Is This Sellable? Need Opinions

i don't really care for it. if it was a sunset you can get away with the plants. but there just isn't enough in there to hold my interest for that long. and my eye goes right to the longest plant then on that white box.

if maybe you shot it really low on the sand, and used the weeds as a frame, it might work out.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I would take it down...My eye goes right to that grass and the construction on the bridge right away. Next time try a vertical shot with the grass in the foreground and the bridge in the distance. The grasses will help to lead you into the image.

I have had people tell me that some of my images will never sell or never print if they did.

They were totally wrong. Those images had already sold multiply times, printed and delivered and stayed delivered.

No one can tell you what will sell and what will not.

Personally I like the lines with the shore line and the bridge itself making a V. My eye goes immediately to the suspension tower in the distance.

I have had people tell me that some of my images will never sell or never print if they did.

They were totally wrong. Those images had already sold multiply times, printed and delivered and stayed delivered.

No one can tell you what will sell and what will not.

Personally I like the lines with the shore line and the bridge itself making a V. My eye goes immediately to the suspension tower in the distance.

I have NO way of knowing if someone would buy it or not. Nor does anyone else.

I can only tell you if I would purchase it. No, sorry, but someone else may well.

I'm on my phone, so I can't see if it's technically ok.

Don't take it down! It may not sell internationally, but maybe locally.

Colin Utz
http://colinutzphotography.com

I like it, and before throwing in the towel, I would first clone out the single weed, the one just left of center. Then, attempt to clone-in good sections of the bridge's framework over the construction section. You'll have to rework the weeds that are across the construction section afterwards. Depends on how much time you want to spend on it. Never know until you try. :) . Or, reshoot it from a different pov as previously mentioned.

I agree that I'm not a huge fan of the foreground plants in this photo. I think it would be better with just the sandy beach. But that is just my opinion. I agree with Floyd that no one can really judge if something can sell, since everyone's tastes are different.

people may buy anything... however, if it drags down the other work, or it isn't the standard you like, then take it down. its hard to know what people like. if it were mine, i never would have put it up. a different angle, time of day, then maybe it will sell. it may sit here for 5 years before it sells though... and - if someone stumbles on it in google, would they be inclined to look at more pieces? or do you think they would move on?

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

It reads like a snapshot to me. I would breeze right by it if shopping for a bridge photo. It's clearly of good quality, but the construction is a problem, in my opinion.

I'll probably take it down later... the construction is bothering me too much. Thanks for the input everybody!

You will be glad to know that I do NOT share the view of your greatest critics on this image.

I like it. I like the vegetative growth in the foreground.

The construction does NOT bother me. The colors are pleasing, The lines are pleasing.

Will it sell? THAT's a question that only a mind reader or a time traveler could answer, and I do NOT believe in either.

There is nothing grossly wrong with the image, as I see it.

you basically go with your gut. you know your own standard. then just bite the bullet and remove it. and try to improve it next time. the image may please 1 person, but you may not sell it over and over. and i don't think it will pull in customers. when i upload i try to upload only the best and each one is set up to pull in customers. i have lots of old ones that may never sell, but i did my best making it. and i have lots that never go up. i think if you waited an hour and set up in the water in front of the weeds. at a different angle to remove that train car sized box, it would be better. it doesn't catch the eye like your other bridge shots. as a documentary it works fine though.

you don't need to be a mind reader to know if it will sell. just ask yourself - would you buy it over another piece? that's all.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Not t be Captain Obvious here, but it won't sell if you take it down. You never know, someone may want it because of the construction. If you leave it up though, I'd write to the construction in the caption. Explain what they're doing and why.

"...You never know, someone may want it because of the construction. If you leave it up though, I'd write to the construction in the caption. Explain what they're doing and why."


Ditto.

I'd still remove that one single weed though. ;)

To a first time viewer, I dare say the construction is NOT even an issue. If you had not mentioned it, then it most likely would never be an issue.

It is an element of the photo. I also dare say that MORE than one person will like it.

I think it has a strong composition, good leading lines, satisfying color harmony echoes (partially BECAUSE of the construction form, in one instance), universally appealing subject matter (water), and generally a good feeling in terms of the type of sunlight.

Snap shots sell all day long, all over the net.

Buyers buy what they like. The simply do not look at art with the same critical eye as professional artists do.

I will certainly concede that the majority of the work sold here is very high quality, but very often I run through the recently sold and say, wow, I would never buy that.

Go look at the major whole sale publishers that have tens of thousands of images for sale and they sell them all the time. Some of those images I am sure would fall squarely in what some here would consider snapshots. But the sell.

Go look at what is available at art.com, posters.come, prints.com, and the hundreds of other high volume retailer sites.

And before you trash those sites, keep in mind that hundreds of FAA member, some of them top sellers here, are also selling on those sites above.

We probably all have t least one "You mean someone bought that?" items. Here's one of mine that I put up because the technical quality is there and I liked it.



Never thought it would sell and I don't know if it would go on my walls personally, but it sold.

"Not t be Captain Obvious here, but it won't sell if you take it down. '

I love it! Pithy, spot on and very funny! lol

I guess I just have more faith in the buying public to think that if one has 100 or 1000, 5000 images up and not every single one of them is a candidate to hang in the Louvre, that shoppers is going to run for the hills.

You know I took a photo of an old cab over semi sitting in the weeds, took it with a point and shoot put it up for sale as a new member in sept of 12, it was my first sale and sold in Nov that same year, did I like it no, would I hang it on my wall no, but you know someone connected with it and bought it, so never underestimate what a person is apt to get.

