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recyap
Joined: 25 Jun 2011
Posts: 96
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 9:50 am
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i sell a lot of photos but got it at 25cents, how can i improve my photos on selling at $1 or more?? |
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ruxpriencdiam
Joined: 07 May 2009
Posts: 26288
Location: Third Stone from the Sun
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:48 am
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Your stuff is nice, bright and well done.
Thing is you have been here just over a year and only have 157 images if i counted right.
Add some more variety and add lots you dont have anywhere near what you need to be seen you need thousands to be really visible.
And to get more then .25 for each image depends on the buyers and what they are going to use the image for as to what license they purchase for the use of the image. |
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hhltdave5
Joined: 20 Jun 2006
Posts: 24094
Location: Our Stock, Food & Portrait photography books at www.rindersmithphotography.com
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 12:02 pm
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You are working mainly with food and that is fine as far as it goes. I would work on refining your food work which means watching the details, learning to style it better and to get an overall understanding of the science of food. Also the difference between preparing food for eating and preparing it for photography.
It is the details of a food image that brings it from taking pictures of food to food photography.
I just finished one of my three day food photography workshops with one of our Shutterstock contributors and one of the things that surprised him was all the work and time that goes into preparing, styling and photographing one setup. In an 8 hour day we would get maybe 3 different setups done.
Watch the way you cut your proteins. Don't just cut away at it but rather slice it cleanly using the proper sharp knife. Watch how you apply sauces and condiments. They should enhance the shot not overwhelm it.
Watch the ratio of the different items on the plate. You have a salad with a piece of salmon on some lettuce. Too much lettuce and the lettuce should be more pristine. The salmon looks to be over cooked. When proteins are cooked they tighten up and push moisture out giving a dry look. Many times you cannot cook the food for photography like you would for eating.
As I mentioned, work more toward food photography than taking pictures of food. Elevate the quality of your work and better sales will usually follow. |
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rinder99
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 39250
Location: Contact www.rinderart.com/Books and Workshops www.rindersmithphotography.com Youtube/rinder
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 12:33 pm
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Hey Richard. Since you asked. You do good food work but agree with Dave. You seem to get to a stopping point and don't go far or deep enough into the heart of food styling and the details. And that is what separates the men from the boys. Theres lots of food shooters here, Very few can style. Styling/Cooking/lighting is the art Part. Taking the picture is the easy part.
And you really need thousands of Images. |
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recyap
Joined: 25 Jun 2011
Posts: 96
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 7:57 pm
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thanks for all the comments and advice
you are right, i always get the habit of getting the things done quickly because i'm afraid of the food will not look fresh when i shot it since i'm in a tropical country sometimes it tends to get so hot here in our country. Also, how do you cook the protein? is it medium rare would be good? i tend to cook it well done because afterwards i'll eat it or somebody else would eat it, anyway needed to step out of my comfort zone and practice more in styling, many thanks |
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hhltdave5
Joined: 20 Jun 2006
Posts: 24094
Location: Our Stock, Food & Portrait photography books at www.rindersmithphotography.com
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 8:12 pm
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| recyap wrote: | thanks for all the comments and advice
you are right, i always get the habit of getting the things done quickly because i'm afraid of the food will not look fresh when i shot it since i'm in a tropical country sometimes it tends to get so hot here in our country. Also, how do you cook the protein? is it medium rare would be good? i tend to cook it well done because afterwards i'll eat it or somebody else would eat it, anyway needed to step out of my comfort zone and practice more in styling, many thanks |
One of the key parts to food photography is timing. The trick is to set things up first getting all your props etc in place. Then you set your lights using stand in food or items. You just want to get the lighting the way you want it.
Then when all of that is done you bring in the real food (called the hero). Put it in place and get your shots.
How you cook proteins for photography is different than for if you are going to eat it. First of all cooking proteins to well done is not the way to go in most cases. Well done is often over cooked and dry. Cooking say a steak to well done is actually difficult if you do it so it retains moisture. Most people just hammer it till it is like shoe leather.
