Landscape photography has become boring. How many more photos do I have to scroll through on social media of the same old locations? Those must-have photos of the red houses in Hamnøy, Lofoten; the waterfall at Kirkjufellsfoss, Iceland; the lone tree at Buttermere in the Lake District. It’s like looking through a schoolboy’s stamp collection. Every kid has exactly the same stamps because they’re the easiest ones to find and buy with your pocket money.
Everyone and their dog photographs the same view. It doesn’t matter one bit how lovely the scene is you just captured in full 60 MP glory, bathed in moody early morning or late afternoon light. I’m tired of these photos because there’s very little thought or skill required, and certainly very little creativity.
And yet, so many photographers seek to shoot these views, and then print them out and attempt to sell them. They watched their favorite YouTuber rave about the importance of printing your work and clicked on that affiliate link to the new printer being promoted.
After some time has passed and the tumbleweed rolls through town, they start proclaiming, “Photography is dead, it has no value, no one is buying photography anymore.” First of all, let me say, there’s nothing wrong with photographing these over-shot, clichéd views if that’s what you enjoy. I shot Charles Bridge at sunrise in Prague when I was there—Lord have mercy upon me. And then there’s that view everyone shoots at the Grand Canyon. I don’t regret it; I look back at the photos with great joy. I even printed and framed one of the photos, and it hangs with pride in my kitchen. The thing is, I’m not trying to sell them to anyone.
An epic classic view bathed in beautiful light. It's something photographers love to shoot, but can you sell this as an art print? Not easily, no. Why? Just search this image. There are thousands of them online.
The Problem
Here’s the issue—the reason no one is buying your prints of these honeypot views. You don’t understand the market. More specifically, you don’t understand your market. Most importantly, you don’t understand art.
Recently I interviewed Peter Dušek. He does understand the market. He’s a full-time professional landscape photographer. What makes him unique among landscape photographers is he makes his living 100% from selling his work. He doesn’t educate others on how to shoot landscapes. He doesn’t run workshops or retreats, have a course, or even have a YouTube channel to talk about landscape photography. He does nothing to supplement his income. He creates art, prints it, and sells it. “Simples,” said the meerkat (UK reference, American friends).
I made a video when I interviewed him, and it’s packed with words of wisdom and some wonderful insight into the world of a full-time landscape photographer. If you’re not interested in watching it—it is almost half an hour long—then my summary below may be of interest. I would encourage you to watch it, though. Then I make some ad revenue.
There are three things I took away from our conversation, which may help you.
"Cattails in Red" by Peter Dušek.
Understand Your Market
You need to understand who your target audience is, who is actually buying fine art photography.
Collectors Versus Decor Buyers
First, you need to understand the difference between serious art collectors and those looking to buy a piece of decor for a room. This may be of a location they visited on holiday and want a souvenir print to remember the trip. It seems most photographers target the latter, and for this group, price is usually more of an issue. The price a tourist looking for a souvenir print is willing to pay will, in most cases, be vastly different from someone who has money and appreciates and collects art—in some cases, a couple hundred dollars versus $5,000+ per print. Collectors versus decor buyers.
Many landscape photographers on YouTube try to sell to other photographers. I’ve never understood this. Other photographers want to learn and be inspired so they can go and shoot their own photos to print and frame.
There’s this idea that it’s nice to buy a print from photographers you watch on YouTube as a way of supporting them. That’s a kind sentiment, but far from a sustainable business model for the photographer.
Photographers need to stop trying to impress and appeal to other photographers.
Understanding your audience means understanding how they live and where they live. This helps establish the size of the prints you sell. Peter’s audience have very large homes with massive walls, so they prefer a 6- or 7-foot-wide print—sometimes larger. He also knows that collectors from the city have smaller walls and like to collect lots of art, so smaller prints work best for them. He caters to both markets.
Something that Peter identified is to focus on a local audience first and sell images of places that mean something to the audience. Many of his customers are wealthy and have second homes where his gallery is. They love the area—that’s why they spend time there—so a local landscape is going to have far more appeal than a random mountain view from a foreign country, no matter how lovely the light is.
For long-term success, you need to build a reputation in the art collectors’ world nationally or even internationally.
"Whisper" by Peter Dušek.
