Zigzagmtart Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Had a sale like that last month. Four prints all yellow vegetables, tomatoes, squash, peppers and melons. Going to a restaurant, maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 It's true, not all art is equal and FAA does not prequalify those who post images or run QC on uploads. They do however check the images prior to printing and if it doesn't meet minimum quality standards it won't be printed. None of you should worry about failing this QC check. I've been on the site for a year and do sell. I'm not a big seller but I watch and listen. Photographers that are hugely successful on FAA tend to have been on the site for at least 2-3 years, have sizeable portfolios (1000's of images), put a great deal of effort into proper keywording and descriptions, and may have a successful online presence outside of FAA. Many also participate in the groups and contests, anything to attract views and comments. You may find the comments distasteful but the FAA search engine takes them into consideration. Making sales is the most important factor but like it or not views, comments and votes also affect your standing. Stock photographers have no issues with posting technically perfect images but a great stock image may not be something anyone would want on their walls, no matter their socio-economic status. There are a lot of sales occurring every day on FAA for large, very expensive pieces. I guarantee the buyers dropping that kind of money are not low income. From time to time you'll see a single buyer, probably an interior designer, picking up numerous images in a short period of time from various artists. The art has a general theme, for example all landscapes, all pictures of a particular city, food-based art, etc. You can't tell for sure but it looks like art for hotels, restaurants and offices. One buyer bought art for a series of hair salons. Your observations are right on. For those who disdain the comment game, that is fine. You may still sell something. Occasionally. Comments do help the ranking, and if someone is searching for a particular image, say a Tahiti seascape for instance, they will probably find one they love on the first 10 pages before going to the back of the pile. Joining in the community in a positive way is time consuming. The commenting part is, for sure. But one must consider it falls under the heading of "marketing" and just. get. over. it. That is, if you are interested in helping your rank. I have a handful of artist who I follow and regularly comment on their work, and they comment on mine. I join promotions from time to time. I am a member of several groups, and just tick those boxes upon uploading if the image fits the group. Takes all of a few seconds. I have received a check every month for 14 months, and before that, like every other month. Has the commenting back and forth helped? Joining groups helped? You bet your bananas it has. I rarely upload "stock" images. Oh, I have uploaded a few birds and a few landscapes that are also here on Alamy. Most of them have added artistic things done to the image, though. I have some Longhorn cattle shots on Alamy...for FAA I have added textures to them. I've sold those on FAA. Not a nibble on Alamy. Betty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 It's true, not all art is equal and FAA does not prequalify those who post images or run QC on uploads. They do however check the images prior to printing and if it doesn't meet minimum quality standards it won't be printed. None of you should worry about failing this QC check. I've been on the site for a year and do sell. I'm not a big seller but I watch and listen. Photographers that are hugely successful on FAA tend to have been on the site for at least 2-3 years, have sizeable portfolios (1000's of images), put a great deal of effort into proper keywording and descriptions, and may have a successful online presence outside of FAA. Many also participate in the groups and contests, anything to attract views and comments. You may find the comments distasteful but the FAA search engine takes them into consideration. Making sales is the most important factor but like it or not views, comments and votes also affect your standing. Stock photographers have no issues with posting technically perfect images but a great stock image may not be something anyone would want on their walls, no matter their socio-economic status. There are a lot of sales occurring every day on FAA for large, very expensive pieces. I guarantee the buyers dropping that kind of money are not low income. From time to time you'll see a single buyer, probably an interior designer, picking up numerous images in a short period of time from various artists. The art has a general theme, for example all landscapes, all pictures of a particular city, food-based art, etc. You can't tell for sure but it looks like art for hotels, restaurants and offices. One buyer bought art for a series of hair salons. Your observations are right on. For those who disdain the comment game, that is fine. You may still sell something. Occasionally. Comments do help the ranking, and if someone is searching for a particular image, say a Tahiti seascape for instance, they will probably find one they love on the first 10 pages before going to the back of the pile. Joining in the community in a positive way is time consuming. The commenting part is, for sure. But one must consider it falls under the heading of "marketing" and just. get. over. it. That is, if you are interested in helping your rank. I have a handful of artist who I follow and regularly comment on their work, and they comment on mine. I join promotions from time to time. I am a member of several groups, and just tick those boxes upon uploading if the image fits the group. Takes all of a few seconds. I have received a check every month for 14 months, and before that, like every other month. Has the commenting back and forth helped? Joining groups helped? You bet your bananas it has. I rarely upload "stock" images. Oh, I have uploaded a few birds and a few landscapes that are also here on Alamy. Most of them have added artistic things done to the image, though. I have some Longhorn cattle shots on Alamy...for FAA I have added textures to them. I've sold those on FAA. Not a nibble on Alamy. Betty You're no doubt correct, Betty. I don't have the patience to play the comments game, join groups, etc. and my FAA sales definitely fit into the "occasional" category. Also, to be frank, I find that I now have a severe case of "visual information overload" when it comes to looking at other people's work. There are just so many images out there now that I'm totally overwhelmed. Feeble excuse, I know, but I have a feeling that I'm not alone in feeling this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Yes, John, I find that the women seem better able to handle this kind of thing! You guys, as a rule, seem to have less patience with it all. "visual information overload" ! Love that phrase. I get that sometimes, too! Even with my own work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Yes, John, I find that the women seem better able to handle this kind of thing! You guys, as a rule, seem to have less patience with it all. "visual information overload" ! Love that phrase. I get that sometimes, too! Even with my own work! Yes, well, you might have a point there. Two thing that I have done is put an FAA "widget" on a couple of blogs and set up a "shop" on Facebook. I don't think that either of these efforts have led to any sales, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 Sorry to bring this back but something was mentioned about FAA sharpening images. I don't know if that is done before printing the image but it does appear to be done for display on their website. I have the same images on Alamy and FAA and when the image is brought up side by side Alamy/FAA, the FAA image appears to be sharper. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 Sorry to bring this back but something was mentioned about FAA sharpening images. I don't know if that is done before printing the image but it does appear to be done for display on their website. I have the same images on Alamy and FAA and when the image is brought up side by side Alamy/FAA, the FAA image appears to be sharper. Allan My guess is that FAA's software automatically applies some sharpening to images displayed on their website. You would think that their printer would access images and apply a little sharpening if necessary before making prints. But who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Palmer Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Some sharpening is applied for display purposes but I'm not sure what their printer does. I've only ordered one of my own prints and it looked exactly like my image file. The file should not have needed additional sharpening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gaffen Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 I just stumbled on to the FAA site, reading through the " terms", I never saw what the % is? Thanks, Jamie Jamie, if you are asking about your markup on FAA, you can set it at whatever you like and you can also control the prices on each different print size available for each image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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