't-come-up-with-500-words...rather alarming at the time..I sulked for an hour..but he was right and I fixed it and it worked better. I am not a Mike groupie..I imagine he barely knows I'm alive. But can we just back off and let it be? What if some of the sincerely helpful and creative members here don't feel they can speak their minds...where does that leave newbies and the slow learners like me? Probably floundering around in the politically-correct-no-mans-land. But at least no-one hurt my feelings.

"Mike gets yelled at because his opinion isn't all flowers and fluffballs. Again, what's up with that?"

There is a difference between honesty and rudeness. Some people use "honesty" as a disguise for being a bully. One of the great enemies of civility is a lack of self-control.

John, at this stage of your development, shoot what you like, and shoot it a LOT. Interpret your subjects your way. Ignore what you think the "market" might buy -- completely -- and take the time to find your passion, rhythm and voice.

If you can, shoot photos every day. Force it if you have to. Look at your shots in 60 days. What's the pattern? Which did you enjoy shooting the most? What theme do you return to time and again? That's the beginning of "your thing."

"Snapshot" as used in these critiques is meant to be derogatory. But maybe that's not all bad. William Eggleston is one of America's most beloved photographers, and his work is wall to wall snapshots. Yet, they have something Aunt Alma's snapshots do not.

Priority one is digging in and learning your craft. As your work improves you will sell photos along the way. When you have uploaded 100 truly excellent photos, keep shooting, keep growing and add marketing to the mix.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

I am of the opinion that if you want to improve then compare your work with all the great work on the internet. You don't have to ask anyone here their "opinion." Just use your eyes and be honest with yourself. If you are a bird photographer, then do research on bird images. LOOK at the best and then look at your images. Are they at least as good?

If you can't learn by looking at the very best of images, then you are just not getting it.

Of course, the optimists here will tell you that you are a good photographer, hang in there, keep shooting, etc etc. You will learn zero this way.

" it was one of those rushed shots"

Never shoot once, especially when it is a subject that moves. That is how snapshots come to be. *wink* Shoot sequential or bracketed so that you get multiple exposures. You can always edit out what you don't need but it will eliminate the feeling you must kick yourself.

Mike's work is not "HDR", it's a top secret multi-step process to give the images their surreal, painterly look.

Dan has a point: shoot often and find your passion. We all have different things we love to shoot and when you have a passion along with determination to be as perfect as you can, people take notice. Many start out just shooting with no idea what to look for. That's fine to learn the ins and outs of your camera, but once you are comfortable, settle down a bit and do what feels right.

In the now immortal words of Jack Nicholson as Colnel Jesep in A Few Good Men.

Kaffee (Tom Cruise): *Colonel Jessep, did you order the Code Red?*
Judge Randolph: You *don't* have to answer that question!
Col. Jessep: I'll answer the question!
[to Kaffee]
Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I'm entitled to.
Col. Jessep: *You want answers?*
Kaffee: *I want the truth!*
Col. Jessep: *YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH! (end quote)

I think what we are saying here is the same thing one of my business partners used to say about me. The rule in the company we owned together was never let Floyd answer the questions that took finesse to answer because what they are gong to get is the "brutal truth".

And he was 100% correct. Most people, as Col Jessep says, can not handle the brutal truth, nor should they have to. As Dan says, that is just plain rude.

And as I said earlier, NO ONE here knows what will sell and will not sell.

I gave on the threads three imaged one time and asked for a critique. I was told that none of them would sell and that if they did sell FAA would not print them. What I didn't tell the "experts" making the critiques is that I had already sold them and they had already been printed by FAA and multiply times on my other sites.

So, I would never listen to what anyone says about what will or will not sell except for maybe some of the technical aspects of it such as cropping.

But to be honest with you, and get ready for some brutal truth... A few get it right, But the combined group just does not get it right often enough to off set the potential damage, as witnessed by Abbie's mention of the messages she gets.

Yeah, your images are good enough to sell. Now, you just have to go out and market them and find your "fans" who will buy your art. Marketing is part of it.

--Roz Barron Abellera

"Mike's work is not "HDR", it's a top secret multi-step process to give the images their surreal, painterly look"

Actually Louise, the secret is out on Mike, he has 7 people that are helping him make all of those millions of Photoshop mouse clicks. They are highly skilled, trained by Mike and he oversees their work with a watchful, eye like a hawk, scrutiny. Then he comes in at the end and puts the finishing touches on them

The names of his helpers are, Sneezy, Sleepy, Grumpy, Doc, Happy, Bashful and Dopey. The strange thing is they are all the same age, born in 1937. When not busy in Mike's workshop, they moonlight for Disney.

(For those that lack a sense of humor, this is a joke.)

What do you think?

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/steam-powered-by-clicks-john-hickson.html

This is a nice shot and will have a large appeal to the right audience. It's a little on the blue and saturated side for my taste of this subject. I would clone or crop out the guy, he looks like a lost tourist, and maybe clone/crop out even that bright blue building on the left side. But other than those nits, I think you done good on this one. -W

it's cute, oversaturated and dark at the top. the guys backside is not at all attractive. if he was working on it, it would be better. creating a false hdr only hurts the image though. the modern cars in the background don't fit in there, neither does the trailer. a better angle is needed. hard to do at these shows. but that's a part of the challenge. description needs work, this is a steam tractor by the way. you need more keywords of course.

ideally i would shoot pieces of this. the switches, the brass against blue, and make it more of an abstract. without modern background stuff, people into steampunk, trains, steam tractors, farming equipment, etc, may want it.


