What Sells?

One of the best markets for landscape photography are annual calendars. Recently two of Jay's images were chosen by a local company for publication in their large art calendar. This photo, titled Reflections of Beauty, was selected for the cover.


This one - titled Stranded - was selected for the October page.


Images for calendars like these are chosen based upon location, theme, or terrain (seascapes, forests, waterfalls, mountains, etc.) - and shots from National Parks are some of the most popular. Most of the time, the calendar company is looking for landscape images that are appropriate for a particular season - so we try to make sure that we shoot in a variety of seasons. For example, if you have photos of Yosemite in Summer, but not in Winter, the publisher will have to go with someone else for those winter images. We visit locations more than once to fill in gaps in our portfolios.

Several months ago, we got a call from National Geographic asking about images for their 2010 Calendars. In the end, they selected two images from National Parks which were published in their 2010 National Park's engagement calender.

The market for landscape photography for calender companies is pretty broad. You can maximize your chances of getting published by expanding your portfolio to include a diverse set of images from a variety of locations - during a variety of seasons.

What Sells?

Last time we got a call from a publisher, they were looking for photographs of "pretty places" for a National Park's calendar. This time, we got a call from National Park's Magazine. They were looking for images to illustrate an upcoming article on investments in water management in Everglades National Park. Here is the photo they selected:


The day we took this shot, we rose early, put on our water shoes, and followed Paul (naturalist, incredible photographer, and friend) into the Everglades. He warned us of sharp limestone beneath the surface of the water - and of Alligators, Cottonmouths, and Burmese Pythons... and he went barefoot.

We spent more than an hour wandering around in this area as the sun came up over the Mangroves, took a bunch of shots, and headed to breakfast. But it isn't the efforts behind the photo that sell it. It's not the hike, the lens, the camera system, or the dangerous animals that threaten to nibble on your toes out there. ;)

In this case it's the location - the heart of a park that is struggling to deal with problems ranging from water management to infestation by invasive species (remember the Pythons we mentioned?) to threatened and endangered species. The light helps - it's a pretty sunrise, and the well-controlled highlights and shadows make it pleasant to look at. But in the end, it's a portrait of this troubled and beautiful location... and that helps the publishers tell their story.

What Sells?

Recently two of our images were selected for National Geographic’s engagement calendar. Their request was that the calendar images have to be photographs from "Pretty" part of the park. Here are the images they selected:

Volcanic Remains, Captial Reef National Park

Meander, Horseshoe Bend, Arziona

I can certainly see that 'Meander' photo as being from a pretty place, but is 'Volcanic Remains' from a pretty place in the park? It is debatable. Bottom line is that you never know what will sell and what will not. So our advice is to shoot everything that interests you!!

In other news Suprada Urval has recently published an interview with me on her Photoblog. Suprada is a highly motivated photographer who is involved in several camera club in Northern California. She has interviewed some very talented photographers on her Photoblog such as Guy Tal, Darwin Wigget. I was truly honored to be selected as one of the photographers to be interviewed. You can read the interview at: http://www.supradaurval.com/photoblog/archives/542

You can also check out other interviews in her phototalk section of her blog: http://www.supradaurval.com/photoblog/archives/category/photo-talk

-Jay

More on that....

So - what sells? It depends entirely upon your audience. Fine art buyers want that one-of-a-kind image that nobody else has. Casual buyers and decorators want something that matches the decor. Travelers want photos that show the places they've been. Magazine editors want images that illustrate the point - something that will clarify the argument they are making with their article, or strike a chord with the viewer. The list goes on and on...

This image is being considered for the upcoming issue of National Parks Magazine for an article about Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Why? It's hard to know - but I suspect that the reason is because it shows what people can expect to see when they visit the park... the typical heavy fog that is so much a part of the Smoky Mountains. No spectacular, blazing colors in the sky... no dramatic, blinding light... just the sense of depth and silence that fog brings.

It's hard to balance the needs of the buyer with an artistic eye - but if we are going to succeed in business, we have to be able to sell our work. So, we try to shoot for everyone. We set up photo shoots in our studio to shoot stock images. We visit the iconic locations to shoot for magazines and gift shops. And we follow the light... because those are the images that mean the most to us.

I have to admit that I love all these photographic markets. Photography allows me to explore something different every time I go to work. Locations and light conditions, angles and compositions... and ideas.

-Varina

What Sells?

I wanted to thank Varina for letting me share her blog. At first, I resisted the idea of posting anything on the blog because of lack of good language skills but you have to start somewhere. So here goes...

For my first post, I want to share my thoughts on what sells and what doesn’t. Recently one of my photographs of "The Wave" was published in VIAJES National Geographic Magazine.

Rather then go for the artistic look the editors decide to publish a plain old photograph of "The Wave" taken in bright sun under midday condition. My best guess is that the reason they selected this photograph was they wanted to publish what people would actually see when they got to the location. Another request followed day later from another magazine. This time around, they wanted a photograph of the Old Faithful. They are still reviewing the shot. In future I for one will not hesitate to shoot during midday at tourist hot spots.

-Jay