10 Ways to Generate Revenue With Online Sales

Online sales have long been the go-to for photographers looking to earn passive income. While you reach out to editors and communicate with clients about their latest headshots or food photos, have you considered which images you’ve already made might make you some quick cash?

This holiday season, we want to help you earn more. If online sales weren’t already part of your business strategy before, they’re a great way to earn some extra income now.

Here are some revenue-making opportunities.

1. Offer Prints and Products

Every photographer has work that’s timeless. What are some of your favorite shots that people in your network might want to hang on their walls? Selling prints and products allows you to present your work in a new way your customers will love.

When picking a printer, look into how they do their packaging. The way you package and deliver a print can have a pretty significant effect on the buyer.

Also, make sure to pay attention to what’s actually selling. Test out new products periodically and replace the underselling items with new offerings.

Sandy Sisti sells both prints and products on her site.

2. Sell Digital Downloads

"In the past, a nominal sitting fee was augmented by print sales. School photographers often offered a variety pack of images ranging from wallet size to 8×10 to simultaneously simplify purchasing decisions while also increasing their revenue per customer. Nowadays, however, photos are more likely to be delivered, distributed and viewed as digital downloads," writes PhotoShelter co-founder Allen Murabayashi.

"This change in consumer behavior has altered the way photographers price and deliver their images. Selling digital downloads has become a necessary and lucrative mechanism for image delivery."

Think about how your buyers might be using these downloads online, and offer different size ranges to accommodate these use cases. For example, if your buyer is purchasing this download for use on Facebook, they’d be best served with an image size of at least 1200px (on the image’s longest side).

Here are the image size requirements for some of the most popular social platforms:

• Facebook: 1200x630px
• Instagram: 1080×566-1350px
• LinkedIn: 400x400px
• Twitter: 1024x512px
• Pinterest: 1024x512px
• The Knot: 1891x918px

3. License Your Work: Rights-managed or Royalty-free

When was the last time you looked through your archive and to see what might be a good candidate for stock imagery? When embarking on the process, look through past professional shoots but also consider some of your personal work and where it might fit into the stock category.

One easy place to start is with your travel photos. If you’re looking to adopt this approach, travel photographer Lola Akinmade Åkerström’s advice is to think critically about how you organize your website and archive. Consider organizing your website or archive by region or subject matter to make it easier for clients to find the type of content they’re looking for. (You can also showcase the work you’ve already done for other brands on your site to add some credibility.)

With Rights-Managed licensing, you are restricting usage for a specified time, place, format, etc.

With Royalty-Free licenses, your buyer can use the image any way they like for life. You set the price per image size, and there are no time or usage restrictions for the purchase of that image.

Which licensing model is best for you? It depends on your unique situation and business strategy, but generally, either path can be successful.

Keep in mind that RM photos may not sell as frequently, but they have the potential to bring in a much higher licensing fee when they do. On the flip side, with RF it’s all about high volume. You may see many more licensing sales this way, but you usually won’t be making as much per license.

FotoQuote software used to generate Rights-Managed License pricing on PhotoShelter.

4. Custom Packages

Remember picture day when you were a kid? After your picture was taken you’d get your image package delivery: one 8×10” print for your parents, two 5×7” prints for your grandparents, four 4×6” prints for aunts and uncles, and an entire sheet of wallet-sized prints for everyone else. All nostalgia aside, image packages allow you to offer bulk discounts while also providing you with more control over who gets what.

Whether they know it or not, offering a lower number of options for buyers likely will help them decide what to buy. After all, people aren’t normally planning on purchasing 20 prints of various sizes, but when they’re in a package? The choice is a near no-brainer.

5. Make it Feel Exclusive

Limited edition art can amplify demand, which leads to higher prices. So think about creating a few limited or special edition prints or products, and price these higher. If you can match the right image with the right audience, you may be sitting on a revenue opportunity. People will pay for something if they see value, so make it your mission to show them. And while scarcity can be a component of limited editions, it can also be used in the sense of a limited-time offer.

You might also consider reaching out to existing clients to say you’re offering limited editions just for them. Anything to make them feel like you’re giving them some special treatment!

Clint Losee sells limited edition prints and pairs them with an informational custom page that explains the value for his buyers.

6. Discounts and Promos

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday quickly approaching, sales are on every consumer’s brain. Price breaks aside, coupons are also a great reason to communicate with existing clients and get on the radars of potential new customers.

