Hello, I'm A New Member!

Welcome, Erwin.

Here is a link to an excellent discussion of the topic you have asked about.

http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=970972

Also, as a new member, you should check out this link.
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=98980

Often, any questions you may have, have already been addressed in previous discussion threads. So, before you post a question, type it into the "search discussion" slot at the top right of this page and see if it's already been discussed.

PS This is a very nice capture:

My advice is put up lots more pictures and try to write a little bit more in the description. Make yourself known by
participating in forum discussions and commenting on other people's work. These may or may not encourage sales,
but you will become part of a very friendly community here and probably learn a lot about marketing and self promotion.
Welcome to FAA - your blue hour is stunning. I gave it a fav and a vote.

Dale Ford and Ginny Schmidt: Thank you very much for your advise, comments and the links above. I really appreciate it!

you have to advertise, find people that might like your art. you have to be here longer than a day as well. you need lots of work. you need more keywords and better descriptions. your image quality needs to improve.


this is a nice shot, but up close there is noisy, white outlines and it looks like it's been stretched a little. they have a strict protocol when it comes time to print these, but buyers also might be turned off.


you want to make sure your images are sharp up close, this one might also have problems printing. but the buyer might see that boat on the right and say, nah because it's shifted.

in the end it comes down to marketing to lots of people, twitter, facebook, pinterest etc all of which you need followers to see it. and that takes time as well.


---Mike Savad

Welcome to FAA. Love this pretty bird!

Mike Savad: Thank you very much for taking your time to view my works. I really appreciate your constructive comments!

Anne Norskog: thanks so much for viewing my photos.

One thing you could do is enter contests. It gets more eyes on your work and leads to comments, which seems to boost the search ranking a bit.
Blue hour would go real nice in a contest I recently started for night seascapes. If you go to the contests tab you willl find it or use this link.:

http://fineartamerica.com/contests/night-seascapes.html?tab=overview

There is no prize. I consider them galleries on a theme.

Bradford Martin: Thanks for your advise. I'll join the contest!

Hello Erwin - welcome to FAA. Wishing you lots of success and sales :)

--Donna Proctor

Edit - Blue Hour is so beautiful!

Donna Proctor: Thanks for your kind words!

Hello...welcome to FAA! =)

Angelina Vick: thanks!

MARKETING

As an artist, half of the work is marketing yourself.

Here are some good links to discussions in our forum and elsewhere about marketing your work

http://1stangel.co.uk/downloads/ Dan Turner's 7 Keys To Selling Art Online
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=720538 The Art Of Social-network Marketing Available Online For Free
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=908258 How to critique and edit your own work for better sales
http://1stangel.co.uk/fineartamerica/2011/07/12/tagging-or-keywords-and-descriptions Tagging, or Keywords and Descriptions
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=377664 Marketing Yourself
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=431967 Innovative Marketing for Artists - Challenge!
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=420132 Niche Marketing?
http://1stangel.co.uk/fineartamerica/2011/07/11/how-do-i-launch-a-local-art-show How Do I Launch A Local Art Show??
http://1stangel.co.uk/fineartamerica/2011/06/23/press-releases PRESS RELEASES what are they and how to use them
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=432109 YOUR Print Quality - Please Read
http://www.fineartamerica.com/newsletters/order-fulfillment-partner.html One of the newsletters with some good info on

Be sure to stay active on Fine Art America: join discussion, contests, etc.

We have an entire Marketing section for you to utilise to help sell your work. Try using those tools to help you.

But the best place to start is telling your friends and family.




MEMBER WRITTEN TUTORIALS

http://1stangel.co.uk/fineartamerica


PHOTOGRAPHING IMAGES

http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=432109 YOUR Print Quality - Please Read
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=284083 How to Photograph Your Art
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=199853 How to photograph your Artwork at Home
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=200640 How I Photograph Art...
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=371117 Let’s Talk Photography
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=102801 Photographing paintings
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=917008 Rich's Tutorial On Copying Artwork
http://rolfbertramdotcom.zenfolio.com/p545849061/e13632899 Tips & Tricks for advanced painting photography

FUN and EDUCATION

http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=155502 WHAT IS threads - Index A series of threads explaining different genres
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=303835 How to Debate
http://1stangel.co.uk/blog/how-to-critique-someones-work How To Critique Someones Work
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=803037 How to ASK for a critique

JC Findley: Thank you so much for taking your time and for sharing those great resources, I really appreciate it!

my latest upload photo:

on that one the sky seems noisy and the leaves seem to have movement, which might make it fail in the printing dept. otherwise it's a nice shot.

---Mike Savad

Re Sunrise Over The Blue Mountains - you really should have used a tripod for this one, because you've moved the camera as you took the shot. Such a pity, because the colours are beautiful.

Welcome to FAA!

Mike Savad & Jane Mcllroy:
thanks so much for taking your time to review my photo, I used a tripod when shot this photo of Sunrise Over The Blue Mountains, maybe it was a bit windy.

Ana Belle: thanks!

welcome Erwin.

Welcome to FAA Erwin!!! just keep uploading your photos and keep involved in the online community through discussions, contests, groups and more. as well as showing off to friends and family and the visitor and purchases will start rolling in!!!

Erwin, you are now offering you photos for sale at the smallest size. There are no prices shown for the size larger than 8 inches. You can edit each photo and fill out you price mark up and that will make the photos for sale at larger sizes. There is a way to do this in bulk , but at this point it won't save that much time. You can also set default prices for all sizes.

If you wish to offer only at the smallest size(s), it would be advisable to disable the green box preview that shows what it would look like printed at full size and lower resolution.
I am looking forward to seeing more of your photos, they are beautiful and unique.

Beautiful images Erwin!



