How to you pick out your best photos

[MorganP]

A while back I was asked to provide some photos for a craft sale to raise money for a chartable origination. I sat down and pulled out 40 shot to choose from. I then sent the photos to three friends to pick out their top five photos thinking the winners would float to the top agreeing with my top five.

The problem was when I got the top five from these people. One photo got picked twice all the rest of the photos were all single or no pick. I expected a few photos to narrow down out of the 40 but not this.

One of the people reviewing the photos was the person that had asked for the photos. Next thing I know she had printed all of them. This was a shock as I had no intension of giving that many but what was done was done and for a good cause. The next shock I got was when ¾ of them sold.

I learned a lot from this but overall it left more questions

How do you narrow down your collection to the ones you want it show or sell?

 

[DRwyoming]

How do you narrow down your collection to the ones you want it show or sell?

No real rules for this, but I personally I start with emotional appeal as in how excited do I get sharing certain photos. I try to remove any thoughts of how hard or easy it was to capture the image as in forgetting whether I'd spent hours in a cold blind or just happened to grab a convenient shot as none of that matters to others viewing the image. Then I look at the image technically, is it sharp where it needs to be, is it well exposed and ideally captured in interesting light, is the composition pleasing or interesting, does the image tell some kind of visual story. Also does the image feel unique or is just like hundreds of others I've seen elsewhere. There's plenty of room for the latter, as living in a tourist town there are tons of images sold every year depicting the same iconic landscapes but still if I have some that feel more unique (perhaps because of the weather, clouds and lighting) then they'll get an edge over the shots that look just like all the others.

But to me at least the first part is key, does the image play on an emotional level and make you feel like you wish you'd been there or seen that critter? If that doesn't happen and the image is technically perfect it's still usually not something I'd print for sale (but might submit for publication in more of a field guide use).

 

[jeffnles1]

I agree with DRWyoming regarding the emotional appeal. That's the first thing I look for even when I'm going through the images on the memory card before I even download them to the computer. Is there a connection with the image? Is there a reason to keep it? Then I go for the exposure, sharpness, etc.

The below is the image that has been a top seller for me. It is nothing technical for sure. I stepped out of my truck in a parking lot for the beach at a local park. Fact is, there was an eagle flying by and that is why I stopped. Eagle disappeared in the fog and I saw the tree and thought it may make an interesting shot. I only took 2 shots and moved on. One I printed for my mom and my best friend's daughter (2 of 2) and the other is this one. It is not very sharp, the exposure isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but there is something emotive about a lone tree in a bleak snowy landscape. To be perfectly honest I like the image but it's not my favorite but other people really like it and are drawn to it.

Bottom line, what you may like I may not and what I like you may not. Photography is an art and as an art form, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To answer your first question how do I pick? DR pretty much nailed it for me too.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[dabhand16]

How do you narrow down your collection to the ones you want it show or sell?

I have to disagree with @DRwyoming (for once) about the technical side. Joe Average - who you will have the best chance of selling to - will not give a toss about the exposure, lighting, point of focus etc. It is all about the look and feel of the image and we photographers are usually so tied up with the teccie stuff (beautifully illustrated by DRWyoming) we just don't see an image as Joe Public does.

Here's the thing. Pictures are subjective in the viewer's eyes. What appeals to you will not appeal to others. I find this all of the time with my model shooting. I provide all of the edited images to the model. Then on the modelling website I'm on I post some up. These are obviously the ones that I like. I get what I'd call a mediocre response. The model posts up different images from the shoot and gets inundated with likes and comments.

I'm in a camera club and we had a presentation from a photo competition judge and he showed us an image that he'd entered into a competition and it got panned. Later he entered it into another competition and it won!

What chance do we have of picking images that others will like?

From my experience you won't sell a thing to a photographer. We can all find fault with an image or think we could get one the same if we wanted to. So get non photographers to pick the images that you want to try selling and see how that works. Got any local art shops? They might take some to sell on commission. Let them pick. Facebook has a huge audience of non-photographers and I know someone who has had success with his fantastic landscapes. Local places of interest will have interest from the local community and maybe from a wider audience. Maybe the local library will show them.

As regards showing, this has to be your picks as this is how you want to portray yourself.

 

[Viathelens]

"How do you narrow down your collection to the ones you want it show or sell?"

I do want to select work that is, for the most part, technically correct because this is important to me personally. I look for emotional appeal, but the truth is that what might appeal to me emotionally and to you emotionally could be somewhat different. The buying public, often, seems to like to purchase the iconic shot that is well done. In the end I look for work that I think is technically sound and appeals to me but that I think might have a broader appeal, too. I've sold scenic landscapes, "urban" landscapes and animal images and mostly it's about showing work that I can be proud of putting on display. The buyers generally have some kind of emotional attachment to the image for reasons they sometimes share, i.e., we went there, that was the shot I wanted to take, it fit right into what we were wanting to accomplish with the western look in our home. Don't try to second guess what someone will want to buy, just pick what you consider your best work and go with that.