Another great way to creatively use coupons and grow your client base? Deliver designed promos to your existing clients so they can easily refer you to others in style. Go a step further by offering a discount for each referral. Or embed a form on your blog or website to sign up for your newsletter. Offer special discounts to those who sign up so it’s a win-win for everyone.

All of that said, be careful when dropping prices. You want to attract a larger audience, but you don’t want to only attract clients who worry about price. Generally, you should strive to compete on quality and service instead of price, but that doesn’t mean discounts and promos should completely fall by the wayside.

Get creative and think about how you can still offer special pricing without cheapening your brand. One way to do this is to always remind customers of the value you, and only you, bring to the table. Show them your original prices along with the discounted rates. Make them remember that they’re paying not just for a print or download, but for your unique talents.

7. Sell Your Knowledge and Experience

Knowledge is power. Have a unique skill set or experience? Create a YouTube or Vimeo channel and offer subscriptions. Once you gain a following you can also charge for advertising space, become an affiliate, etc.

Another option is to reach out to a brand you’ve worked with in the past – or even just a brand you love – and offer to consult for them. Whether it’s help with metadata tagging or advising on their visual content strategy for their website and social media, you’ve got a lot to offer!

Photographer Joanie Simon has an incredibly successful YouTube channel where she shares food photography tips and behind-the-scenes moments to her 100k subscribers.

8. Work on Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

To “win” at search, websites need good SEO – the practice of creating content and then building links, social activity, and domain strength so that a given page comes up higher in search results.

If you are shooting less, and have some available time, it would be well-spent doing all things SEO. You hear everyone saying those three letters over and over, “S-E-O,” and for good reason. Search Engine Optimization is of critical importance, and if you can turn some free time into better search engine rankings, it will pay off for years to come.

The bottom line? If people can find you and your work easily, that leads to more website traffic. And if you’re set up for sales, that means more revenue opportunities for you.

Here’s another hard truth: good SEO doesn’t even care about the quality of your work. If you win at SEO you will beat out a lot of your competitors, regardless of who “deserves” it.

9. Make It Easy for Buyers to Buy

Consider renaming your “Archive” navigation item on your site to something like “Photo Store” and see if that helps boost sales. You’ll also want to be sure that your contact page is up to date with your information so potential buyers can contact you without a hassle. Or consider creating a custom page that talks more about your pricing and services. A little personality and context can go a long way and separate you from the pack.

One of the best ways to see where the buying process might break down is to ask a friend, family member, or trusted client to go through with a purchase on your website. Ask what could be better, easier, more clear, and make adjustments from there. You might also consider ordering test prints yourself to experience the purchasing UI the way a real client would.

10. Be Creative and Stay Positive!

Be brave and try new things! See what works best for you and your clients.

• Take advantage of the holiday and have a sale.
• Promote yourself more on your social media channels.
• Weave photo sales into your next blog post or newsletter.
• Drop a hint in an interview with a publication.
• Barter with a local business or community message board to see if they would be willing to help promote your online sales.

Any way you swing it, it’s beneficial to get set up for online sales and spend some time on marketing and SEO. Take some time to look into where you might be able to make a little extra income and start trying new things. No matter what, providing a way to find you online and buy your photos will help you in the long run.

We hope these suggestions motivate you to consider new ways of selling your photography this holiday season (and beyond)!

About the author : Caitlyn Edwards is the Community Marketing Manager at the photography website service PhotoShelter, which regularly publishes resources for photographers. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Edwards has a degree in Peace & Conflict Resolution and is religious about black coffee and great wine (but never together). This article was also published here.

#ideas #tips #tutorials #advice #business #caitlynedwards #income #makemoney #photoshelter #revenue #sales

Ten common photography website mistakes (and how to fix them)

#inspiration #caitlynedwards #photographywebsite #website #websites

10 Common Photography Website Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)

When we think about websites, search engine optimization (SEO) is often top of mind. How is Google ranking you against other similar photographers? Are you showing up on the first page of search results? There’s no doubt SEO is important for every photographer to consider. However, there are some big misconceptions when it comes to SEO.

“Photographers first need to nail other aspects of their sites,” says website designer Alex Vita. “That’s where I stand when it comes to SEO. I know the power of SEO, but not at the expense of huge user experience issues and mistakes.”

Before you focus on improving your page ranking, you need to make sure your website is easy to navigate, features great photos, and has a great user experience. Without that, your SEO efforts will largely be futile.

Below, we’re breaking down ten website mistakes we see on a daily basis. From broken links to missing contact info to repetitive or absent metadata, see how your site stands up.

