Promoting Yourself as a Photographer

Sunday, July 1, 2012
     (Canada Day)

Promoting Yourself as a Photographer

     The 21st century has become both an asset and a hindrance to photographers. Technology has advanced at an astronomical pace. Being able to photograph with a digital camera, and edit almost instantly certainly  has been great.  However, with the Net, everyone who has a camera can promote themselves as a photographer. Before the digital camera or the Net, high-profile photographers would promote themselves  through such methods as the "Black Book".  The company publishing the Black Book would have photographers buy a page or 2 at about $ 1500-2500.00 US per page. Ad agencies around the world  knew of this book, and they would purchase it.  Consequently, any big agency would know of the "big-name" photographers available for hire.

   The "Black Book" of course has adapted, and is available on-line at http://photographersblackbook.com/

     The Black Book is still a great resource for high-end professional photography, and this valuable resource certainly separates the pro from the start-ups and the amateur. 

    However, there are plenty of opportunities for all levels of photographers,and the Web certainly has made opportunities available to all. In some cases, you might want to build a website, and in other cases, opportunities are available on-line for free.I write a toy blog oldantiquetoys.blogspot.com  and that helps me a "bit" with toy-selling. I also try to take high-quality photos for potential buyers on E-Bay to purchase. 

   When I retired from teaching, I thought of what I'd like to do in  terms of photography. I liked Interior and exterior architectural photography, so I built up a small portfolio of my work. I went around looking for work, but I didn't have any success. I then decided to place all of my photos on 2 free" sights- Picasa and Flickr. I eventually expanded from my space on Picasa from free to 20MB of space for $ 5.00 a year.  I did get 1 job from someone  after I would E-Mail people to look at my photos, but it still has not worked well. I also had American Pickers buy some old toy photos for one of their episodes.

A Sample Flickr Page of my Photos

I haven't taken many more flower photos, buy I have presented them on Flickr.

It doesn;t hurt to present other areas of what you do in terms of photography. By doing this, it can show viewers what other areas of photography that you do besides your specialized areas.

Another Flickr Page of Mine

I load up large-sized images of my work.

I want potential clients to be able to see nice detail of what I do. The downside, as far as toy photos go, is that I have to send e-mails to sites on the Net who have used my photos without permission.

An Enlargement of 1 of my toy Photos.

If you don't know already, you can click on any photo in this blog to also view any photo as an enlargement.

Some of my Toy and Architecture Photos 

Google owns Picasa, which is a Photo Site. 

I purchased extra space on Picasa for only $ 5.00 a year.

As you can see, I have only used 10.08% of my space!

My Nickname on Picasa is Major Trout.

 

I've changed photo styles lately for showing toys on E-Bay

A Sample Page of Thumbnail  Photos on Picasa

 You can view sets of photos by switching to a different view.

All you then have to do is press the arrow on the right, in order to view the next photo.

 A  J Chein Wind-up Old Toy

A  good idea for having people come to your photo sites is to add "Tags".

Tags are words that help viewers find your photos. The above tags relate to the toy photo above.

I don't have loads of viewers visit my toy photo sites, but sometimes you have to wait and be patient.

Antique toys are  a "niche area", so although I had expected more viewers, I only had perhaps several thousand view my toys.

When I'll get more energy to go out and do more architecture, and perhaps food photography, I'll then  use these sites to e-mail to potential clients. This resource, as I said, is "free". It's a good place to start out, especially if you're young, and have a limited budget. 

Moreover, what do you have to lose?

There are also other sites such as Linked-In (Business contact network) and FaceBook.

When I'll find the time, I'll probably expand those 2 sites that I am a signed-up member of.

They're also free!

Thanks for dropping by to view this blog, 

and always have a nice day, wherever you may be.

And if you're American, Happy July 4, and if you're from France, Happy Bastille day (July 14).