What makes a photo sell?

~DeidaraPwnsJoo Aug 4, 2012

I've been working hard on improving my skills. Though I've never had someone purchase my art before. I'm not sure if it's because I'm not popular, interesting, good enough, or what. What should I do?

I'm currently moving my photos from here: [link]

To my dA. I mostly use my iPhone to take pictures. Any advice?

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Devious Comments

`contains-mild-peril Aug 6, 2012 Professional Photographer

What makes a photo sell? Someone willing to buy it!

As long as one person is prepared to pay for an image then it's worth something.

~chorleyjeff Aug 6, 2012

Depends on the market you are aiming for.
I sell in local library and galleries. It is good quality shots well mounted and framed of mainly local scenes that sell. The punters like familiarity.
Different approaches will be needed for, say, fine art, sports, nature, wildlife etc etc
Jeff

~easwee Aug 6, 2012 Hobbyist Photographer

Since you use iPhone to take pictures what might sell is paparazzi shots and incident first shots (floods, fire, bombing, car crash) before reporters get there. And probably anything that might be of interest for a web news site and doesn't require high quality photos.

For selling anything else you will need to buy a decent camera first.

*Fuzzypiggy Aug 5, 2012 Hobbyist Photographer

What's the reason for wanting to sell your images? I'm not knocking it, it's a serious question that I'm just asking you to ask yourself. Is it the money, the fame, the groupies?!

Seriously, just think about what's driving you want to sell your stuff. Do you think people will buy it?

Personally can't sell mine as I know they're too cliche, there's a billion out there already just like them so I simply enjoy shooting and trying to improve on that. One of the biggest parts and the most time consuming in commercial photography is the marketing side, it takes lots of time and effort to organise sales and licensing for others to sell your stuff.

~DeidaraPwnsJoo Aug 6, 2012

Mostly for a new camera and photoshop cs5.

~eyeballman Aug 5, 2012

What makes a photo sell?

- Impact/strength of imagery: if the viewer isn't engaged by a photo (on either an emotional or intellectual level), they won't buy.

- Craftsmanship: if the work is shoddy, folks won't buy.

- Zeitgeist: at any point in time certain subjects and/or process will be "in vogue", and people like to buy what's "hot".

- Luck (at least at the beginning of a career): there is something to be said for being in the right place, at the right time, with the right work and the right (potential) customers.

In the end however, people buy what they like- and for no other reason than because they like it. Personal taste is a most variable and unpredictable thing. A lot of paintings of Fat Elvis on black velvet get sold, while a lot of exceptionally well-conceived, well-crafted work doesn't...

~PookieM0N Aug 5, 2012 Hobbyist

Along with everything these guys have said(get proper gear and a LOT of practice) You also need to remember marketing. If no one knows you exisit as a photographer how are they going to find you and check out your work?

~JonasJakobsen Aug 5, 2012 Hobbyist Photographer

Get a proper camera to start with, nobody is gonna take you serious, if they can see that your photos have been taken with a iphone, so my advice is, that you should get some proper equipment and a lot of practice, before you start thinking about selling your photos.
It's not that I'm trying to bring you down or anything, but I know brilliant photographers, that have worked really hard on their photography every day for at least 5 years, and they have only started to exhibit and sell their work now.

~KIMB00P Aug 5, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

I wouldn't consider photos taken with an iPhone to be "photography". Sorry. I have an iPhone and I also have instagram, but I would never try to sell anything I took with my iPhone.

~ManualFocusPhoto Aug 4, 2012 Student Photographer

People will not buy cliche or overdone photos. You need to think of interesting ideas that are compelling to people. Your work needs to be unique, well thought, well edited in a proper editing program, not just applying filters in instragram to snapshots. And of course the most important thing is marketing, around 80% of photography as a business is marketing. Photographers are a dime a dozen, what makes you stand above all? why should people choose your work over others? what makes your work unique? those are all questions you'll have to answer.

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