I've got literally hundreds of shots of Barcelona and Leeds of which many have potential - some are just snaps and many more than those are utter dross!
The thing is that I've become incredibly picky with such shoots, out of the 6 gig of Barca shots, I think I've looked through them once, converted a few RAW files, created lots of preview HDR shots and then just become incredibly unimpressed with them all. I'm not sure whether it's some kind of self filtering, similar-shot-overload or just a rise in my photographic "bar"?
I really like these sort of documentary shots, it's our waiter in Placa Reial, taken on my birthday a few weeks ago - shows a warm summer night, a bit of bustle in the back ground and some subtle lights.
I think using online photo upload sites (as I do) becomes a double edged sword in the end, sure I learned a huge amount from using them, mainly Ephotozine, but now I seem to find myself looking to create shots that will "do well" on such sites. Shots like the one of our waiter would just die on there, maybe it's not even a "stock shot", who knows?
I took this one of Nou Camp Stadium to show how big the large stand is compared to the 3 green keepers at the bottom - tells a story, human interest and pretty colourful. Would people on a photo-upload site go for it? I doubt it.
The truth is that any commission or sales I've had tend not to be the super-dooper WOW HDR shots, nor the dark broody seascape, but the light airy landscape. Ok, the city council have bought an evening shot off me, 15 second exposure which does make Leeds look an extemely cool place. But in general, what goes well on photopoints or usefilm doesn't always sell.
This shot of the lowry just used lucky light and some ND grads to stop the sky burning - pretty simple. Photography Monthly bought it to advertise their recent "Urban Colour" competition.
I think the main problem with these sites is that we're trying to impress fellow enthusiasts by using new techniques and techologies, rather than using the tried and tested rules of composition.
Don't get me wrong, technology used in the right place is definitely the right way to go - I love HDR for architecture - but you can't beat getting that great image to pop up on your camera's screen rather than to have to crop and process to within an inch of its life!
So I think I'm going to force myself to look through the Barca shots again and produce a library of bright, sunny, jolly and happy daytime stock shots now :-)
2 comments:
There are vast differences as you say Ade between images that appeal to different audience groups.
Most good quality shots could be sold if you can find the specific buyer who right at that moment happens to be looking for that particular image.
You're right to want to break free from the Internet sharing sites mentality (and as you know different types of images are popular on different sites).
Ultimately if you're passionate about photography and you take pictures with your heart then there will be an audience that 'get it'. The only true beauty for me is an honest picture, one that comes from the heart.
I couldn't agree more with you more Ade. Online photosharing sites are good up to a point and I know that you've had a lot of success on at least one that I know about, but it's all too easy to produce work just to please 'that' particular audience. The thing is, that what you see initially of any image is a small thumbnail and if that isn't eye catching enough to get clicked then forget it. If you've got a good pic with a lot of colour and contrast your away, a lot of people will view it. If you've got a great pic with subtle tones which requires as much thought as vision to appreciate, sadly it will probably go unnoticed. Had the likes of Mann Ray, Angus McBean or Dorethea Lang posted online they would have bombed, and yet their work, although it's in scratchy gritty mono is far more powerful than anything I've seen online.
You do well to break away a little from producing work just to please the online community and give yourself the freedom to produce work that tells stories, evokes more subtle emotion or even makes political statements instead of going for the gratifying but ultimately insubstantial WOW factor.
Dav.
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