A Great Photo Isn’t a Great Piece of Art
A stunning view across a mountain at sunrise with layers, color, and breathtaking drama makes a stunning photo. It may excite other landscape photographers judging a competition you submitted the image into. They may award you first place. Landscape Photographer of the Year—yay! But it doesn’t mean that photo is something people would want to hang on their wall. Well, not photographic art collectors with the fat wallets, anyway. What impresses other photographers doesn’t impress an art buyer. This is probably the single biggest thing photographers don’t understand. A great photo doesn’t necessarily translate to a great piece of art. Read that a few times over, please.
A landscape photography YouTuber recently stated landscape photography has no value, and no one is buying it. What he doesn’t realize is it’s his photography that has no value because he’s shooting the popular views in lovely light—just like every other landscape photographer. Undoubtedly a lovely thing to do for a hobby, but not for commercial success.
Photographers criticize the work of someone like Andreas Gursky. “His photos are boring, anyone can take them, why are they selling for millions?” Yes, why indeed. If you want just a fraction of Gursky’s success, you need to study this and figure it out. Peter Dušek spent the time doing so. Part of the “why” is he understands art and his audience. He understands the collectors aren’t just buying the image—they’re buying the artist and the story. This comes down to building a brand, a persona, and I could surely write an entire article just on this topic.
Let’s be clear: there is no single answer as to what kind of photos make great art. You need to figure this out for yourself by first identifying who your audience might be and then understanding what they buy and why. Why is the most important word here, yet it’s the word that gets the least amount of thought and research.
"Blue Barn Serenity" by Peter Dušek.
Don’t Get Ideas and Inspiration From Social Media
Photographers spend too much time on social media and photography websites like Flickr. Peter suggests this is a bad idea, and I must agree.
Social media is oversaturated with trendy images with cool color presets and editing, shot at epic locations. It’s all the same old fluff, image after image. Photographers are under the impression this is what good photography is, based purely on the likes, so they mimic what they see. Their work blends in, doesn’t stand out. Social media likes mean absolutely nothing in the art collectors’ world.
Many photographers will follow influencers and popular YouTubers looking for guidance, but these guys don’t really know. They talk about photography; they don’t sell photography. For the most part, they’re probably the worst source of solid advice and guidance—unless you want to buy a new printer, perhaps.
You need to ignore social media and trends and create art that you want to, that excites you. That’s the starting point, according to Peter. The foundation from which to build a fine art print career.
So where do you go to get good guidance as to what great art photography is, if not social media?
Reputable art galleries and museums. Look at the art of painters as well as photographers. Good, reputable art galleries know fine art photography better than anyone else because it’s their business to know. They don’t throw up new images onto the wall daily for likes. Galleries and museums are experts at curating the best art.
A gallery knows their audience—who the collectors are—so they know what sells.
Peter told me he spends lots of time visiting the best galleries in North America and Europe. He attends shows and talks to people at the shows—other artists, buyers, collectors.
Collectors aren’t scrolling through Instagram. They’re attending shows. They’re getting to know the artists because, as I mentioned earlier, they’re buying the person as much as the print itself.
If you want to become a fine art landscape photographer and generate income from your work, maybe it’s best to get off social media and other photographers’ websites and start going out to shows. Even if you’re not exhibiting, you’ll be meeting others in the art business, connecting with buyers, understanding their point of view, telling your story, sharing your thoughts and ideas, and ultimately building a brand. It’s by far the most effective way to become known—which really is the same for any type of creative endeavor.
It takes time, work, effort—something that so many photographers don’t want to do. But this is the only way that leads to a successful career as a fine art landscape photographer.
Do watch the interview with Peter, and drop by to his website for more information. Looking through his galleries will surely inspire: PeterDusek.com.
Simon is a professional photographer and video producer, with over 35 years experience. He spends his time between Canada and the UK. He has worked for major brands, organizations and publications; shooting travel, tourism, food, and lifestyle. For fun he enjoys black and white photography, with a penchant for street and landscapes.
What, you mean there are no shortcuts to success? Just hard work, dedication and consistency? I suppose that is why there are very few successful landscape photographers.
First of not a Pro or photo seller. This article I believe is full of Truth! Yes YouTubers are selling tours at hefty prices mostly. Just like camera and lens reviewers, I wish I could tell everyone and old Canon T2i will get the same image today as they push that new just out camera. It is mainly todays software vs the old back just 10 years ago.
Have ever gone into Costco or other big store with wall to wall customers and watch the person trying to sell one of those big prints, never seen a sell let alone a looker except me.