---Mike Savad

Take the guy entirely out, would be my opinion.

Then change the description to something that will actually tell people what this is. Just a hint, tying to be cute or humorous is okay, but I am not sure if that helps in the search and it can often miss the mark.

I would keep the descriptions informative.

Third on cloning out the guy. You can eliminate the car and most of the trailer by black vignetting-not totally black, just enough so that the focus remains on the tractor and no one will say "what year is that car in the back?" ;) Dial back the blue just a tiny bit. If you know anything about layering you can do that without compromising the colors of the tractor. It's a perfect subject for detail enhancement-good job.

You can also keep the guy but put pants om his legs and he may fit just right. I'd make sure to take the guy out who is without the shirt sitting across from him!.

I dont intend to keep this in my port, I was just testing out the difference between a "snap" and something a little better.
I class this a snap, it was taken quickly, only really to record me being present. There is no composition, the lighting is terrible, I just took it.
Yet processing the heck out of it with 4 mouse clicks which took 3 mins tops, now makes this less of a snap? Basically I didnt need to be technically correct taking the shot to get a saleable image, I feel like I'm cheating a little.

another one chiming in. i'm not going to go into detail on individual images, you've already had enough opinions methinks.
two things i'd like to say.
someone wrote that you are thematically all over the place and that you should focus. if shooting varied is the type of person you are, and focusing on only a few subjects or themes bores you, then keep shooting varied otherwise it will show in your work.
focus instead on what your vision is for each image you create, for each photograph you take until that is clear in your mind - maybe look closely what other people are doing, not to copy but to get a feel for possibilities and to jog your creativity - and then do and use whatever it takes to get it there.

I like the guy. Reminds me of my papa. Its very endearing to see an old train enthusiast.

I liked the guy too.

adding a filter won't make it less of a snap. it's a snap because the guy in the image isn't doing anything with the engine, it's a snap because the background is not only cluttered but has things that don't relate to the main subject like modern items. if that guy was just doing something to the steamer, it would add a story, but it's just his backside, he does show scale though.

---Mike Savad

I would love to see some of yours before they are processed Mike, so I can see your starting point. Any chance you could put a before and after somewhere?

I think that doing these heaviliy processed, almost computer generated pictures may be easier for me (and maybe everyone else). Just needing to focus on composition and maybe a story, while lighting, exposure, depth of field, tonal range etc. take a back seat as these are overwritten by the processing anyway.

i posted it on my other thread, its in the skip now. i don't usually have single images, they are a combo of many images.

you don't want to over sweeten an image. hdr already has a bad name for pushing colors and tones to their breaking point, and due to their oversaturation, everyone has them and is tired of them. overlapping textures and false hdr, over a snap shot, still makes it a snap shot.


that's why i like the term snap shot. i remember saying to someone - why in the world would someone want a picture of a swamp. and a week later - dozens of them sell. no way of knowing. but if the sky is blown and it's crooked, it's a snap.

i only have one base shot from a thread rich opened earlier.





best i can do, since the before and after is drastic, and there is no true before with mine, most have 3-5 frames since they are hdr. there is no true starting point, since the images start with what i saw with the camera, and that thought is based on other things i've done in the past. like in the above example, the ice cream store would be nice without people, yet with people it adds flavor, if you will. i found many of my old shots lacking any kind of human being and made the town look empty. so now i try to add some kind of life in there, but not too much.

http://www.suburbanscenes.com

this is my older tutorial site, it has the general base points of some older images.



found the post


this is only one image, and usually its taken with 3-5 images. but you can see where i tried to remove things to make the final piece look complete. it took many hours by the way.

---Mike Savad

Everyone has an opinion but none of us can promise your work will or won't sell There is only one real way to find out.. Put you best work out there, promote it consistently, keep producing new work, and see what happens.

Thank you all for your comments, it IS appreciated.

I have the same problem. I think I should delete some of my pics; however I donīt know what to keep in my portfolio. Can anybody help?

this one is a bit odd, she has no head.


these could use better descriptions, but i think it would sell better either without the pins, or with real tools placed on the cloth.

you really don't have a whole lot in your folder to erase anything. i'd keep it all, though colorize the one headless one.


this would have more impact if there was a hand coming out, or a cross, or a bloody knife. as it stands, i don't see this on a wall. the descriptions really need work.



without the title, i didn't see anything but water and glare.


i don't know what that says across the bottom, its nearly impossible to read.


few will want someone else's kid. same with the beach shot, though that one is more artistic. not crazy about the feet either.

you as the artist have to decide are these my best works compared to what i usually do?



this one is very nice, i can see it hanging on a wall.



but not this one or the other one. these are totally out of place and don't fit in at all. you'll have a limited audience, i think feet are disgusting personally. and wrinkled toes? nah. i would nix at least those, that fisherman, and anything that doesn't catch the eye.


---Mike Savad

Now you see, I love Once Upon A Time. She doesn't look headless to me. Works for me totally