Personally I like the image and you do have 4 likes on it, leave it up, costs nothing to do so. You liked it well enough to take it and post it follow your first instinct.

The irony is you can put a lot of work into great shots, but a little bit of a snapshot instead of all the ducks lined
up and a few folks might find things more interest. I would love to get some data on how Instaprint is doing?

I think after 10 months of being here no one really knows why people buy anything at all, other than to cover part of their
wall space.

Hold your standards up, but that is not all that will sell. In fact more art school stuff with all sorts of clever ideas might well be the last thing
anyone else wants. Some mix of great and just matches the couch is more likely to move. Customers have their view of things as well.

Dave

its not a mystery why things sell. people buy things because they like them and or it reminds them of home. now if that bridge is always under repair, it won't matter. however while it might sell at some point, you might chase customers away because it doesn't look like its on the same level as the others. some people buy things because you may be the first person with that thing and they wanted it. who knows. i know why people buy my things personally.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Bad art that people relate to and matches the drapes or the couch will sell better than great art that no one relates to and never matches a thing.

Most art is sold for decorating purposes, not as art. Most people don't really care one wit about real art. The do care about what the like when they see it, what they can relate to and what matches their decor.

Don't just look at the wholesales and retailers on the net. Look around you.

I bet there is not one person here that has not been in someone's house, maybe even the house of a good friend or realities, and not said, oh my God, that is horrible and I would never let that into my house let alone hang it where anyone can see it.

Look at the art in your doctors office, you insurance agents office, hotels and motels, restaurants. There is less then "the best" are hanging all over the place. And some one sold it.

Joseph's photo is an industrial photo. Not all photos are for the living room. Industrial images are use in offices and places of work as well as in trade show displays. Like for an insurance guy or a safety officer. The bridge is not an industrial photo. It's more a a landscape beauty type of scene. In fact the intent of the image seems to be lost. Thumbs down, because it does not help your portfolio. The chance of a sale is minimal.

actually neither of those things would sell. its very doubtful anyone would buy bad art just to match a couch. people don't spend money for the heck of it. "the best" is relative. the quality i've seen on walls are not snap shots. i've seen rockwell, beddard (sp), fine art still life, everything is a pro shot. usually its not one of those out of there type surreal abstract shots. usually its related to the business. the main theme is - it doesn't look like a snap shot.

in the case of this bridge, it might always be under construction or being painted. many bridges are. and it would be unusual to see it without a tent of some kind. in which case its a normal thing to have the box there. but as this stands, i think he can do it better, the weeds serve no practical purpose, it can't be used as an anchor. i like the soft ripples on the sand. the box isn't super terrible, the weeds are simply in the way, and i'd like a richer sky.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

It seems Matt has removed the image from his gallery, so the discussion continung is pretty moot I would think as there's no larger image to view tge details.. I was going to say wouldn't it be a kick in the butt if it sold within the next few days. :)

Personally, I would have left it for sale. You never know.

I agree with Floyd. Lots of thing I wouldn't hang on my walls have sold.

I removed it because I just didn't like the construction... I didn't mind it as much when I first uploaded it, but I just kept looking at it and decided I don't want to sell something I don't like 100%

Maybe it would have sold, who knows. I just don't want to have stuff that doesn't please me left in on the hopes that someone might find it and buy it.

You seem to have a preconceived notion of what YOU would have considered the perfect shot. I just do not care about the construction at all. If you had never mentioned it, then I would never have even thought of it. The image has a pleasing mood and pleasing colors, which override that one element of form that you particularly do not care for, because of your specific knowledge of it.

keep in mind, the artist has the final say. if they don't like the image, or they are unsure, then it should not go out. it doesn't represent his other work. sure, he may get that one sale out of it, but people may not like it as much as the buyer did, and he may lose customers that way. i'm certain other people here can see that - they would not release work they didn't like themselves.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Ugly paintings sell all the time. It is a fact. Always have and always will.

Put ugly in the FAA search if you don't believe me.

I think a lot of people missed the point of this thread; I wasn't asking "will it sell"-- that is an impossible question to answer, and always will be.

I was looking for opinions on whether most would try to sell an image of a major landmark with part of it under construction. I decided I don't want to, and there are several who agree.

ugly is a keyword. and we aren't talking ugly, we are talking quality relative to the other work.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

As a landscaper why would you shoot to clone out things in the image? thats a heck of a lot of work and you can move your feet to a different camera position.

Why clone and not move? Sometimes moving is not an option due to geography or committing tresspass, I have grown to hate power lines but always choose to clone them out when needed, as I said moving is not always a solution and may create new or worse problems.

As far as this bridge would be hard to do by just moving, one would be better to wait until the construction moved from the site or cropping, cloning or some other magic.

ROFLMAO!

It was a joke Mike, I am not stupid enough to call anyone's else's work ugly.

I agree with what others have said, most of what I have sold here has been stuff I like but not love. You never know what others will like. One of the pieces I have sold the most is a B&W that I only converted because someone asked me to and then I sold it a bunch of times after that.

Matt, the thumbnail in the original post looks nicely composed to me. And the construction thing doesn't bother me. Even the Golden Gate Bridge has some sort of work being done on it constantly (usually painting), and the equipment is just a part of the scene. Life isn't picture-postcard perfect, and I like photography that reflects real life.