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  #1  
Old 2nd March 2009, 12:19 AM
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Steven Taylor Steven Taylor is offline
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Default Web site update.

For the last couple of years I have grown tired of being a commercial photographer. I know there are people working in offices who would love to do what I do but... after 30 odd years it feels like any other job. My passion is for the landscape and darkroom printmaking so I am going to try to make a go of being an independent artist. I will still take jobs as they come up, I've got quite a good order book for this year, but I intend to make a collection of limited edition prints to sell. I will try local galleries, I will do the art fairs, I've got 6 booked for the summer, and I've joined a county council initiative to promote local art and crafts. And I have reconfigured my web site of personal work to try to sell. I am also offering workshops.

Please have a look at my site and if you have a constructive comment or two, please feel free.
www.fordcottagephotography.com
Steven
Ps I have lots more images to add but they are not all printed or scanned yet.
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Old 2nd March 2009, 03:26 AM
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I wish you luck but selling images direct from the web is a difficult thing.
I would suggest that you are going to have drive people to the web site via as many routes as possible because only a small number of people will find it via search engines unless you pay for some serious search engine optimisation.
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Old 2nd March 2009, 08:34 AM
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Thanks Rob, I have struggled with SEO for my commercial site and I am working on this one. I am not keen on paying for the service though, SEO agencies only do what I can do myself. I'm not going to rely on web sales though, it's only a part of the mix.
Steven
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Old 2nd March 2009, 01:58 PM
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Hi Steven,

Best of luck with the venture. I see you are booked into the Art on the Prom at Grange. Have you also considered the Garden Festival at Holker Hall and the craft fair at Leighton Hall in September?

Bill
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Old 2nd March 2009, 02:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BillMar View Post
Hi Steven,

Best of luck with the venture. I see you are booked into the Art on the Prom at Grange. Have you also considered the Garden Festival at Holker Hall and the craft fair at Leighton Hall in September?

Bill
Hi Bill
Yes, I've joined Made in Cumbria, they have space at both of those. So I hope I will make them. I have wedding work booked so it does depend on dates but I want to get to as many of these as I can.
Thanks Bill.
Steven
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Old 2nd March 2009, 02:45 PM
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Good luck with the venture Steven I know how difficult it can be to sell original prints at a realistic price.

I like the website, clean looking and easy to navigate around.
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Old 2nd March 2009, 04:05 PM
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Thanks Trevor.
Steven
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Old 2nd March 2009, 04:49 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Good luck Steven,it can be a tough business, but if you sucseed it can be great,I work witjh a mix of commercial work and print sales locally, it was hard work to start but I have an advantage here as I am possibily the only photograqpher specialising in b/w, and my customers like the idea of traditional prints and so far are williong to pay the premium that this type of work carries, I am pretty well booked for this year,Richard
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Old 2nd March 2009, 05:44 PM
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Thanks Richard. I am quite well booked with weddings for the next couple of years so, as long as I can balance my time, I have the space to build the print sales. Like you, I am in a tourist location and the new work I am making is site specific. Also, like you, my competition in this area is all digital. So I am hoping, with the aid of some persuasive marketing, I can educate collectors on the beauty of a darkroom made hand print. I know it's tough, I've tried it before, but there are a lot of inkjet prints being sold at the moment so I am banking on the notion that a market has been created and I can sneak in with my proper hand prints. The prices I have quoted on the site are in line with what the inkjets are going for around here. So I think the time is right.

Do you have a web site Richard?
Steven
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Old 2nd March 2009, 05:57 PM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
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I don’t think that you should target yourself to compete with inkjets. You are selling a superior product, so they should be priced accordingly. I should think that there are enough tourists passing through that will appreciate quality work if they see it, and I think that the best place for them to see it is in galleries in the towns.
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