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Fine Art America - any good?


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Good to hear some of you get sales - I haven't yet but I am aware that my stuff is not as well suited to the fine art market as some.

What I would be interested in from those who do sell is how many views you get. I look at some contributors who get thousands of views for one image - is that the kind of level that's needed?

I've had about 700 views in total and although they are beginning to increase lately, I doubt I'm getting enough exposure to sell much.

Ah, a sudden rush of views in the last couple of days - I assume it's you lot. Feel free to buy as well.

 

Deep discounts?

 

And there was I thinking you believed photographers should value their work.

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Phil, on the views, I have 970 or so images up, and I have somewhat over 90,000 views.  That averages out to between 90-100 views per image.  Probably about 1/3 of them get the bulk of the views. 

I don't know how many images you have in your portfolio, so you can compare per image.

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Not intending to take the thread too far off topic but has anyone sold through Etsy at all?  As there isn't only photography for sale I wonder whether this in turn means more people browsing. Like shoppers in a supermarket maybe people browse intending to buy one thing and come out with something else!

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I find it worthwhile.  But then I take photographs and add textures, painting effects and such to my work.  I made more on FFA last year than I did on Alamy.  I think for it to work best, one needs to be artistic. I used to paint in watercolor, so the artistic bent is there.  Most of my sales have been of these "artistically rendered" images.  I have made a few sales of straight photographs, but very few.  This, a straight photograph, has sold repeatedly.  

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/spring-is-coming-betty-larue.html

 

It was also featured in Darrell Young's book, "Mastering the D7000". I've sold somewhere around 30 straight photos, most being of birds and one particular image of New England autumn foliage, and a Bar Harbor Restaurant. Like that.  So not to say straight photos can't sell, they just need to be of a subject that is universally popular.  Something that looks pretty on the wall, or can be used in a small grouping of like images.

And yes, much as I dislike it, one needs to play the game a bit.  Join groups, make and get comments.  It helps your images come up higher in the searches.  Time consuming and I wish I didn't need to do it.  I do participate, but not to the extent of many there.

 

Betty

 

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/betty-larue.html

 

Betty you may be able to produce the "water colour" effect with your X-T1 without resorting to overlays/filters etc in processing.

 

Allan

 

 

Allan, is that a low blow remark or what?  :)

 

 

NOT low blow, just a possibility in the way your X-T1 would be set up.

 

Allan

 

 

You must explain how I can do that, Allan! :)

 

 

Betty,  I am sorry but the original comment was made a bit tongue in cheek. I was going from the earlier comments on the X-Pro1 made by Duncan when he mentioned the settings he uses to remove the "Watercolour" effect. Perhaps those settings could be reversed in the X-T1 in an attempt to try to reproduce the effect.

 

Not being too serious here.

 

Allan

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Betty, just looked briefly at your FAA images and wish to say that you are truly an artistic person whereas I am just a photographer. Some will say not a very good one either.

 

I need to rethink my FAA strategy but don't think I will ever be as good as you.

 

Ho hum! More work to do now.

 

Allan

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I put some stuff up on Photo4Me a few years back with no success.  I think people buying from that site are mainly looking for British Landscape images which I don't do.  I left, but still get the occasional nuisance email from them. :rolleyes:

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Betty, just looked briefly at your FAA images and wish to say that you are truly an artistic person whereas I am just a photographer. Some will say not a very good one either.

 

I need to rethink my FAA strategy but don't think I will ever be as good as you.

 

Ho hum! More work to do now.

 

Allan

 

Thank you, Allan, I appreciate your appreciation!  I have purchased bundles of textures, then I choose the texture that I think fits the image.  For instance, if it is of a bird but the background is nasty, a texture will completely hide that background.  You often do have to brush the texture off the subject, and can blend into edges and use blend modes.  It sounds rather complicated, and it does have a learning curve, but once you get it, it is easy except for the brushing out of detailed images.  There are tutorials.

 

Sometimes in a landscape, I'll just brush the texture off everything but the sky.  I also use the watercolor effect in CS6, and have some other software, Nik Color Efex (4 or 5?) Topaz and Synthetik. The Synthetik is expensive software, $400 when I bought it,  but I can get painting effects and lots of other cool effects.

It isn't cheap to do what I do to photographs, but in the long run, it has paid off.

