Support our Sponsors, they keep FADU free:   AG Photographic   The Imaging Warehouse   Process Supplies   RH Designs   Second-hand Darkroom Supplies  

Notices

Go Back   Film and Darkroom User > Member Organised Functions > Business Matters

  ***   Click here for the FADU 2015/2014 Yearbooks   ***

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 28th May 2010, 01:31 PM
ShaunH ShaunH is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: By the sea in Lincolnshire
Posts: 94
Default Would it work...?

My partner Janet and I own a florist come fancy goods shop in Pickering, North Yorkshire where I attempt to sell my work as a photographic artist under the guise of The Cellar Gallery. I am seriously putting together a new darkroom as I type this for the printing of 'vintage' silver halide prints from my personal archive of work. My question is this; I can produce high quality digital prints in mono onto beautiful cotton fibre paper so why would I want all of the hassle of a darkroom...? I have found a gorgeous knack to producing a lith effect digitally so again, why go to all of the hassle of doing it in a darkroom...? From a purely commercial point of view, I cannot see a future for silver halide work. Your views please.
__________________
Shaun Haselden
Living by the sea in Lincolnshire once again
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 28th May 2010, 01:38 PM
Neil Smith Neil Smith is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Carmarthenshire Wales
Posts: 1,448
Default

Silver Gelatin prints can command higher prices than inkjet prints in general, so this is one reason to justify the hassle. But if your talking commercially, I would certainly sell digital prints alongside silver gelatin, if you have the time to spend creating both and running a gallery/florist. I would guess time would be a large factor in a commercial venture, as well as your market.

Neil
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 28th May 2010, 01:46 PM
ShaunH ShaunH is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: By the sea in Lincolnshire
Posts: 94
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil Smith View Post
Silver Gelatin prints can command higher prices than inkjet prints in general, so this is one reason to justify the hassle. But if your talking commercially, I would certainly sell digital prints alongside silver gelatin, if you have the time to spend creating both and running a gallery/florist. I would guess time would be a large factor in a commercial venture, as well as your market.

Neil
Neil, many thanks for the response. Your suggestion about time being a prime factor is of course very correct. When I am not out driving and delivering flowers to old ladies I am largely working on photography. I guess what I am looking to do is to streamline the whole process and simplify things as much as possible. Thank you again.
__________________
Shaun Haselden
Living by the sea in Lincolnshire once again
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 28th May 2010, 04:57 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Jersey Channel Islands
Posts: 5,433
Default

I work as a full time photographer, mainly as a fine art photography but I do other work as well, I use film exclusively, and prind t in the darkroom, and only black and white. I have competion in the print sales market locally from four other photographers, they are all very good indeed,but they work exclusivily in digital, both black and white and color, and sometimes we set up stalls in local craft markets etc, and although my prices are set higher than theirs, I always outsell them , often by a large margin,the customers seem to like the idea of silver prints, I have customers that come to me for other work because I work traditionly, I am possibly the last photographer working this way in Jersey, and for these reasons it is worth carrying on working as I do, I have no intention of changing, plus there is another reason, I enjoy my work getting paid for doing what I love,I will never be rich, but i make a good living,and that is all I want,So my advice is to stick to silver, people love the "Old" type oif photographs and will pay that bit more for it,Richard
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 28th May 2010, 06:09 PM
ShaunH ShaunH is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: By the sea in Lincolnshire
Posts: 94
Default

Richard, our business supports us totally but we shall never be rich or be able to afford lavish holidays. Personally, I don't any longer wish for more. I am happy with my Nikon F5 and lenses as well as my Olympus OM2N and Pentax MX. I use film exclusively but find that scanning the negatives gives me a lot more freedom than working with silver halide type of materials in dishes.
I love to use Adox CHS25 ART and also Fuji Acros 100 which I develop in Tetenal Neofin Blue or diluted ID11 and love to shoot urban images on beautiful sunny days. I also do a lot of photography of flowers, which I guess makes sense given our business, against plain pale grey walls which I then tweak further and digitally 'lith' print. I adore the low tech approach that film has compared to the clearly inferior digital CCD type of image which is far too contrasty and far too sharp.
I still think though that printing my work digitally by D Studio is going to provide a better solution than printing in a darkroom. I may use the newly re-invented darkroom as a hobby and fun thing.
__________________
Shaun Haselden
Living by the sea in Lincolnshire once again
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 28th May 2010, 09:20 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Jersey Channel Islands
Posts: 5,433
Default