When I was young everyone had a painting in the living room got a furniture store and today every hotel room has photos.
To person is in an apartment and move for a better deal so very mobile today and look at all the storage places, build one you will have income for life.
My hat is off to the pros and how they do it!!!!
Look i give my prints to a doctor who help me or even some one who has helped, I take a lot of Milky Way photos just along the coastal areas not out west with all the rattle snakes and like is said a dime a dozen there. Everyone will buy an old post card but never see it on a wall just dusty in a drawer.
There is a difference today with digital vs film --- no names on a digital or the story written on it for there is no back to write on!
Ever go back to some very old images and reprocess with todays software, yes you will fine less noise also.
No matter just have fun doing it the way and where you like, memories never will repeat. Back in the film days and you got friends and family to watch slides of some far off place after 30 minutes everyone gone home!!!
1. T2i image 2010 tree stump kids put pieces of tire and toys on 2. A7RM2 with 10mm lens not a pano, safer 3. you will never see this again the entrance to Antelope Canyon see the horse to the left and it's rider to the right and what looks like a Chief yelling inside, took this after a tour the guide never saw it even after years of tours - A7RM2. 4. Florida caves using A7SM1 and again 10mm lens like a post card but more seen, Hand Held with bungee cord attached to belt me the tripod for no tripods allowed.
I make the vast majority of my income selling prints (over 90%) and while I think that there are aspects of this article that are true, or that they need to hear, there is a lot of extreme talk which is simply not true. The easiest example would be the statement that the first image could not easily be sold. It absolutely could be. How? Print it beautifully and display it. Customers aren't doing google image searches to find artwork on their wall, plenty of customers aren't even looking for artwork at all. They see it and when they see it and connect with it, they then want to have it. The vast majority of landscape photographers simply never show their work in a tangible, polished format.
Selling landscape photography in an online format only is the mistake here. People buy what they see and selling online generally isn't enough unless the person already has a huge audience to monetize. Most of our clients didn't know us until they walked in the door, or they heard someone else say they needed to come and see our work. It's that simple, but yes it takes a lot of work and perseverance.
exactly... that's this is the first thing I thought after looking at this article. The article is only talking about Web or Stock Photography or something of that nature. But the moment you put that print in a gallery or an 'Art-Fair'... all of sudden all of those so-called rules about what can and cannot sell is out the window. The people that stroll around the fair and have real money in their pocket do not have the same extreme views about how many different versions of the same shot exists, nor do they even sometimes care about how high quality the shot is. They are not giving out fstoppers ratings... while we might give out '2s'... the people going by may still buy it. I agree with Matt here, and see that article/video by Keith Cooper about the practical truths about selling prints. It is something I want to aspire to do very soon. Solomon said: "There is nothing new under the sun"
Do you make a full-time living selling your prints at art fairs?
As for putting a popular view that everyone has photographed thousands of times over in a gallery, I find it hard to believe many serious art galleries would do that. They curate art to sell to collectors, unless it's a gallery in a tourist location selling the classic views to people wanting to take home a keepsake. And these kind of galleries can only sell a print for a few hundred dollars typically, not $10,000k+. I know of someone who has this type of gallery but he needs to run workshops and teach, because it's not a sustainable business to make a decent living from in most cases.
I sell some stockphotography, and that's it for now. The point I make is that just like this guy: https://fstoppers.com/business/lessons-learned-selling-my-photography-ar... If you framed your first picture and put it on the wall of your stand. There would be nothing stopping someone from buying it. And in this day and age, a lot of art-fairs are full of guys selling Metal-prints for $7000 dollars. I enjoy conversing with photographers at the Ann Arbor art fair every year, and how they are getting by. Some just do a couple a shows a year, others go from fair to fair to make an actual living. Some are I don't even consider their photos that great, but they still sell. Like I was saying in my first post, I would give many of their photos 2-stars. I keep thinking I could do much better. But in a place like Ann Arbor, where people have money, they sell lots of stuff.
Matt Palmer Yes, the biggest mistake is only selling online.
As mentioned in the article, there's a huge difference between a gallery that sells prints to the casual buyer or tourist, over selling a collection of images to serious art collectors. Price is the biggest factor. Of course, it's not completely black and white, there are always exceptions. But are those exceptions sustainable for a full-time living?
And out of curiosity, how many of your Moroccan "Blue Medina" or Italian "Grand Canal at sunset" prints have you sold in your gallery over the past 12 months?