Betty

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I don't have much work on these fine art sites and I don't spend a lot of time with them but I have made some good sales on FAA including a 24x36 on plexi, which had a nice profit. I’ve been with Red Bubble since 2009 and never had a sale or inquirery. I have sold some small prints and postcards on “Art Flakes” out of Germany but no big profits yet. The best site "I think" for fine art is Saatchi out of the UK. I haven't sold anything thru them yet but they have promoted my work. Another important note about fine art sites online is key wording is much more lenient!  There is no rank or ctr to hold you back and while some have unlimited space some only allow 12 keywords. As always make the best use of keywords with the fine art sites it is the best way to get your work seen and sold.

 

I have had work on Saatchi for a few years and always thought that it was a UK based site but when I recently sold an image via Saatchi I was asked for my US tax ITIN which I do not have.  I was advised that the sale was in the US and that I would have to pay a percentage to the US Tax Office.  As an Australian resident, I do not think I should support Uncle Sam (no representation, no taxation!) and I asked them why Fine Art America has been selling my work in the US for many years and I have never had to pay US tax.  They could not explain why.  They did state that I could avoid paying US tax if I sold my work as limited edition prints but I would have to arrange the printing and delivery of them which was pointless as I place my work on print on demand sites so I would not have the bother of printing and delivering!  The sale eventually fell through as the original image could not be printed at the size the customer wanted.  

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I don't have much work on these fine art sites and I don't spend a lot of time with them but I have made some good sales on FAA including a 24x36 on plexi, which had a nice profit. I’ve been with Red Bubble since 2009 and never had a sale or inquirery. I have sold some small prints and postcards on “Art Flakes” out of Germany but no big profits yet. The best site "I think" for fine art is Saatchi out of the UK. I haven't sold anything thru them yet but they have promoted my work. Another important note about fine art sites online is key wording is much more lenient!  There is no rank or ctr to hold you back and while some have unlimited space some only allow 12 keywords. As always make the best use of keywords with the fine art sites it is the best way to get your work seen and sold.

 

I have had work on Saatchi for a few years and always thought that it was a UK based site but when I recently sold an image via Saatchi I was asked for my US tax ITIN which I do not have.  I was advised that the sale was in the US and that I would have to pay a percentage to the US Tax Office.  As an Australian resident, I do not think I should support Uncle Sam (no representation, no taxation!) and I asked them why Fine Art America has been selling my work in the US for many years and I have never had to pay US tax.  They could not explain why.  They did state that I could avoid paying US tax if I sold my work as limited edition prints but I would have to arrange the printing and delivery of them which was pointless as I place my work on print on demand sites so I would not have the bother of printing and delivering!  The sale eventually fell through as the original image could not be printed at the size the customer wanted.  

 

 

The Saatchi Gallery is in a rather fine building in London, just off King's Road, Saatchi Art (which I assume you mean) is based in California..... home of wall decor!

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Thanks Geoff.  Just received another email from FAA - another sale overnight - $100 for me.  

 

Sheila

 

Still awaiting my first sale notification from FAA.

 

Think I will give P4M a try.

 

Allan

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If I could give a word of advice to those stock photographers thinking of uploading to sites such as FAA (and those who already have) - stop thinking "stock" and think abstract, minimalism and even black and white, all of which are probably not great sellers on stock libraries.   Before I upload anything to FAA, I ask myself "who would want this on their wall" (and pay for the privilege).  Also get Photoshopping!!  Use the "flood" filter or any Nik software to change images to "art".  Turn an image into a "watercolour" if you have some expertise in this area (and good software). And as Betty does so wonderfully, use textures as a background to the prints.

 

To catch buyers attention amongst the thousands of images on FAA, your work must stand out.  I don't indulge in the FAA practice of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" but I do sell quite well without it. 

 

Present company excepted, there are many images on FAA which really are editorial stuff (which is admirable for stock but rarely saleable in print).   My biggest seller is this http://sheila-smart.artistwebsites.com/featured/sydney-opera-house-with-harbour-bridge-sheila-smart.html

followed by http://sheila-smart.artistwebsites.com/featured/tree-abstract-sheila-smart.html

 

I also promote my FAA prints on my website, with a gallery directly linking to my FAA site,  and I use their widget on my blog and I also add new uploads to my Twitterfeed.  All this helps with SEO and, hopefully, sales.

