Where do you show off your work?

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buddy13

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I am an amateur, but still I would like to be able to showcase some of my better pictures :). Also to market myself a bit and perhaps be able to start doing some pets, kids, cars etc. portrait work (as a hobby). I don't see facebook as a good platform as almost no one goes into the nuisances of a photo there, but rather what catches the eye most while scrolling frantically...

Where do you like to showcase your work? Where is the best place to target Advanced Photographers audience and perhaps find some constructive criticism?
 
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Buddy13, You can find some talented and generous people right here on this forum for constructive criticism.
I show some photos in a tiny little gallery here in my tiny little town, even manage to sell a few framed prints a month. I couldn’t be more pleased and grateful for that opportunity. Social media has become a nightmare IMHO and I don’t bother with any of it.
 
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Agree with JSD. Find some way or venue in your local area to show your work. If any of your work is of local subjects then all the better - local viewers will be much more likely to have some connection to it which is hugely important.

Trying to use social media to promote your work is an endless treadmill to produce consistent meaningful results. The competition for eyes is simply overwhelming.
 
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buddy13 said:
I am an amateur, but still I would like to be able to showcase some of my better pictures :). Also to market myself a bit and perhaps be able to start doing some pets, kids, cars etc. portrait work (as a hobby). I don't see facebook as a good platform as almost no one goes into the nuisances of a photo there, but rather what catches the eye most while scrolling frantically...

Where do you like to showcase your work? Where is the best place to target Advanced Photographers audience and perhaps find some constructive criticism?
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I think it is better to ask a specific question about an image you post here. Don't just say, "what do you think?" but say, "Did I get the white balance right?" or something specific.
 
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I was just thinking the same thing - what to do with my images and was just going to ask the same sort of question. I show them to my wife and she says, oh nice, another bird - not as enthusiastic as in the beginning I might add. I get a lot of great feedback here from you and also on a European Nikon site. So that is great for improving and I still have a lot to learn, but where next? I tried National Geographic on Instagram, Your Shot, but after 15 min. you cannot even find your own image again, because so many have uploaded. I was thinking of some sort of book with my images. What do you guys do?
 
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MikeA said:
I was just thinking the same thing - what to do with my images and was just going to ask the same sort of question. I show them to my wife and she says, oh nice, another bird - not as enthusiastic as in the beginning I might add. I get a lot of great feedback here from you and also on a European Nikon site. So that is great for improving and I still have a lot to learn, but where next? I tried National Geographic on Instagram, Your Shot, but after 15 min. you cannot even find your own image again, because so many have uploaded. I was thinking of some sort of book with my images. What do you guys do?
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“Oh nice another bird”. I wish I had a penny for every time I’ve heard that. Nevertheless she is brutally honest and my best critic.
 
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buddy13 said:
I am an amateur, but still I would like to be able to showcase some of my better pictures :). Also to market myself a bit and perhaps be able to start doing some pets, kids, cars etc. portrait work (as a hobby). I don't see facebook as a good platform as almost no one goes into the nuisances of a photo there, but rather what catches the eye most while scrolling frantically...

Where do you like to showcase your work? Where is the best place to target Advanced Photographers audience and perhaps find some constructive criticism?
Click to expand...

I have photographs for sale in a gallery in the town I live in. I 've entered and have won exhibitions in the regional area (not online). I post in Instagram and a Facebook group for California on occasion and sometimes a Nikon Facebook page. I've hung work in various local businesses. All of this builds up a resume that tells someone you might be a decent photographer and that could help you to get jobs. For critique it's a "mixed bag." This site has a Critique section that you can use. You might ask your photographer friends, people that you believe are better than you at this point, what they think of an image. There are also online websites where you can submit work and pay them for a critique. In my opinion it's really difficult to obtain from any website a detailed and helpful critique as the people commenting may or may not be a better photographer than you, "better" always be an interesting word. And, with any critique from a group of people, you are going to get mixed messages and contradictory comments. If you truly want to improve your photography using critiques it might be better to find a photographer you admire and then see if you can pay for critiques with that person. Another way to get critiques from more seasoned and professional photographers is to (when stupid Covid is over!) go on photography tours, critiques are often a part of the process and it is very helpful to hear the critiques about all the people on the tour if it is an open critique.
 
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A number of years ago, my wife convinced me to set up a web site. I did so using Zenfolio, which is dedicated to photography, and I was able to set up the site exactly as I had envisioned (here's the link: www.pjl-images.com). I post galleries on the site, and let my friends know about a new gallery via a Facebook post, email, etc. I have sold a few items via the site, but its main purpose is to share my images. I have also sold about a thousand photo note cards over the years, (using a 3 1/2" x 5" print affixed to a blank card). The gift shop at my wife's church carries them, so you might check gift shops in your area (one note: local images sell far better than out-of-area images). For critiques, a number of options have been listed above; you might also try local camera clubs or photography groups. Good luck with your endeavors!
 
