What Is Wrong With My Photography ?

Nothing is wrong aside from the two with giant watermarks that won't print.

Now, the question should be, what am I doing to stand out from the other thousands of images uploaded daily.

I think you have some interesting macro photos. My only suggestions:

1. They need clarity - many of the photos are soft except for the center when enlarged. I would either shoot at a higher F stop - 2.8 instead of 1.4 for example or try to sharpen them with the clarity brush in LR or Photoshop

2. Have you tried to frame some or mat a few and go to farmers markets? I'm thinking you may get a lot of local customers that appreciate your food photos.

nature shots are tough, they often don't fit a decor. one would think butterflies would sell, and they really don't.


the shots are ok, but may not fit into a decor of a house. plus you have hardly any keywords, like the name of the flower should be in there. the description lacks, make a story about it.


this is an ok shot, though i'd rather see more sharpness at the base. the keywords really lack though, most of those are useless - posters, cards, outdoors etc. talk about the subject more. round,green,bean,peapod,pea pod,vegan,vegetable, etc . this looks like it was enlarged, even the wood looks blurry up close, don't enlarge anything or stretch things with a close crop.


keep in mind how this looks as a thumbnail. its dark and hard to tell what i'm looking at. the description doesn't go into the subject much, and talks about a watermark that isn't even there. this also looks enlarged.

always start people in categories. and you need way more than 25 images.

your bio should reflect your work. not other hobbies, past cameras, but mostly its the amount of images you've been here since 2011, only have 25 pix and 14k of views. its not just about tweeting and such, you have to have people on the other end to see it. you need to be easy to find on twitter. and every time i look for you by name, even site corrects it to Des Jardins. which isn't ideal for you.

mostly you need more work that your not enlarging, with more keywords and better descriptions.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

The name of the place is in the title but not the description or key words. In fact you only have a few keywords for each photo. Give the search engines something to look at so that if someone is searching for a place or a thing your photo will have a better chance of being seen. This goes for both FAA and Google. In your description talk a bit about the beach and the area, why it attracts people, what it's known for, that kind of thing. For this beach, what's the closest town or city? Use that in both the description and key words. Does that big rock have a name, even if it's an unofficial name? Use that too in the description and key words. Use a keyword generator such as https://www.mykeyworder.com/ to help increase the number of keywords. But don't spam with keywords that have no relevance to the image.

Another thing to consider, when you offer something for sale you have to ask yourself would I print this and hang it on my wall? Who might be interested in this shot? Why would they be interested?

Hi! Your eye for composition is very good! But I do see a consistent lack of sharp focus and any sort of highlights, making for a very 'flat' appearance with many of your photos. Looking at your shots very closely in post-production will reveal many of these problem areas. And look for how the sun plays on objects when you're out shooting. Light is what makes a photograph...literally. Photography is 'writing with light'. Shadow is a component as well of course...but should be contrasted with highlights. Macro is great for documenting (i.e. photographing very small things, insects, parts of a flower, the inside of a marble), but in general having just a small portion of a photograph in focus doesn't lend itself to large prints for home and office decor (which is what people generally buy for around here! :)

You are really very good. The only thing I can offer you is that you're a little fish in a big pond. There are thousands of photographers here, and possibly hundreds of thousands of photos with similar subject matter to yours.

Develop good descriptions and keywords. Make sure you have details like the type of flower or insect, the location, the time it was shot.

Market outside the internet if you can. Approach local galleries, restauruants. Apply for art shows in your medium and subject. Send in queries to gardening magazines. Just a few ideas.

You have been here since 2011 and you have 14,349 views. You should also understand that most of them are bots and they are not buyers or even humans. I have been here since 2012 and I have over one million views and of course, the same thing applies most art bots.

You have only 25 images most successful, not all, but probably 95% of them have at least hundreds if not thousands of images.

The problem is not your photography, it is too few images being seen by too few people.

Just posting to SM is not going to get it done. It is how you post to SM and how well you understand how to make it work for you.

Selling on a POD or the Intenet is more of an exercise in Marketing: Selling and Advertising particularly. Not an exercise in art.

Much as it pains people to hear me say it, can sell the worst art on the net with a great marketing plan better than the best art on the net will sell with no marketing plan.

Are you selling offline in local galleries, art shows? If not, you may want to give that a try as suggested above. I just started doing that again after 30 years and I am having a ball. Lot of fun! Not fantastic sales but not all that bad either. But mostly having a lot of fun and keeping me entertained! lol

I would change your post title to "what is wrong with my marketing" not what is wrong with my photography.

