Newbie Here Looking For Advice

These threads tend to be honest opinions by the folks here, so be careful what you ask for. One question on this image --



What did you focus on? Because I don't really see anything as crisp as it should be. It's a huge print. Some basic processing and sizing down to 3072 wide might save it, but typically if it's not more in focus at the largest size than it is now, it's not going to size down and get tack sharp.

The other flower shots seem to be in focus. Some of them are a bit typical shots where with flowers, butterflies, etc. it will be hard to stand out here among all the other flower and butterfly shots. I believe I may have five total shots of flowers and/or butterflies out of 500 images here and in my mind, they are here to be an alternative to the other 495 shots I have. They get viewed, but so far they don't sell for me.

As for pricing, I tend to judge pricing by shots around 20X30 because, so far, those are the largest that have sold for me. And I have sold more than a few. Your prices on those are rather low, somewhere around 60 dollars, I believe. Folks have told me that some of my prices are low on that end, but I have been raising them to 90 to 95 dollars and selling them. My 8 inch wide shots, the smallest size FAA sells not including greeting cards start at 29 dollars.

A good habbit to get into is to look through other FAA profiles andsee what they are doing. On pricing, choose a product -- I choose framed prints although I prefer both metal and canvas over this -- and then click on "Show Price Details." FAA marks prints up by $5 on all sizes, so subtract that $5 and you can see what folks charge.

@ Joseph, Thanks for replying. I appreciate your honesty ! Now, that I see the rose is out of focus, I will see what I can do about that. I agree that the flower/butterfly shots are typical shots, but a girl can dream right?? Still looking, creating and dreaming for that special technique that many have seem to master on FAA. Creativity and originality seems to be the seller on most profiles/blogs or discussions that I have viewed. Is there a way to view" recently sold" items on an individuals profile? I was worried about the pricing and will take you up on the suggestion of looking at other profiles on FAA. Thank you for the positive nature of your response and all your suggestions will be put to good use.

i'm not sure if your asking for critiques or not, but flowers are a dime a dozen here and it will be very hard to get noticed using mostly flowers. try to do all keywording as you upload.


pictures like this you want to avoid. the leaves are blocking the flower.


your focus is off on many of these. if your going to have a short focus aim for the one in the front. but as a whole the flower doesn't catch attention. there is no description, tags, or even what kind of flower this is.


this one only has pricing for cards, however up close it may be too soft to print at the largest anyway.

you have to be very careful your images are in folders, otherwise they are rogue. dolphin and jellyfish i only saw because of the thumbs at the bottom.


you want to get these thing in the water, or try not to make it look like a snapshot. while there is color there is little story. again - add descriptions and tags right now. it takes 24 hours to get in the main search and if google comes by today, you won't be in the search there either. be weary of horizon lines and how straight they are. this is crooked.

try to find an avatar that isn't a common pink flower. people tend to remember faces over flowers and don't forget the bio - outline what you sell.

the prices seem a little low as i progress in size, but you can adjust for that later.

there really is no dreamy method. it's mostly the time of day you shoot and removing clutter or avoiding it. crisp colors, good contrast and color adjustments to make it pop. you can't see what people have sold to that level. you can look at the recently sold threads and see that. be sure to advertise yourself.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

first thing you needed is to know the names of the flower shots you uploaded, it will help for search.. it is not tiger lily and pansy. get a plant book from the library.

@ Alfred - lesson learned (smiling) the names were given to me by someone else. Off to the library for a plant book and correct identification. Thank you for your response !

use google or wikipedia. but when you shoot always get a shot of the sign.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Flowers in the garden is a crowded field. The images have to be something extra special in order to rise to the top and be noticed. You also have to consider the rarity. Everyone shoots flowers in the garden because its so easy. Potential customers either have their own shots or are looking for something new and unique.

@ (2nd post) Mike great idea ! I will keep that in mind when a sign is available. Also use google and Wikipedia ! Thanks !