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Paul4707 said:
A number of years ago, my wife convinced me to set up a web site. I did so using Zenfolio, which is dedicated to photography, and I was able to set up the site exactly as I had envisioned (here's the link: www.pjl-images.com). I post galleries on the site, and let my friends know about a new gallery via a Facebook post, email, etc. I have sold a few items via the site, but it's main purpose is to share my images. I have also sold about a thousand photo note cards over the years, (using a 3 1/2" x 5" print affixed to a blank card). The gift shop at my wife's church carries them, so you might check gift shops in your area (one note: local images sell far better than out-of-area images). For critiques, a number of options have been listed above; you might also try local camera clubs or photography groups. Good luck with your endeavors!
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Wonderful site and images. I have to clean up mine - for some reason you cannot download some of the images after a while and I have to fix that somehow.
 
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Paul4707 said:
A number of years ago, my wife convinced me to set up a web site. I did so using Zenfolio, which is dedicated to photography, and I was able to set up the site exactly as I had envisioned (here's the link: www.pjl-images.com). I post galleries on the site, and let my friends know about a new gallery via a Facebook post, email, etc. I have sold a few items via the site, but it's main purpose is to share my images. I have also sold about a thousand photo note cards over the years, (using a 3 1/2" x 5" print affixed to a blank card). The gift shop at my wife's church carries them, so you might check gift shops in your area (one note: local images sell far better than out-of-area images). For critiques, a number of options have been listed above; you might also try local camera clubs or photography groups. Good luck with your endeavors!
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Wonderful set of snaps you have showcased on your site :). I will take your and all advice here and take it step by step. Thanks all :)
 
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Hello Buddy13, I show my work in the Fotocommunity, which has websites in different languages, like English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.
You'll find all kinds of photographers there, from all over the world. From beginners, over amateures to pros. You can get critique or friendly advise.
They have tips & tricks and also lessons. You can print and sell pictures over this community. They also provide photo challenges.
You can communicate with other photographers and build your own buddy list. And the best, it beginns with a total cost free account. You can upgrade for small costs, if you need more space for your pictures. It goes up to a complete world membership, including Photoshop and Lightroom. You can pay via bank account or PayPal.

Just give it a try! Fotocommunity in English
 
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Member's gallery
Manglo said:
Hello Buddy13, I show my work in the Fotocommunity, which has websites in different languages, like English, German, French ans Spanish.
You'll find all kinds of photographers there, from all over the world. From beginners, over amateures to pros. You can get critique or friendly advise.
They have tips % tricks an also lessons. You can print and sell pictures over this community. They also provide photo challenges.
You can communicate with other photographers and build your own buddy list. And the best, it beginns with a total cost free account. You can upgrade for small costs, if you need more space for your pictures. It goes up to a complete world membership, including Photoshop and Lightroom.

Just give it a try! Fotocommunity in English
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Took your advice and gave it a try :). Uploaded 5 photos which I consider good photos even if not great.

My profile is buddy.etienne can you tell me if you can see them? Thanks!
 
Manglo said:
Hello Buddy13, I show my work in the Fotocommunity, which has websites in different languages, like English, German, French ans Spanish.
You'll find all kinds of photographers there, from all over the world. From beginners, over amateures to pros. You can get critique or friendly advise.
They have tips % tricks an also lessons. You can print and sell pictures over this community. They also provide photo challenges.
You can communicate with other photographers and build your own buddy list. And the best, it beginns with a total cost free account. You can upgrade for small costs, if you need more space for your pictures. It goes up to a complete world membership, including Photoshop and Lightroom.

Just give it a try! Fotocommunity in English
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Would fotocommunity be of use to U.S. photographers? Looks like all the pricing is in Euros?
 
With Zenfolio, can you sell prints you print yourself or personally approve and sign and ship yourself to the customer, or must you go through a printing portal for the print to go directly to the customer without the photographer seeing the actual print?
 
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You can have Zenfolio handle the printing and shipping, or you can bypass them and do it all yourself. Although I have not sold many prints using the web site, I opt for the latter approach. I want better control over my prints (as well as the ability to see the final product). Zenfolio allows you to put a pricelist and personal email on the site, and I find it works very well.
 
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I've donated a number of photos to a non-profit, some of which they later paid to use in publications and on their website. Years ago I sold a number of framed prints at conferences, but I haven't tried to sell photos in quite a few years.
 
<- Not a pro. I have a real job so not looking to make money from my photo hobby.

