Showcasing!

[Daisy Mae]

A few photographers I know and really respect have recently kicked my butt quite soundly and said...your pics are quality but your Flickr acct. isn't doing them justice, you need to go 'up market' and get a proper web site sorted out.


I am the first to confess that I am the least ambitious person in the world...competitive sometimes but not ambitious. I have a Red Bubble acct but don't use it anymore.... and while I take my photography seriously I never really expected anyone else would. I have sold a few canvases but very much in a 'hands off sense' ..Red Bubble.

I take the shot...I mess about with it...I post it here and on one other site, maybe even facebook ( the shame of it all! ) then I move on and take another..that momentum suited me while I was ill but I was 'driven' by a sense of time running out, gotta rush..gotta rush before time runs out..

So, now that I may not have to ( fingers crossed) live at that pace.

Do I showcase my best stuff ? Where and how? What's good, what should I avoid like the plague?

Sorry if this is utterly shallow but I just do not have a clue how to move on beyond 'flickr' and any advice would be welcome...even. if it is ........don't! xx

[Donald]

Where some folks have headed to when the urge has become overwhelming is such as SmugMug (where I have mine) or pBase (Colin and others). There are others as well.

To get the best out of SmugMug I did have enormous help from others members of CiC (no longer involved) who also used it. I knew nothing (still don't) about HTML language and to personalise your website I think you do need to know how to do some basic stuff.

There are, of course, individuals whom you can engage to do that work for you. Don't know what sort of cost that would be.

But I agree, you need to be showcasing your work on something up a few steps from Flickr.

[Daisy Mae]

.

But I agree, you need to be showcasing your work on something up a few steps from Flickr.

Aye...that's what I has facebook for! lol

Thanks Donald. I will look at smugmug..have seen some of the free sites and don't want that, am not looking to sell...am not that good by a long way ...just that I have noticed an improvement in my pics in the last year and want to start being more 'selective'


Haaaaaa...I sound like such a twit!

[Donald]

Your comment prompts another thought. For those who are into selling, the mantra seems to be that you have to communicate with your potential audience and a lot of people seem to using blogs for that purpose. Some are linked to dedicated websites and some, it seems, are not, but are stand-alone entities that carry the images being showcased alongside the tales of daily life that are put up on the blogs.

I wouldn't have the patience, enthusiasm nor the interest in maintaining a blog.

I wouldn't be so sure that there mightn't be a market for your work. Some of those galleries in Pittenweem might well be interested.

[thatguyfromvienna]

I'd really recommend investing some money, get yourself some webspace and a domain and install Wordpress on it.
I pay under 100 bucks a year for 20 GB of storage, unlimited data transfer and my domain and I can install whatever I want without being limited to what Flickr or whoever else offers me.
If I want a certain virtual shopping script, I'll simply install it. That easy.

[jeeperman]

For me....Smugmug was the way. I want to keep it as a hobby and not have to devote all my time to maintaining a site, shipping orders, printing and all. I do want the option to sell and an easy way to do it. Smug gives me that. While you can do your own domain with Smug, you do not have to. I use one of the simple formats and customize it slightly, their cart is easy to set up and I have been highly impressed with the printing quality of the printer I chose. I sell a few here and there but not because someone on Smug sees it but because I pedal my site to my window cleaning customers and whom ever I might meet. Someday I may take it further as far as the domain name and all but for right now while I still have a day job and busy life...it works well and I really like how my images are displayed.