Best of luck

Kevin OConnell
https://www.kogalleries.com

Selling Guides for New (and old) Members by Floyd Snyder
The 25-75 Rule For New Members
Advertising Your Artist Website
Another Response To A New Member Seeking Help
A Few Reasons Why You May Not Be Selling
Work Smarter Not Harder To Beat The Big Guys
50 Effective Tips to Help You Sell You Art

Nicely put, Kevin

Hello from Astoria. Joy put it right on the money. I will reiterate, pay more attention to your backgrounds and seek out good lighting. And don't get sloppy with your technique. A Rebel should do better. If you are stuck with the 25 image ceiling, keep rotating new images through while keeping what you feel are the best. Your images are well-framed, but I think photographers are more likely to spot sloppy focus, unsteady shots, and the like than other artists.

Hi, LesJardins! Maybe put your name in your bio? Anyway, I just wanted to pop in and tell you how much I really like your vegetable/fruit compositions! That is something you could expand upon, possibly.

Thank you everyone for your reply. This is not the only site I sell my work. Sold many on another POD site and also at two Stock agencies. Is possible FineartAmerica is not for me or I will try to convert some of my photos to painting of sort. I mentioned that I am on the Free platform, this mean I should think before upgrading.

I think my photos are more suitable for stock photography which I have sold quite a few. I will think again for awhile whether I will stay with FineArtAmerica.

No, this doesn't mean FAA is not for you! Please don't think that way :) Think about what stock agencies sell licenses for...websites, magazines, book covers, etc. Focus that is off doesn't really become pronounced on these mediums because the photos are used in a very small format...but on a 16 x 20 print you'd definitely notice it. That's why I mentioned it, along with several others. Maybe some photos could get by on a phone case very nicely. But when getting involved with pods, think about LARGE. People seem to love large prints and paintings these days, and certainly in an office building they would be looking for larger than a print that would fit a hallway nook. Just trying to be helpful here, not criticize you personally...that is never helpful, I've found, and certainly no one has a right to do that. I think everyone here wants each other to thrive, which is why we take the time to stop and help when asked :)

Hello Joy, I understand people like large images. My camera is 12 mega pixel perhaps I should enlarge before uploading. Well, I do sell large prints on the other POD in fact I have posted here this buyer bought four prints. I don't know how to post here the image.

Enlarging before uploading is a no-no here, because the image will most likely be soft and unprintable at a large size. I'm sure others with more expertise will chime in to explain it. I was once advised I could probably enlarge 5%, and even that would be too much for some images. It depends.

Most of my images here are the size of my camera megapixel. None are enlarge. As I mentioned, I have sold at other POD but not here. I will have to do more advertising or I will have to sell myself. At times it can be depressing when all effort one spent on a site and produce nothing. Well, I will try for another year, then I'll decide to close my account.

stock photography and art photography are different things. but i'm sure you have more than 25 things and more keywords on the other pod and stock sites.

the images i saw, looked enlarged, are you cropping them with a set pixel size? or is the DPI filled in? it should be blank. otherwise you could be enlarging them when you crop.

i suggest you pay the $30, and upload a whole lot more. i've never seen a real store that had 25 items in it. there are usually a whole bunch.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Mike Savad.......... I do not crop my images. They all come with the size of my camera. The first image of a lake is 5184x3456 pixels, resolution 300 and pixel dimension is 51.3. That

to me is large, in stock it can be enlarge by the buyer or crop. Stock site prohibit cropping or enlarging images. Some images I purposely make blur especially for background because I want to concentrate with the subject in front not the whole area. Example, daisies with orbs at the background. It is also goes by the name "bokeh" The orbs was afternoon sun rays filtering through tree branches. I use Canon macro EF lens 100mm ultrasonic 1:2.8 USM that can be operated automatic or manual. I enjoy using this lens.

I could have more images more than 25 by upgrading and pay $30 annually which would be the answer. Hope it will make a different.

odd, i wonder if the focus is just off then. or your not shooting deep enough. are you shooting on AUTO? because that would explain it. auto tends to focus on what it wants to, and usually wide open to keep the shutter fast and iso low.

in any case you want more keywords and you have to advertise daily.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Joy McKenzie

"No, this doesn't mean FAA is not for you! Please don't think that way :) Think about what stock agencies sell licenses for...websites, magazines, book covers, etc. Focus that is off doesn't really become pronounced on these mediums because the photos are used in a very small format...but on a 16 x 20 print you'd definitely notice it."

I disagree with one point. Stock photos are not only for small format they also use for large size. How about billboards ? It is not the point of how large the prints will be. My camera pixel size is 5184 by 3456 it is large, this size can be enlarge to 16x20 or larger with no pixelate. If it need to be an over size print it would not work well. I am happy with this pixels worked well with what I need.

bill boards do need to be a certain size, or it will blur a lot.

are you shooting these as RAW or JPG? i find some camera's will destroy clarity of a JPG. i know in my camera, it leaves distortion on straight areas for some reason. my old camera murdered jpg's with noise reduction.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Sometime RAW or at time JPG if I want to make myself easier to work.

always shoot raw. you have the most control on fixing things with raw. some images you can get away with 8bits, but sharpening, compression issues, exposure, color control, etc, its best to shoot in raw, even if the images are huge.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

I like most of what I see