I used to post on the NatGeo Your Shot group before they moved to instagram. Then I was invited into a group on Flickr I left that group but I still post a lot of photos on my Flickr page. I pay for the pro service and the image quality is good.
I also donate a lot of photos to various birding and nature non profits such as, Othello Sandhill Crane Festival, The National Audubon Society, and Cornell on facebook, instagram and other...
Also, I do post on facebook for friends sometimes and instagram for mostly iphone dog and food picts. We also print an annual calendar for family and friends that we mail out around the holidays as gifts every year.
That's about it for me...
 
buddy13 said:
Took your advice and gave it a try :). Uploaded 5 photos which I consider good photos even if not great.

My profile is buddy.etienne can you tell me if you can see them? Thanks!
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Happy Birthday to the nice doggy!
 
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PAUL50 said:
Does anyone have experience with FineArtAmerica? If so, what are your thoughts on that as a sales platform?
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Funny you should ask - after having an account at Fine Art America for several years I closed my account this week. It is a tough way to attempt to sell prints/products IMO.

The competition is huge on FAA both in the quantity of art and artists as well as from other POD platforms - including numbers of large art galleries each offering thousands of art works. Photographers on FAA are also competing with artists who are selling paintings., both prints and originals. My impression is a significant amount of FAA sales seem to be of that type art.

My smaller portfolio of images did not produce noticeable results for me - I had only a very small number of sales over the years I had an FAA account.

A large image portfolio (many hundreds minimum or thousands better) of high quality images is needed. A significant requirement for success is you must work hard to promote your FAA portfolio outside of FAA. FAA does no advertising/marketing of individual artists other than occasional promos of a tiny percentage of artists/art.

I tried many times but could never find an effective method to promote my FAA portfolio using social media - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and MeWe, that produced results. I was not interested in making a commitment to full-time social media marketing of my FAA portfolio - which is what it requires to work.

FAA has an internal search engine for art buyers visiting their web site. But it's search algorithm results are heavily weighted in favor of artists whose FAA offerings have previously sold. Until an artist somehow gets repeated sales their search return placement will be buried far down in buyer's search results. Google also will find offerings on FAA but again the competition is huge.

FAA has printers/product fulfillment contractors in many places and it appears they generally seem to do OK - with the usual bumps in shipping and order/customer service problems. Artists are not provided with information of who purchases their art on FAA. So artists have no way to build an email list of previous buyers which is a well known marketing tool.

That's my Fine Art America experience - many no doubt have success. But it takes considerable sustained effort. I closed my account as it became more of a frustrating distraction than a productive use of my time/attention.
 
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Truely, it depends on what you are trying to accomplish with sharing photos. If you are looking for marketing and sales opportunities social media is not where you want to be. If you want to put your photos up for sharing, comments, discussion and/or critique, this forum is the best place for that. If you want to become an "influencer" then that is what social media does well. But only if your photos are topical and relevant to the "flavor of the day"; wildlife and nature photos are rarely that.

Personally, as an amateur, I enjoy sharing my photos on two sites; this one and Instagram. For different reasons but I always enjoy the interaction with others on both sites. I also like to submit entries to the County Fair.
 
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NA4M said:
Funny you should ask - after having an account at FAA for several years I closed my account this week. It is a tough way to attempt to sell prints/products IMO.

The competition is huge on FAA both in the quantity of art and artists as well as from other POD platforms - including numbers of large art galleries each offering thousands of art works. Photographers on FAA are also competing with artists who are selling paintings., both prints and originals. My impression is a significant amount of FAA sales seem to be of that type art.

My smaller portfolio of images did not produce noticeable results for me - I had only a very smaill number of sales over the years I had an FAA account.

A large image portfolio (many hundreds minimum or thousands better) of high quality images is needed. A significant requirement for success is you must work hard to promote your FAA portfolio outside of FAA. FAA does no advertising/marketing of individual artists other than occasional promos of a tiny percentage of artists/art.

I tried many times but could never find an effective method to promote my FAA portfolio using social media - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and MeWe, that produced results. I was not interested in making a commitment to full-time social media marketing of my FAA portfolio - which is what it requires to work.

FAA has an internal search engine for art buyers visiting their web site. But it's search algorithm results are heavily weighted in favor of artists whose FAA offerings have previously sold. Until an artist somehow gets repeatable sales their search return placement will be buried far down in buyer's search results. Google also will find offerings on FAA but again the competition is huge.

FAA has printers/product fulfillment contractors in many places and it appears they generally seem to do OK - with the usual bumps in shipping and order/customer service problems. Artists are not provided with information of who purchases their art on FAA. So artists have no way to build an email list of previous buyers which is a well known marketing tool.

That's my FAA experience - many no doubt have success. But it takes considerable sustained effort. I closed my account as it became more of a frustrating distraction than a productive use of my time/attention.
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Thanks Phil for taking the time to provide such an in-depth analysis of your experience with FAA. It gives me a lot to think about.
 
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