I might recommend a software solution for the noise in the skies. Nik suite from Google. They have a brush tool specifically for taking noise out of the sky. Works really well with colour noise as well.

Don't worry too much about having a little noise and ghosting. Even some of the "top" photographers here, have noisy images.

Hey Erwin
Thanks for asking the question that I was just thinking.. Im new also and need to get my work out there.. So Im glad not be alone.. And I alos love your work.. I will make sure to follow your work..
All the Best
Angelina Another new Member..

Richard Rizzo, Sarah Pemberton, Bradford Martin, Tiny by Nature and Angelina Forcine: Thanks so much for your advises and comments, I appreciate it all!

my new photo:

Welcome to FAA!

Thanks Elizabeth!

my latest photo:

You do very nice work.. I think sometimes other artist over think images.
I have seen some really bad work sell on here. remember that art is always subjective .
I would be happy to have you in my groups that I am the Administrator of.
Look me up to join them.. One is coastal ..

Thanks Kim for your kind words and for taking your time to review my photos. I just joined your group, the Gulf Coast Beauty.

my latest upload:

Today's upload:

This one is lovely - you've really captured the tranquility of the lake. :)

Thanks Jane for your kind words.

Erwin,
If you are serious about selling your photographs, I suggest you pester your family and friends. Otherwise get in line and the line of photographers trying to sell their work is about from Florida to California.

I really like your work Erwin, you have a good eye and are very skilled. Your images are exciting, stimulating and pleasing to the eye. I think if you take some of Mike's advice you are going to have a lot of success here on FAA.

Leah,
oh please. if you encourage him, he will just be disappointed. Let's get real. His work is good but there are thousands of other "good" photographers even here who are NOT selling ANYTHING and never will. Just being a "good art" photographer is way way down on the money making chain.

robert, just because your not selling anything, doesn't mean he's not going to sell anything. you can complain all you want, and that's all i seem to hear you do here. if people like the work they may buy it. if you advertise to people, people will see it. telling him there are millions of others is kind of pointless because everyone is in the same boat and it doesn't matter. if people like your work they will go to your work and the others don't matter. it's like one book telling the other one that there is a whole library full of other books and the chances are you ever even being open is really slim. but it doesn't matter what other books are there because the reader wanted to see that one, not the others. and that's how it works everywhere.

there are many good photographers that don't sell, because they don't market themselves at all. but to put down almost every person in every thread saying how they will never sell because there are so many other is honestly starting to annoy me...


---Mike Savad

and so it goes

Some sell
Some do not

It depends mightily on your marketing.

No arguments whatsoever in a new member thread.........what so ever

Mr. Mike S...
I have sold work here, not much, but some. I am NOT putting Erwin down. He is a GOOD photographer. However, "Fine Art America is home to 100,000+ of the world's greatest living artists and photographers." And fine art america is just ONE of many many sites offering art for sell by millions of other artists the world over. And not many of them make more than a few dollars on any site. Keeping that in mind, he can come to his own conclusions.

Also, people liking your work does NOT translate into people buying your work. I like your excellent work, but I don't buy it.

Artists come here with the expectation that fine art america will market them and soon the money will come tumbling in. Does this happen?

I like fine art america for the community of like minded artists, a place to exchange ideas, show off our art, make new friends, etc. I would and do endorse fine art america to one and all.

Your book example kind of proves my point. My favorite fiction writer is Isaac Bashevis Singer. He won the Nobel prize for lit in 1978. I have 60 books written by him. Ever read him? Chances are 99.99999 percent of all humans have never read of word of his.

Once again, from what I see, Mr. Erwin S. is a very good photographer. But let's get real. Fine Art America is home to 100,000+ of the world's greatest living artists and photographers. "Browse through our collection of 5,107,488 images - all of which can be purchased...."

As Mr. S asks "how can I find buyers for my photos" He has 10 images here among the other 5 million. Good Luck.

that's just it, it doesn't matter how many there are as long as they see yours. like you can go to a block in a city that has a 100 places to eat. but if your in the mood for thai food, then the others are of no relevance. more people buy work that they like - then they don't like. they don't have to buy it because they like it. they buy it because they want it. i don't think there are any people out there that will buy it if they don't like it.

there is nothing on this site that says this site with MARKET for them. in fact they say they won't do that. they will print for them, that's what the site is. it's impossible for the site to market for everyone. many people have dreams they will sell hand over fist because that's the vision in their head. and many don't get to that level because they need the work to support it - AND - they have to market like crazy to get to that level. many might achieve level one, but never make it to level 2. a site like this gives people the opportunity to sell.

in the book metaphor - that's just it, there will be a handful of people that will like that book, and will target just that one. and if you can find other books other people want then your onto something. the book is a niche, people will like it, and the other books won't matter, that's the main point.

like against the 5 mil that are here - i only have 2000, that's a really low number compared to that big one. yet i'm selling. and he may also. it all depends on many factors. but to jump in every time someone asks will it sell and the speech about how many people there are etc, it doesn't matter. it's all about marketing. he might only have 10, but he just started here like a week ago. yes, he does need more. but if he gets the right audience all he needs are 10. there is one person here that only has 2 and they sell it all the time. but they might have found the right place to do so.


---Mike Savad

the other thing to keep in mind is - he asked how do i get buyers - not - why am i not selling, that's when you can bring up, there are many fish in the sea kind of response.

---Mike Savad

Mike, Robert, Leah, Issabela : thanks so much for taking your time to give your comments, advices, kind & encouraging words and out of the box thinking, I really appreciate it all. I get your points!!

my latest upload, any comments and suggestions are welcome!

a href='http://fineartamerica.com/featured/peaceful-evening-erwin-sembiring.html' size='20'>
my latest upload, any comments and suggestions are welcome!