 

Sheila

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I don't have much work on these fine art sites and I don't spend a lot of time with them but I have made some good sales on FAA including a 24x36 on plexi, which had a nice profit. I’ve been with Red Bubble since 2009 and never had a sale or inquirery. I have sold some small prints and postcards on “Art Flakes” out of Germany but no big profits yet. The best site "I think" for fine art is Saatchi out of the UK. I haven't sold anything thru them yet but they have promoted my work. Another important note about fine art sites online is key wording is much more lenient!  There is no rank or ctr to hold you back and while some have unlimited space some only allow 12 keywords. As always make the best use of keywords with the fine art sites it is the best way to get your work seen and sold.

 

I have had work on Saatchi for a few years and always thought that it was a UK based site but when I recently sold an image via Saatchi I was asked for my US tax ITIN which I do not have.  I was advised that the sale was in the US and that I would have to pay a percentage to the US Tax Office.  As an Australian resident, I do not think I should support Uncle Sam (no representation, no taxation!) and I asked them why Fine Art America has been selling my work in the US for many years and I have never had to pay US tax.  They could not explain why.  They did state that I could avoid paying US tax if I sold my work as limited edition prints but I would have to arrange the printing and delivery of them which was pointless as I place my work on print on demand sites so I would not have the bother of printing and delivering!  The sale eventually fell through as the original image could not be printed at the size the customer wanted.  

 

If Australia and the USA have a tax treaty as Canada (where I live) and the US do, then you only have to pay Australian income tax. I got an ITIN about 15 years ago.

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Thank you for sharing this, Sheila. I've always admired your work. Do you do any upsizing to make larger prints possible?

 

Paulette

Very rarely, Paulette.  My Canon 5DIII is pretty high res in any event so do not feel the need to upres any more.  If I do upres, usually on old images, I generally use Genuine Fractals (or whatever it is called these days as they changed the name).  

 

Sheila

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I don't have much work on these fine art sites and I don't spend a lot of time with them but I have made some good sales on FAA including a 24x36 on plexi, which had a nice profit. I’ve been with Red Bubble since 2009 and never had a sale or inquirery. I have sold some small prints and postcards on “Art Flakes” out of Germany but no big profits yet. The best site "I think" for fine art is Saatchi out of the UK. I haven't sold anything thru them yet but they have promoted my work. Another important note about fine art sites online is key wording is much more lenient!  There is no rank or ctr to hold you back and while some have unlimited space some only allow 12 keywords. As always make the best use of keywords with the fine art sites it is the best way to get your work seen and sold.

 

I have had work on Saatchi for a few years and always thought that it was a UK based site but when I recently sold an image via Saatchi I was asked for my US tax ITIN which I do not have.  I was advised that the sale was in the US and that I would have to pay a percentage to the US Tax Office.  As an Australian resident, I do not think I should support Uncle Sam (no representation, no taxation!) and I asked them why Fine Art America has been selling my work in the US for many years and I have never had to pay US tax.  They could not explain why.  They did state that I could avoid paying US tax if I sold my work as limited edition prints but I would have to arrange the printing and delivery of them which was pointless as I place my work on print on demand sites so I would not have the bother of printing and delivering!  The sale eventually fell through as the original image could not be printed at the size the customer wanted.  

 

If Australia and the USA have a tax treaty as Canada (where I live) and the US do, then you only have to pay Australian income tax. I got an ITIN about 15 years ago.

 

I still need an ITIN to avoid paying Uncle Sam and after three rejections from the US Tax Office without any sort of explanation why each application failed, I gave up.  I went over each application with a fine tooth comb to ensure that I had answered all of the questions correctly but I still got the reject letter.  When I asked them to return my notarised copy of my passport, I got the same reject letter which would indicate that they hadn't actually read my letter!  As I don't use any US based stock library any more (Getty had an arrangement with the US tax office regarding foreign photographers), I have never felt the need to take on the US Government again although yesterday, I found one of my images on a US army site without the benefit of a license so I may well be doing so in the next few months!

 

Sheila

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I don't have much work on these fine art sites and I don't spend a lot of time with them but I have made some good sales on FAA including a 24x36 on plexi, which had a nice profit. I’ve been with Red Bubble since 2009 and never had a sale or inquirery. I have sold some small prints and postcards on “Art Flakes” out of Germany but no big profits yet. The best site "I think" for fine art is Saatchi out of the UK. I haven't sold anything thru them yet but they have promoted my work. Another important note about fine art sites online is key wording is much more lenient!  There is no rank or ctr to hold you back and while some have unlimited space some only allow 12 keywords. As always make the best use of keywords with the fine art sites it is the best way to get your work seen and sold.

