Marketing Photography, Part II: Educating Your MarketPosted by drfl on July 21st, 2010
A Non-”Corn” Nebraska Landscape
Alain Briot, a successful photographer, especially in the print medium recently wrote an article regarding pricing fine art photography. Within the article he proposes the following:
- Most people cannot tell average photography from good photography
- Most people cannot tell good photography from very good photography
I agree with Mr. Briot’s assertions, with the addition of the following:
The majority of people that can tell good photography from very good photography are photographers themselves and photographers rarely purchase other photographer’s work. From my experience with art shows I can tell you that about 85% of my conversations are with fellow photographers and revolve around how I got the shot or where I was at the time. An astounding 80% of those conversations are discussions surrounding equipment. Majority Result? No sale.
Following my extension of Alain Briot’s logic then the majority of individuals who would appreciate the efforts and beauty of great art is would never buy great art. In order to help your customer’s make their decision in your favor, you need to educate them. This is true whether speaking about a print, a stock item, or assignment work.
For example, I photograph a diversity of landscapes and nature surrounding the American Great Plains. I travel hundreds of miles to ensure that what I get is unique, but distinctly “Great Plains”. The majority of these images were captured in Nebraska. Through my website and various other channels, I am contacted by companies who wish to use photography captured within the state of Nebraska for their marketing. Often, an immediate assumption made by individuals outside of Nebraska, that the state is pretty synonymous with “corn” or “crops”. As a result, they ask me what stock images I have of corn. The number? I have 1 image of corn taken in Nebraska. It is at this point that I usually try to help the agencies or purchaser understand that while corn is an important aspect of Nebraska, it is not the only aspect. Indeed, close to a million people in the state of Nebraska never even see a corn stalk for the majority of the year. That’s the majority of the populous of Nebraska. On first blush, “corn” seems to be the winner, but upon deeper inspection there maybe a stronger, less cliched possibility.
In order to educate your market, you need to be fully knowledgeable on your images. That means, if you captured an image of an animal, you need to know what kind of animal it was. If you are capturing a landscape, you need to know where you captured it - Park name, city, county. If you are capturing a plant, you should know the name of the plant. Additionally, you need to know when it was taken - ie Month, year, time of the day, etc. If it was during an event, you should know the details of the event. All this means taking good notes and creating an encyclopedia of information. People like to know the stories and information behind the images and so the more information you can provide, the stronger the educational experience and the more likely a sale.
Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/13, 5 sec., 2-stop Hard Singh-Ray Filter
Jack Sinn WMA, Nebraska