 

[PhilcTx]

How do you narrow down your collection to the ones you want it show or sell?

Image selection is the easy part. It's surprising what images people will buy. What venue for image showing and selling do you envision? On-line? Art Shows? Local community/civic groups, etc?

Selling non-commissioned photo prints is difficult. All the more so for landscapes and wildlife. The world is flooded with images, many of them quite good. The competition is huge and increasing.

However, good images are mostly seen by the public as just a "pretty picture". "What?? you want $250 for that matted 16x20 of Niagara Falls" that they believe they could just as well have taken with their cell-phone's camera and printed at Mpix.

A key aspect mentioned is personal/emotional connection to an image. Not so much to narrow down a collection for show/sale but critical for potential buyers. Without it sale potential goes down drastically. Most non-photographers are not technically discerning of an image and don't care. Does the print match the color of their drapes or carpet is more important. There is a better chance of a positive reaction and image sale if they feel a personal connection to the image in some way.

For online print sales to gain traction and produce more than random occasional sales a photographer needs a large personal following/audience before offering print sales along with substantial sustained on-line marketing via social media, etc. Art shows require up-front investment in display awning/tent, print display racks, show entry fees, travel, lodging, gas, etc.

 

[Roaring 40s]

To my mind a wildlife photo has impact when it has light, composition and moment - that old saw still applies.

When selecting shots to share or enter a competition, I make sure to leave several months since shooting so there's less memory effect.

In time, you start to see what your style is and decide whether you want to develop it further.

Competition judges want to see technically good works with a wow factor. Jo public likes spectacular birds or pretty little ones. Colourful head shots get lots of of Facebook likes despite having no moment and poor composition.

 

[Gail L]

I have to disagree with @DRwyoming (for once) about the technical side. Joe Average - who you will have the best chance of selling to - will not give a toss about the exposure, lighting, point of focus etc. It is all about the look and feel of the image and we photographers are usually so tied up with the teccie stuff (beautifully illustrated by DRWyoming) we just don't see an image as Joe Public does.

Here's the thing. Pictures are subjective in the viewer's eyes. What appeals to you will not appeal to others. I find this all of the time with my model shooting. I provide all of the edited images to the model. Then on the modelling website I'm on I post some up. These are obviously the ones that I like. I get what I'd call a mediocre response. The model posts up different images from the shoot and gets inundated with likes and comments.

I'm in a camera club and we had a presentation from a photo competition judge and he showed us an image that he'd entered into a competition and it got panned. Later he entered it into another competition and it won!

What chance do we have of picking images that others will like?

From my experience you won't sell a thing to a photographer. We can all find fault with an image or think we could get one the same if we wanted to. So get non photographers to pick the images that you want to try selling and see how that works. Got any local art shops? They might take some to sell on commission. Let them pick. Facebook has a huge audience of non-photographers and I know someone who has had success with his fantastic landscapes. Local places of interest will have interest from the local community and maybe from a wider audience. Maybe the local library will show them.

As regards showing, this has to be your picks as this is how you want to portray yourself.

I've never tried to sell any of my photos but I can tell you from selling all of my other artwork that the things that I like are never ever the things that other people will buy. Always the item I'm the most fond of is least likely to sell. I agree with everything in this post lol

 

[BillW]

If you are trying to sell photos for profit or charity, it may not be best to choose what you like best. It may be more like a Keynesian beauty contest where you don’t pick what you like best but rather what you think others (here the potential buyers) might like best.

I have found in some workshop review sessions that the photos of mine I like best are not necessarily what others like best. Thankfully, I am not trying to sell any.

 

[MorganP]

Thank you all you have given me lots of thing to think about.

I

 

[MorganP]

Thanks Gail L and BillW you are hitting my question on the head. At this time I'm not worried selling photos it has more to do with how to anticipate other peoples taste.
This fund raiser opened my eyes to a hole new area that I had not considered.

 

[ccirelli]

How do you narrow down your collection to the ones you want it show or sell?

Short answer: It's a combination of trusting your eye and knowing your audience. It also makes a difference if someone is paying you to capture something specific, or you're shooting just for yourself / for your portfolio. If you're like most artists, honestly you're not going to love the majority of what you show (or even sell). You should at least like most of it... and love some of it though.

When I'm shooting & editing for myself - it's always for me, never to please others (don't fall into that trap, it totally inhibits creativity). When I'm shooting something for someone else - I get basic coverage first (events are a good example), and I'll add in creative images along the way.

I never present anything I really don't like, or any image that has an obvious technical flaw (sharpness, bad facial expression etc). They get immediately marked as rejected during the first pass of my selection process. Right in the trash.

Honestly I think the main issue with the scenario you describe above is the general approach & communication. If I'm sending that many photos out for a group consensus (rare), they're all going to be low-res, watermarked, and not downloadable. I maintain creative control throughout the process. You asked for everyone's top 5 - you didn't give permission to bypass you, then print & sell all 40.

Good learning experience - and you made some money for a good cause at the same time so it's a win-win.

 

[MorganP]

Thanks for the great in sight ccirelli.