Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/10/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Steve Barbour wrote: > >On Oct 20, 2009, at 5:35 AM, Doug Herr wrote: > >> Steve Barbour wrote: >> >>> of course true, idiocy or not... >>> >>> but what kind of game are they playing? >>> >>> this, to bring it back toward my world ...is like saying, to win a >>> Nobel prize in science you must use a certain size test tube; or to >>> do an acceptable surgical procedure you must use a certain size >>> blade... >> >> It's not about winning prizes, it's about getting a paycheck. You >> want them to send you a check, you play by their rules. There are >> lots of other ways to make a sale, it's not like the stock agencies >> are the only game in town. > > >what are they, and do they function well in selling ? > >you have done many great photos Doug...I assume you have a productive >approach, > >how does that work, if you wouldn't mind sharing...? Stock photos more often than not are used to sell widgets: props used to make a sale. Mine have been used to sell books, magazines, conservation, and real estate; they're Engh's Category B photos: an illustration of the species. Clear descriptive photos, well-exposed & focussed, highly detailed. My Category A photos sell primarily as prints either in galleries or directly, and in one case, as props to sell cameras. They quickly drop out of Category A into the round file w/o good technique, and typically the minutia of sensor & lens performance are more significant for these photos than for Category B photos. Note that social documentary and photojournalist photos are a category of their own, where content is virtually all that matters. One thing Engh says is that bird photos don't sell. I might disagree, but having numerous other responsibilities that claim higher priority, my marketing efforts have been extremely meager. I'll still make photos even if there were no sales. The Category A photos are what get me up in the morning and occupy most of my daydreams. Doug Herr Birdman of Sacramento http://www.wildlightphoto.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://link.mail2web.com/mail2web