My daughter has a Samsung 55" Frame TV. First visitors do not even realise that it is a TV when displaying images. It has a wood style frame and the TV is mounted close to the "wall" that hides the connections, and articulated arm. As close as actual artwork or framed mirrors on entry walls. Since it is a condo, there is not much room, to display all her photos and actual paintings.
As soon as my 15 year old LG expires, I am getting one of those. My wife doesn't want me to go bigger than the current 50 inches.
It's most certainly better to display photos digitally at a large size like 55 inches, than view them on small screens, or even phones. I view most of my photos on a 27 inch monitor and sometimes connect my laptop to our 55 inch TV,, although I had one of them made into a 6 foot wide canvas and it's quite incredible how them image takes on another level of impact. I would recommend getting at least one image printed large if possible, just to see the difference between screen vs physical print. Appreciate the comment.
I came into photography recently, returning to the art world after 20 years in branding — and I can confirm much of what’s said here, but from the other side. The problem isn’t just that we keep shooting the same views. It’s that the photos have nothing to say. People don’t buy images — they buy the story behind them. Most photographers can’t even give their work a proper title, let alone explain why it matters. But without that, what value does it have? What will the buyer tell their friends when they point at it on the wall?
And yes — size matters. An A3 print doesn’t impress anyone anymore. Most people have screens and TVs that are bigger. If a photograph doesn’t change the space it hangs in, it simply disappears. Scale and meaning — that’s what gives a piece a chance to live in someone else’s home. For myself, I’ve found there’s no point printing anything smaller than 120×80 cm (roughly 47×31 inches). Add a mount, glass and frame, and sell it as artwork — not just a rolled-up print in a tube. That’s when it starts to carry real presence and value.
It's really interesting article as there are lots of good points. I will make my points from someone that sells quite a few prints but I tend to focus on my local area which is a small area in the South of Western Australia. I roughly sell about 100 framed prints per year. Plus digital works.
1 Sunsets don't look great on white walls!! They look beautiful on Instagram but they don't sell very well. Images with blue and green are soothing. They sell.
2 Image quality is bloody important when printing A2 and above - soft images won't cut it!
3 I tried to connect with my customer base. I often go down to a coffee shop on Saturday mornings and I advertise this on my social media pages as come and meet the photographer. Come and have a coffee with me. Have a look at some of my work on the wall and we just chat no sales pressure no nothing. This is surprisingly effective because you'll be amazed that people do want to connect and meet the photographer.
4 If I do do some frame prints for a customer, you always get paid first before you print
5 Agree with targeting the right audience. I approach businesses with money. I make no apologies for this. I will go to places like lawyer's offices, dentist surgeries big businesses that have coin they can afford to put $1000 piece on the wall. They've spent $1 million on their building. They can afford $1000 for a nice piece of art on the wall but it has to be super nice and it has to be professionally framed with good glass and your image quality must be good.
5 Be patient with your customers. My customers often ask me if I can re-edit a photo or make it lighter or darker - no problems that's part of our workflow. I sometimes don't charge for this if it only takes a few minutes and because of the camera system I use my files are very versatile and it's only takes a few seconds and we are good to go. I do not charge the customer for this extra little bit of work. It takes literally 30 seconds to take one slider to make it lighter. You don't charge your customer an extra $75 for three minutes work you will not make money doing this.
6 When customers order three or four prints I often say to them would you like to come and have coffee and have a chat and we can work through a deal face-to-face and they get to meet you? There is a person behind the camera not always possible if the person lives along way away, but I will often do a zoom call to them and work through what they want. I build a client base that has returning customers.
7 Calendars - they are a great way to get 12 of your best pieces in someone's office. I sell about 300 per year and the margins are reasonable and it puts another 5k in the bank just before Christmas. It's a great way to promote your work again. Use good quality printers for your calendars. Don't use cheap crappy paper. Sorry to be so blunt but people need to hear this if you're serious about making it in landscape photography!
8 I also ask my community what they would like me to shoot sometimes I'll put up a post saying give me a place to go and shoot people. Have you got a special place that you would like captured? And yes I do charge for that but it gives them something specific that they might be looking for.
9 I don't do limited releases or limited editions of everything. I think it's a complete load of crap to be honest but that's the Australian talking in me and we Australians can be a little bit blunt and it doesn't work culturally here in Australia to do that. it might in America or Europe, but it doesn't work in Australia. I can guarantee you that.