 

I have had work on Saatchi for a few years and always thought that it was a UK based site but when I recently sold an image via Saatchi I was asked for my US tax ITIN which I do not have.  I was advised that the sale was in the US and that I would have to pay a percentage to the US Tax Office.  As an Australian resident, I do not think I should support Uncle Sam (no representation, no taxation!) and I asked them why Fine Art America has been selling my work in the US for many years and I have never had to pay US tax.  They could not explain why.  They did state that I could avoid paying US tax if I sold my work as limited edition prints but I would have to arrange the printing and delivery of them which was pointless as I place my work on print on demand sites so I would not have the bother of printing and delivering!  The sale eventually fell through as the original image could not be printed at the size the customer wanted.  

 

If Australia and the USA have a tax treaty as Canada (where I live) and the US do, then you only have to pay Australian income tax. I got an ITIN about 15 years ago.

 

I still need an ITIN to avoid paying Uncle Sam and after three rejections from the US Tax Office without any sort of explanation why each application failed, I gave up.  I went over each application with a fine tooth comb to ensure that I had answered all of the questions correctly but I still got the reject letter.  When I asked them to return my notarised copy of my passport, I got the same reject letter which would indicate that they hadn't actually read my letter!  As I don't use any US based stock library any more (Getty had an arrangement with the US tax office regarding foreign photographers), I have never felt the need to take on the US Government again although yesterday, I found one of my images on a US army site without the benefit of a license so I may well be doing so in the next few months!

 

Sheila

 

I was able to drive across the border to Bellingham in Washington state (about a one hour drive from Vancouver) and apply for an ITIN in person at a US government office. You of course don't have that option. Everything went smoothly for me. I wonder why Uncle Sam is giving you so much trouble. Bummer. 

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I made another sale, this one was of crabapple blossoms. (a tree in my back yard)I treated it with texture and then put it through a painting process.  If you look, it is the one titled "Spring Pink".

About upsizing.  This is what I do.  I regularly mine my old images residing on my desktop HDs.  If the image is too small, or if I want to crop it for best presentation, I run it through the watercolor filter in CS6.  I resize first, then run it through. From there, I can add textures or other effects, which effectively causes no ill effects from upsizing.

 

I have images with bad backgrounds, voila, add a texture, brush out my subject, and now I have a pretty background.  From there, I can do other things. If the subject, say a bird, is a tiny bit unsharp, the watercolor filter fixes it.  I have been able to make use of a lot of images that were "almost" good enough but not quite.  I deleted most of those images, but I kept some because I knew software was ever-changing and I "might" be able to rescue a particularly fine image that was not quite sharp enough.

 

I do some compositing.  For instance, I drove to the country last year and shot fields of canola in bloom.  I had a image of an old, wooden abandoned farmhouse sitting in an ugly field.  I layered the canola image over the house, reduced opacity so I could see the house.  Then brushed the house out so it was visible. Brought opacity back to 100%. I ran the image through Nik Color Efex to make the sky more dramatic.  It is titled "Field of Dreams."  If you go to my galleries, it is in  the "Old houses, barns and things" gallery. 

You'll spot the bright yellow!

I am naturally artistic, but people can nudge their brain into thinking of possibilities, then it is a matter of choosing the right software (Synthetik, my painting software) or Nik, or Topaz.  Think about compositing.  I've put egrets into places where they weren't when I shot them, lol!  Synthetik is expensive and there is a learning curve, but you can straightaway use a lot of presets.  I often run my image through a preset, if I don't like it, erase the effect (easy) then do another.  Eventually I come to the right one that suits the image.  You do need the eye to recognize that.

 

Synthetik works best on landscapes and florals.  Sometimes, if I don't want much of an effect on the subject, I run the effect on the whole image, then layer it with the original. I can then keep detail where I need it.  Maybe having 30% painting process on the subject, brush the rest out to 100%.

I think Synthetik cost me about $400 when I bought it 2 or 3 years ago, not sure of the current price.  You must put out the dough to make the dough.

Betty

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Thanks for sharing your process, Betty. Your work is very beautiful. Is there a minimum size you aim for?

 

Paulette

 

Thank you, Paulette.  Usually I like 4500-5000 pixels on longest side. Minimum is around 3600-4000, but few of those. I like to crop to square, 8x10, and shorter and wider than the native format for landscapes.

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Thanks, Betty. Just been doing a bit of fooling around and eventually might put some images with Fine Art America. I think the native size of my images will be fine (especially with my newest camera) but I may want to crop.

 

Paulette

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