@ Edward thanks for your response - flowers are popular and easy to photograph. Currently looking to be creative and unique with future photos. Hence this newbie to the world of photography has a lot to learn and I am all ears and eyes to any and all suggestions, critiques and help anyone is willing to give. We all have to start somewhere ; )

sometimes you can reverse search the flower and find it that way

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

@ Mike thanks for all your help! I did see your long list of suggestions in your first post. I started my profile earlier today but Unfortunately I am currently sitting in the emergency room with the Hubby. Not sure when I can do the keywords, descriptions and other changes such as bio. Maybe tomorrow. I prefer not to try these things from my iPhone. Maybe it would be best to delete everything and start fresh this weekend. Just a thought! Anyone like or think a photo is nice of the photos posted so far??

you don't have to erase anything. you can add the stuff later on.

thing is, there are millions of images here, and we've seen many. once you've seen one flower you've seen them all. there are times when flowers are nice. but your images, some are ok, but many have that snap shot look. where the focus is a bit off, or it's cropped off some place. they don't have that pop that you want. it can't just be nice is has to be NICE. for me, nothing really caught my eye


of the ones this is ok, except i wish it was portrait. and the background is a bit noisy. the reason i like it more than the others is that it's not a flower and its different.

from this point on try to upload images that you would buy yourself if you saw it in someone's gallery.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Even though I was guilty of this, too, we're not saying don't upload flower and butterfly shots. Shoot what you want and have fun doing it. Upload what you want, too, but know flower and butterfly shots are going to be hard to make stand out here.

Thanks Joe ; ) I love taking photos ! But I know the key should be to stand out and as Mike said it is NICE photos that catch a person's eye ! I really appreciate your responses and looking forward to improving as I upload more of my work as time goes on.

for example i have dozens of flower shots - and i think i've sold 3 over the 3 years i've been here. i'm still messing with what people might like.


i'm working on extreme close ups.

the problem with flower shots are:

1. few houses have a flowery look to them.
2. people have their favorites
3. most people with a camera will shoot flowers first and foremost - so even if it's really good, they will have one that they think looks just as good.
4. everyone here has flowers in their folders, that and abstract. which is why both are hard to sell, not impossible, i see flowers sold all the time. but still hard. and if you don't have the right keywords, and not even the name of the flower, color, genus, etc - it will be really hard to stand out.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

True, true, true and true regarding your 4 points. I am asking for a macro lens to shoot close ups and photography classes for Christmas. Need to find time to practice, practice and practice my photography. I have gone blindly as far as subjects to shoot - I guess whatever crosses my path becomes a victim to my camera.

Quita, I love the jellyfish! It is a little noisy, but it should print well at smaller sizes. You have it offered at 60 inches, and I doubt it will print at that size. Maybe it could go as large as 30, but probably not larger. You're on the right track, and there's great advice here. Good luck, and most of all, have fun!

Thanks Patricia! But I do have a question. Being a newbie and learning as I go, I think I am confused or misunderstanding the sizing options. If I am not mistaken, I upload my photo and then FAA selects the best sizes the photo would be best at? So for example my butterfly photo was uploaded and FAA only gave option as a greeting card. But my flowers, dolphin and jelly fish provided many different sizes. How do I know which is the best selection as far as print size? Should I go back and change the size option?

it does, but they also have a printing standard. and if the image is soft or noisy up close they won't print it at all and you'll lose the sale. which is why it's recommended to only have prices up to 30" until you can get your clarity straight.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Now I understand. Thanks again Mike. I will play it safe for now and stay at 30".

nothing more to add to all the great advise above other than a warm welcome. :)

@ Richard - thanks for the warm welcome and yes I have received great advice from the FAA members! Always open to assistance with my photography and improving everyday! Have a wonderful day, everyone!

I have the same questions. I also am new. I am not a photographer. I just paint. I have no idea if the quality of the photos I posted of my art
are okay or not. So, I hesitate to add any more. I wish there was an easier way to know.

this won't print because you cropped your name off.

the other one is fine. as long as you look up close and you see that it's sharp, you can see brush strokes, the paper texture, etc, then its fine. if it looks like little blocks, if it's blurry or motion blurred. if it's crooked or you see white lines, or in your case you over cropped it and took of your name, then it will fail. if your scanning these in, try to scan them larger so you can sell larger prints.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Okay, Thank you so much Mike. I really appreciate your advice!

Just became premium member and added new photos. I wanted to bump discussion because it has advice that is helpful to others.

Once you start getting more images up think about having your page open with galleries and not images.
It can be off putting to look through loads of random images

Thanks Roy ! If I set it at galleries now will they miss the images not associated with a gallery?

ALWAYS put images in galleries. every image you have should be in a gallery or no one will see anything. there won't be many customers that will want to wade through dozens of random images. always place things in a gallery and show that first. you don't want it to look cluttered.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

You can put the images that you have into the galleries once you have made them.
Don't forget to put one of your images as the gallery logo

Thanks again !