10 Ask your audience what they like to see sometimes I'll ask for direct feedback from the community. What do you think about this image?
11 Forget about the big fine art galleries with all due respect to those places the foot traffic through them is very limited. Go and find some local cafes or businesses that will have your work on the wall. The traffic going through those buildings per day is much greater than an art gallery I have two local cafes that display my work and I regularly turn over prints from those cafes they are excellent places to have my work displayed hundreds of people walk through that cafe every morning. I have a simple barcode on the wall that goes to my Instagram and they can see my work making processes simple and not snobby is my approach Australia. Australian people don't like snobby approach.
12 Follow up with your customers after they've received their print, most framed places that I use which is two of them. If they're not happy with the photo we can reframe it with another piece quite simply it requires them to get another print done but that's a small part of the cost. I have refrained a couple of prints where customers were not happy. It only cost me an extra 50 bucks but that customer now is a returning customer and has purchased five or six more print since then it's worth losing 50 bucks to gain a lifelong customer..
13 I don't use cheap desktop printers to print work with all due respect. They are not as good as professional grade printers. The person that prints my printer uses a printer that cost $35,000 and can print up to 2 m x 1 m her prints are amazing and there is nothing close that a desktop printer can produce. I urge people to not skimp on printing quality.
14 Don't try to copy someone else's work because their work is popular. This is a common trap for landscape photographers. They see a certain style and basically they try and copy it. I get many people asking me about my settings and all sorts of stuff. What camera do I use? I tell them not to buy the camera that I use because it's difficult camera to use. Develop your style.!! be YOU!!
15 I regularly walk into businesses now and asked if I can speak to the manager and I talk about the art that is on their wall and how it's looking a little bit drab. I do it with a smile and I say to them that my work would look amazing on your walls. Let's have a coffee and have a chat. Australians love this direct approach and they will often say I've seen your work now. It looks amazing. let's have a chat.
16 My last point and sorry for my long post, but I'm very passionate about this and I'm also passionate about helping over photographers grow. There is nothing wrong with using social media especially if it's targeted at the right people. I do really well just from my Facebook and Instagram. In fact I generate way more sales from those two platforms than I ever did with my website to the point that I actually took my website down it was just costing me money with no monetary beneficial aspect to it at all. However, I'm currently rebuilding a new one with some different looks to it and it should be completed soon. You'll find that making a full-time income from landscape photography is just about impossible. I still have a day job plus I shoot weddings events and a whole bunch of other things and I have a office job for three days a week still.
Some of these points people will disagree with and that's okay and that's worked for me in my area in Australia and like I said Australians are a little bit different to the rest of the world. It's good different but we are different.
Thank you so much for adding some incredibly good and useful thoughts based on your experience. people will find this invaluable, i'm sure. There is no one correct way to selling prints to generate income, and people who have lots of experience doing it are the best source for guidance for those looking at getting into print sales.
I agree with all of your points. I know Peter uses a professional lab for printing, and the few prints I've had done in the past have been printed at the same lab coincidently. If one is to take their fine art print business—or even sideline—seriously, that would be my recommendation too. Don't buy a printer and try and do it yourself. It's not worth the time, money or hassle.
Totally agree mate. When you look at a framed print my framed print sell for about 750 now Australian and the printing aspect of that is $38. It's such a small part of the overall cost. It's simply not worth it. The frame is other ones making the money? I'm happy to make about $400 out of framed prints that's why I get a lab printer done as well. She has a huge big lab printer. I don't know the brand of it but I have seen it. It's massive and it cost her $30,000. Those people claiming $1500 printers that sit on their desk are just as good as getting themselves.
What's the greatest and the most important photography book in history?
Americans, by Robert Frank.
I met him couple times when he stopped by my art books stand and his opinion was he couldn't care less about other people opinion.
Want another example?
Vivian Meier. Nobody knew she was even taking any photos. Had you seen the last exhibition of her work at the Fotografiska before they moved?
People now go bananas over her work.
Do what you do and don't seek others approval
Thank you for writing what I've been thinking for a long time. Excellent article filled with truth and good information.
Thanks Christina
What, you mean there are no shortcuts to success? Just hard work, dedication and consistency? I suppose that is why there are very few successful landscape photographers.
Very few successful photographers.
