Old photographer, new to forum

[Brizbee]

Hi there folks and a warm welcome from Bonnie Scotland. "Och aye the noo" as we say up here, apparently.

 

So a bit about me. Well, I've been into photography for over 30 years now, from negatives through slides and finally onto digital about 11 years ago. Never really looked upon it as a career, just a hobby that got me out and about. But I showed some of my pictures to my work colleagues and from their encouragement decided to take the plunge to try and see if I could sell anything. So I joined Alamy in the summer and have been steadily contributing for the past 11 weeks. No sales yet but I'm getting views which is encouraging. I suppose only time will tell.

[Betty LaRue]

Beautiful work! My only suggestion is to try to take a vertical along with the horizontal. You have a few...do more.

You have the closeup, now back off a bit, then off-center the flower so there will be copy space on one side or the other. With the verticals, leave copy space either at the top or bottom.

Then it becomes a matter of numbers. Keep shooting, keep uploading. That first sale will eventually come. Of took me around 500 images before I got my first sale, but that was when there were about 6500 images on Alamy. The competition is much stiffer now.

Betty

 

[Starsphinx]

Hi from southern England - and have you ever heard your neighbours say "Och aye the noo" ?  My area is supposed to involve "Oooo Arrrr then"  but I dont hear it lol

[Brizbee]

On 20/08/2018 at 17:54, Betty LaRue said:

Beautiful work! My only suggestion is to try to take a vertical along with the horizontal. You have a few...do more.

You have the closeup, now back off a bit, then off-center the flower so there will be copy space on one side or the other. With the verticals, leave copy space either at the top or bottom.

Then it becomes a matter of numbers. Keep shooting, keep uploading. That first sale will eventually come. Of took me around 500 images before I got my first sale, but that was when there were about 6500 images on Alamy. The competition is much stiffer now.

Betty

 

 

Thanks for your reply and your words of advice. I shall take them on board.

 

Having never previously considered selling my pictures I have always had the luxury of shooting what I liked, how I liked. Now though I may have to change my mindset from one of a collector to one of a seller. It's going to mean changing the habits of a lifetime but I'm willing to give it a go. It's going to be hard but let's see what happens.

[Brizbee]

On 20/08/2018 at 20:21, Starsphinx said:

Hi from southern England - and have you ever heard your neighbours say "Och aye the noo" ?  My area is supposed to involve "Oooo Arrrr then"  but I dont hear it lol

 

Actually my next door neighbour used to say it all the time. Whenever he was pottering about in his garden and you got talking to him, once the conversation reached its natural end it was "Och aye the noo, better get back to it" or just "Och aye the noo, see you later". And I've been known to say it myself, though mostly just to embarrass my neices and nephews. They hate it. Great fun.

[Betty LaRue]

I have to correct my previous statement. There were 10 million images when I joined! My typing fingers must’ve had a mind of their own. 

 

Yes, shooting for stock is a bit different than shooting for yourself.  You know your way around a camera just fine. Now to study the business of learning what’s needed for stock. 

After 10 years, I’m still learning. What I preferred to shoot were birds, butterflies and flowers. None of those have been the best at sales, although flowers are more successful than the other two. 

Deversification pays off. In other words, offer more than one category. You’d be surprised at some of the mundane subjects that sell. Not always “pretty” pictures.

Watch some of the threads that report pictures selling and you’ll see a bit of everything.

Betty