Shaun, I think that I understand what you are trying to do, and I can only speak from my personal experiances in Jersey, and I find folks pay more and buy more silver halide, so why not try a mixture,some of your digital and some darkroom as and when you have time to print in your darkroom, some very limited edition silver to complement your others, maybe worth a try,Richard
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 28th May 2010, 09:37 PM
JimW JimW is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Worcestershire
Posts: 844
Default

Invest a little time.... Get some feedback from people who have bought your images (silver and digital) and see what they say. After all you are a business, and keeping customers happy and spending is what keeps a business in business. If the business survives by selling what the customers want, then it's viable. All you need to do is find out what your customers want, and unfortunately the only way to find out is to give them a choice, and see which they prefer to spend their money on. If at the end of your market research you find that your customers prefer one medium rather than the other, you have a solid basis for going forward. Until then sentiment appears to be your motivation. If you can charge higher prices for quality, does this equate to a higher profit margin? Or is it better for you that you sell more at a cheaper price, having spent less (time and/or money) on their production? NBB-Turnover=vanity. Profit=sanity. Cash is always King. Thoughts?
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 29th May 2010, 07:41 AM
ShaunH ShaunH is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: By the sea in Lincolnshire
Posts: 94
Default

Yes, some very valid points there. I fully understand what you are all saying.
I am in the middle of setting up a new darkroom with the intention of printing onto Adox chlorobromide paper with a warmtone developer as I have already found out that there is a liking for very warmtoned images. My work is usually framed using a large boxy dark wood frame with an off white mount by a member of the Guild of Master Craftsmen who does a fabulous job of the work but also commands a fabulous price. I shall be printing at 1216 and no larger as I don't really want to get involved in large sheets of soggy paper. But, being really honest, I am very much looking forward to getting back into the dark.
All I have to hope for is that members of the public actually know the difference. Comments made so far indicate that people love my photography. There has been no mention of the printing.
__________________
Shaun Haselden
Living by the sea in Lincolnshire once again
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 29th May 2010, 09:31 AM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 6,322
Default

The subject of the public’s value perception of digital inkjets against individual handcrafted photographic prints has been frequently discussed on this forum and elsewhere. The consensus seems to be that the British general public cannot tell, or indeed appreciate the difference between the mediums; seemingly the comments that you report receiving would support this view.

It is a sad fact that the vast majority of the British population have been brainwashed by the likes of Tesco to believe that cheap is best, very few are prepared to pay a quality premium, either in time or cash.

It is this very lack of quality perception that results in darkroom prints failing to attract sufficient price premium to make them profitable within the market that you describe. That is not to say that you shouldn’t try to create such a demand, and enjoy the pleasure of so doing.
__________________
Regards
Dave
www.davids.org.uk
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 29th May 2010, 11:58 AM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Jersey Channel Islands
Posts: 5,433
Default

Shaun, one thing I would add is to make a point of the fact, with a small notice or something, that your silver prints are handcrafted,and that as they are darkroom prints each one is bound to be slightly different, I find the buying public like the idea that each print is even slightly unique,Richard
Reply With Quote
Reply
Support our Sponsors, they keep FADU free:   AG Photographic   The Imaging Warehouse   Process Supplies   RH Designs   Second-hand Darkroom Supplies  

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Do you 'will' some of your shots to work? Steve O Photography in general 9 29th January 2010 04:56 PM
Sharing my work kennethcooke Darkroom 6 13th March 2009 09:47 AM
How often do you evaluate your work? Trevor Crone Art and aesthetics 28 12th March 2009 07:27 AM
Your Best Work of 2008 Ian Leake Art and aesthetics 10 16th November 2008 09:44 PM
Of course filter factors don't work! Les Meehan Filters 6 14th October 2008 09:25 PM


All times are GMT. The time now is 06:06 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.