First of not a Pro or photo seller. This article I believe is full of Truth! Yes YouTubers are selling tours at hefty prices mostly. Just like camera and lens reviewers, I wish I could tell everyone and old Canon T2i will get the same image today as they push that new just out camera. It is mainly todays software vs the old back just 10 years ago.
Have ever gone into Costco or other big store with wall to wall customers and watch the person trying to sell one of those big prints, never seen a sell let alone a looker except me.
When I was young everyone had a painting in the living room got a furniture store and today every hotel room has photos.
To person is in an apartment and move for a better deal so very mobile today and look at all the storage places, build one you will have income for life.
My hat is off to the pros and how they do it!!!!
Look i give my prints to a doctor who help me or even some one who has helped, I take a lot of Milky Way photos just along the coastal areas not out west with all the rattle snakes and like is said a dime a dozen there. Everyone will buy an old post card but never see it on a wall just dusty in a drawer.
There is a difference today with digital vs film --- no names on a digital or the story written on it for there is no back to write on!
Ever go back to some very old images and reprocess with todays software, yes you will fine less noise also.
No matter just have fun doing it the way and where you like, memories never will repeat. Back in the film days and you got friends and family to watch slides of some far off place after 30 minutes everyone gone home!!!
1. T2i image 2010 tree stump kids put pieces of tire and toys on 2. A7RM2 with 10mm lens not a pano, safer 3. you will never see this again the entrance to Antelope Canyon see the horse to the left and it's rider to the right and what looks like a Chief yelling inside, took this after a tour the guide never saw it even after years of tours - A7RM2. 4. Florida caves using A7SM1 and again 10mm lens like a post card but more seen, Hand Held with bungee cord attached to belt me the tripod for no tripods allowed.
A great capsule of the reality. Well done, bravo.
I make the vast majority of my income selling prints (over 90%) and while I think that there are aspects of this article that are true, or that they need to hear, there is a lot of extreme talk which is simply not true. The easiest example would be the statement that the first image could not easily be sold. It absolutely could be. How? Print it beautifully and display it. Customers aren't doing google image searches to find artwork on their wall, plenty of customers aren't even looking for artwork at all. They see it and when they see it and connect with it, they then want to have it. The vast majority of landscape photographers simply never show their work in a tangible, polished format.
Selling landscape photography in an online format only is the mistake here. People buy what they see and selling online generally isn't enough unless the person already has a huge audience to monetize. Most of our clients didn't know us until they walked in the door, or they heard someone else say they needed to come and see our work. It's that simple, but yes it takes a lot of work and perseverance.
exactly... that's this is the first thing I thought after looking at this article. The article is only talking about Web or Stock Photography or something of that nature. But the moment you put that print in a gallery or an 'Art-Fair'... all of sudden all of those so-called rules about what can and cannot sell is out the window. The people that stroll around the fair and have real money in their pocket do not have the same extreme views about how many different versions of the same shot exists, nor do they even sometimes care about how high quality the shot is. They are not giving out fstoppers ratings... while we might give out '2s'... the people going by may still buy it. I agree with Matt here, and see that article/video by Keith Cooper about the practical truths about selling prints. It is something I want to aspire to do very soon. Solomon said: "There is nothing new under the sun"
Do you make a full-time living selling your prints at art fairs?
As for putting a popular view that everyone has photographed thousands of times over in a gallery, I find it hard to believe many serious art galleries would do that. They curate art to sell to collectors, unless it's a gallery in a tourist location selling the classic views to people wanting to take home a keepsake. And these kind of galleries can only sell a print for a few hundred dollars typically, not $10,000k+. I know of someone who has this type of gallery but he needs to run workshops and teach, because it's not a sustainable business to make a decent living from in most cases.
I sell some stockphotography, and that's it for now. The point I make is that just like this guy: https://fstoppers.com/business/lessons-learned-selling-my-photography-ar... If you framed your first picture and put it on the wall of your stand. There would be nothing stopping someone from buying it. And in this day and age, a lot of art-fairs are full of guys selling Metal-prints for $7000 dollars. I enjoy conversing with photographers at the Ann Arbor art fair every year, and how they are getting by. Some just do a couple a shows a year, others go from fair to fair to make an actual living. Some are I don't even consider their photos that great, but they still sell. Like I was saying in my first post, I would give many of their photos 2-stars. I keep thinking I could do much better. But in a place like Ann Arbor, where people have money, they sell lots of stuff.
Matt Palmer Yes, the biggest mistake is only selling online.