The best thing to do is to simply sear it well on all sides to make the outside look good. After photographing it you can put it in the oven to finish up the cooking. I like to take the end cooking temp to no more than medium and I prefer medium rare.
This is where a good knowledge of food science comes into play if you are doing good food photography.
Here are a couple of my shots to show what I mean. In this one the steak is just cooked to medium rare with a high sear.
http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?gallery_id=66695#id=22863886
Here is one that shows a good way to present the inside of a steak. A nice pink inside is more appetizing to more people than one hammered and cooked almost gray.
http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?gallery_id=66695&safesearch=1&prev_sort_method=popular&sort_method=newest&page=15#id=6676360 |
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recyap
Joined: 25 Jun 2011
Posts: 96
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 12:12 am
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thanks Dave now i have a better understanding on food styling. I really need to pound more |
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hhltdave5
Joined: 20 Jun 2006
Posts: 24094
Location: Our Stock, Food & Portrait photography books at www.rindersmithphotography.com
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:30 am
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| recyap wrote: | | thanks Dave now i have a better understanding on food styling. I really need to pound more |
Glad I could help. Food photography if you do it well is not as easy as many may think. There are so many elements involved and if you mess up one of them the image can suffer.
If you want to continue to do food and stand out doing it start learning about food itself and what happens to it when you alter it in some way. Sometimes just watching the Food Network can give you great information. For me I started cooking over 50 years ago when I was a small child and I am still learning.
Good luck and if you ever have any other questions don't hesitate to ask. |
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jeffbanke
Joined: 18 Dec 2005
Posts: 17468
Location: www.xlr8photo.com, The real California
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:29 pm
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To answer your question regarding how to go from 25 cents to a dollar, that can only happen if you make EL sales or SOD's.
Get about 5000 images in your port and you will see them regularly, and be in the 38 cent league for the other sales :-) |
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recyap
Joined: 25 Jun 2011
Posts: 96
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:38 pm
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| jeffbanke wrote: | To answer your question regarding how to go from 25 cents to a dollar, that can only happen if you make EL sales or SOD's.
Get about 5000 images in your port and you will see them regularly, and be in the 38 cent league for the other sales :-) |
sorry, may i ask what's EL and SOD? wow 5000 images that's a lot :) |
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jeffbanke
Joined: 18 Dec 2005
Posts: 17468
Location: www.xlr8photo.com, The real California
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 10:19 pm
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| recyap wrote: | | jeffbanke wrote: | To answer your question regarding how to go from 25 cents to a dollar, that can only happen if you make EL sales or SOD's.
Get about 5000 images in your port and you will see them regularly, and be in the 38 cent league for the other sales :-) |
sorry, may i ask what's EL and SOD? wow 5000 images that's a lot :) |
Extended license and "Single and other Downloads" |
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rinder99
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 39250
Location: Contact www.rinderart.com/Books and Workshops www.rindersmithphotography.com Youtube/rinder
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 3:16 pm
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And trust me nowdays 5000 is not a lot.BUT...... This is a big But, there are some here with 750 that do better than those with 5000. All depends on CV. |
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jeffbanke
Joined: 18 Dec 2005
Posts: 17468
Location: www.xlr8photo.com, The real California
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 7:37 pm
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| rinder99 wrote: | | And trust me nowdays 5000 is not a lot.BUT...... This is a big But, there are some here with 750 that do better than those with 5000. All depends on CV. |
This is true, however, what a larger and varied portfolio does for you is to even out the bumps in the road. If folks are not looking for cheesecake, or sexy girls on a white background this month, and that is all you have in your portfolio, then your sales will go up and down as the demand varies. If you have things that might be of interest, and not necessarily giant sellers, but variety, you will pick up lots of the scraps of the sales :-) |
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rinder99
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 39250
Location: Contact www.rinderart.com/Books and Workshops www.rindersmithphotography.com Youtube/rinder
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Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 10:04 am
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Very true. |
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