As mentioned in the article, there's a huge difference between a gallery that sells prints to the casual buyer or tourist, over selling a collection of images to serious art collectors. Price is the biggest factor. Of course, it's not completely black and white, there are always exceptions. But are those exceptions sustainable for a full-time living?
And out of curiosity, how many of your Moroccan "Blue Medina" or Italian "Grand Canal at sunset" prints have you sold in your gallery over the past 12 months?
My daughter has a Samsung 55" Frame TV. First visitors do not even realise that it is a TV when displaying images. It has a wood style frame and the TV is mounted close to the "wall" that hides the connections, and articulated arm. As close as actual artwork or framed mirrors on entry walls. Since it is a condo, there is not much room, to display all her photos and actual paintings.
As soon as my 15 year old LG expires, I am getting one of those. My wife doesn't want me to go bigger than the current 50 inches.
It's most certainly better to display photos digitally at a large size like 55 inches, than view them on small screens, or even phones. I view most of my photos on a 27 inch monitor and sometimes connect my laptop to our 55 inch TV,, although I had one of them made into a 6 foot wide canvas and it's quite incredible how them image takes on another level of impact. I would recommend getting at least one image printed large if possible, just to see the difference between screen vs physical print. Appreciate the comment.
Very useful article and video!
I came into photography recently, returning to the art world after 20 years in branding — and I can confirm much of what’s said here, but from the other side. The problem isn’t just that we keep shooting the same views. It’s that the photos have nothing to say. People don’t buy images — they buy the story behind them. Most photographers can’t even give their work a proper title, let alone explain why it matters. But without that, what value does it have? What will the buyer tell their friends when they point at it on the wall?
And yes — size matters. An A3 print doesn’t impress anyone anymore. Most people have screens and TVs that are bigger. If a photograph doesn’t change the space it hangs in, it simply disappears. Scale and meaning — that’s what gives a piece a chance to live in someone else’s home. For myself, I’ve found there’s no point printing anything smaller than 120×80 cm (roughly 47×31 inches). Add a mount, glass and frame, and sell it as artwork — not just a rolled-up print in a tube. That’s when it starts to carry real presence and value.
It's really interesting article as there are lots of good points. I will make my points from someone that sells quite a few prints but I tend to focus on my local area which is a small area in the South of Western Australia. I roughly sell about 100 framed prints per year. Plus digital works.
1 Sunsets don't look great on white walls!! They look beautiful on Instagram but they don't sell very well. Images with blue and green are soothing. They sell.
2 Image quality is bloody important when printing A2 and above - soft images won't cut it!
3 I tried to connect with my customer base. I often go down to a coffee shop on Saturday mornings and I advertise this on my social media pages as come and meet the photographer. Come and have a coffee with me. Have a look at some of my work on the wall and we just chat no sales pressure no nothing. This is surprisingly effective because you'll be amazed that people do want to connect and meet the photographer.
4 If I do do some frame prints for a customer, you always get paid first before you print
5 Agree with targeting the right audience. I approach businesses with money. I make no apologies for this. I will go to places like lawyer's offices, dentist surgeries big businesses that have coin they can afford to put $1000 piece on the wall. They've spent $1 million on their building. They can afford $1000 for a nice piece of art on the wall but it has to be super nice and it has to be professionally framed with good glass and your image quality must be good.
5 Be patient with your customers. My customers often ask me if I can re-edit a photo or make it lighter or darker - no problems that's part of our workflow. I sometimes don't charge for this if it only takes a few minutes and because of the camera system I use my files are very versatile and it's only takes a few seconds and we are good to go. I do not charge the customer for this extra little bit of work. It takes literally 30 seconds to take one slider to make it lighter. You don't charge your customer an extra $75 for three minutes work you will not make money doing this.
6 When customers order three or four prints I often say to them would you like to come and have coffee and have a chat and we can work through a deal face-to-face and they get to meet you? There is a person behind the camera not always possible if the person lives along way away, but I will often do a zoom call to them and work through what they want. I build a client base that has returning customers.
7 Calendars - they are a great way to get 12 of your best pieces in someone's office. I sell about 300 per year and the margins are reasonable and it puts another 5k in the bank just before Christmas. It's a great way to promote your work again. Use good quality printers for your calendars. Don't use cheap crappy paper. Sorry to be so blunt but people need to hear this if you're serious about making it in landscape photography!
8 I also ask my community what they would like me to shoot sometimes I'll put up a post saying give me a place to go and shoot people. Have you got a special place that you would like captured? And yes I do charge for that but it gives them something specific that they might be looking for.
9 I don't do limited releases or limited editions of everything. I think it's a complete load of crap to be honest but that's the Australian talking in me and we Australians can be a little bit blunt and it doesn't work culturally here in Australia to do that. it might in America or Europe, but it doesn't work in Australia. I can guarantee you that.
10 Ask your audience what they like to see sometimes I'll ask for direct feedback from the community. What do you think about this image?
11 Forget about the big fine art galleries with all due respect to those places the foot traffic through them is very limited. Go and find some local cafes or businesses that will have your work on the wall. The traffic going through those buildings per day is much greater than an art gallery I have two local cafes that display my work and I regularly turn over prints from those cafes they are excellent places to have my work displayed hundreds of people walk through that cafe every morning. I have a simple barcode on the wall that goes to my Instagram and they can see my work making processes simple and not snobby is my approach Australia. Australian people don't like snobby approach.
12 Follow up with your customers after they've received their print, most framed places that I use which is two of them. If they're not happy with the photo we can reframe it with another piece quite simply it requires them to get another print done but that's a small part of the cost. I have refrained a couple of prints where customers were not happy. It only cost me an extra 50 bucks but that customer now is a returning customer and has purchased five or six more print since then it's worth losing 50 bucks to gain a lifelong customer..
13 I don't use cheap desktop printers to print work with all due respect. They are not as good as professional grade printers. The person that prints my printer uses a printer that cost $35,000 and can print up to 2 m x 1 m her prints are amazing and there is nothing close that a desktop printer can produce. I urge people to not skimp on printing quality.
14 Don't try to copy someone else's work because their work is popular. This is a common trap for landscape photographers. They see a certain style and basically they try and copy it. I get many people asking me about my settings and all sorts of stuff. What camera do I use? I tell them not to buy the camera that I use because it's difficult camera to use. Develop your style.!! be YOU!!
15 I regularly walk into businesses now and asked if I can speak to the manager and I talk about the art that is on their wall and how it's looking a little bit drab. I do it with a smile and I say to them that my work would look amazing on your walls. Let's have a coffee and have a chat. Australians love this direct approach and they will often say I've seen your work now. It looks amazing. let's have a chat.
16 My last point and sorry for my long post, but I'm very passionate about this and I'm also passionate about helping over photographers grow. There is nothing wrong with using social media especially if it's targeted at the right people. I do really well just from my Facebook and Instagram. In fact I generate way more sales from those two platforms than I ever did with my website to the point that I actually took my website down it was just costing me money with no monetary beneficial aspect to it at all. However, I'm currently rebuilding a new one with some different looks to it and it should be completed soon. You'll find that making a full-time income from landscape photography is just about impossible. I still have a day job plus I shoot weddings events and a whole bunch of other things and I have a office job for three days a week still.
Some of these points people will disagree with and that's okay and that's worked for me in my area in Australia and like I said Australians are a little bit different to the rest of the world. It's good different but we are different.
Thank you so much for adding some incredibly good and useful thoughts based on your experience. people will find this invaluable, i'm sure. There is no one correct way to selling prints to generate income, and people who have lots of experience doing it are the best source for guidance for those looking at getting into print sales.
I agree with all of your points. I know Peter uses a professional lab for printing, and the few prints I've had done in the past have been printed at the same lab coincidently. If one is to take their fine art print business—or even sideline—seriously, that would be my recommendation too. Don't buy a printer and try and do it yourself. It's not worth the time, money or hassle.
Totally agree mate. When you look at a framed print my framed print sell for about 750 now Australian and the printing aspect of that is $38. It's such a small part of the overall cost. It's simply not worth it. The frame is other ones making the money? I'm happy to make about $400 out of framed prints that's why I get a lab printer done as well. She has a huge big lab printer. I don't know the brand of it but I have seen it. It's massive and it cost her $30,000. Those people claiming $1500 printers that sit on their desk are just as good as getting themselves.
What's the greatest and the most important photography book in history?
Americans, by Robert Frank.
I met him couple times when he stopped by my art books stand and his opinion was he couldn't care less about other people opinion.
Want another example?
Vivian Meier. Nobody knew she was even taking any photos. Had you seen the last exhibition of her work at the Fotografiska before they moved?
People now go bananas over her work.
Do what you do and don't seek others approval