1. Social Media Profiles Linked Incorrectly

While we can all agree that websites are a must for photographers, there’s definitely still a place for social media in the modern photographer’s workflow and business plan. Offering opportunities to take people behind the scenes, share new or personal work on an ongoing basis without having to update your website and more, social media should be a component, however big or small, in every photographer’s identity.

One of the most common mistakes we see on photographers’ websites is improper links to social media profiles. Whether it’s a broken link or something just unlisted, improper social media linking will have you missing out.

2. No Public Phone Number Listed

We get it. Putting your phone number on a website? That sounds like a recipe for even more spam calls. But we’ve heard from editors that adding a phone number can make a difference. Anything that makes you easier to get a hold of makes it easier to book you.

If you haven’t already, consider adding your phone number to your homepage or contact page. It’s an easy way to make yourself more available and proves that you’re ready to work.

You can even link your phone number with custom HTML so if someone clicks the number, a phone call will immediately begin on their cell (or in the case of a laptop, FaceTime usually launches).

The HTML code to make your phone number live and clickable.

< a href=“tel:5555555555″>Call us at 555-555-5555

Also, if you don’t want to post your personal cell number publicly, check out Google Voice. It’s a free service from Google that allows you to forward phone calls to any device or the web all while keeping your personal number just that: personal. Fear of spam shouldn’t stop you from putting your most professional, accessible self out there.

3. Relying Exclusively on a Contact Form

Just like that phone number, don’t get skipped over because your e-mail address isn’t listed publicly on your site. Many editors and clients prefer to use their own email templates or lists when it comes to reaching out. For them, having to go through a form can feel like a chore — and often one not worth completing.

When it comes to adding your email, two great places to list it (and that phone number!) are your homepage and on the contact page itself.

When it comes to contact information, redundancy is key.

Photographer Todd Owyonung features not only his email and phone number on his contact page but uses it as another opportunity to connect on social media too.

Like linking your phone number, you can also link your email with custom HTML. Setting that up means anyone who clicks on your email address from your website will immediately see their preferred email client launch.

4. No Bio or About Page

We all know photography is about storytelling, and that shouldn’t stop with your camera skills. Working with a photographer is often just as much of a personality fit as it is a talent fit.

Take a little extra time with your bio and, at the very least, make sure something besides “[bio information goes here]” is displayed. Provide potential clients with details about what you specialize in. List your clients to provide some credibility. Link to venues you’ve worked with or the published pieces you’re most proud of. Feature some testimonials.

If SEO is the top priority, we suggest prioritizing content for your local market. One easy way to do this is to make sure to include your location alongside details about yourself and your work.

5. Bad Navigation

While “bad” is subjective, it’s important to remember that your website’s navigation is there to help. It needs to help site visitors get where they want to go. If possible, it should spark a little intrigue and keep people on your site for longer than they’d originally planned.

If it’s not obvious what something is or where it’s located, consider renaming it or removing it entirely. We’ve seen this through links to priced galleries, renaming your Archive something like “Client Area” and hiding unwanted or unused pages.

"I kind of sigh when I get emails from photographers asking, 'Where should I include keywords, how many should I include and what should I do with these SEO tags? Should I create a page for all the venues I’ve worked with?' – all when their websites have an ugly navigation menu," Alex Vita tells us.

Here, photographer Benjamin Williamson has edited his site’s navigation to link to his prices gallery, workshops page and more. Photographer Kelley Fogel keeps her navigation menu simple and minimal for a great user experience.

6. A Lack of Gallery Descriptions

Gallery descriptions are one of the most underutilized elements in photographer galleries. They can help you get more out of your galleries.

Photographer Suz Lipman’s “The Last Days of Critterland Pets” gallery features a description of the now-shuttered 40-year-old pet store. Photographer Andrew Roe takes a different approach with his gallery descriptions and is letting site visitors know they’re able to purchase prints of his portfolio images.

Like Suz and Andrew above, gallery descriptions don’t necessarily need to feature long essays (though they certainly have that capability). Just be specific and think about providing more context to your site visitors.

If you’re looking to take full advantage of gallery descriptions, consider using our Sonnet or Pivot templates, both of which are friendly for longer-form storytelling.

7. No Page Titles or Meta Descriptions

Some of the most important elements of your search result and your SEO strategy are your page titles and meta descriptions, which help define the relevant content of pages on your site and increase your site’s overall searchability. It’s important to keep in mind that these fields do not display on the page itself, but are plugged into the header tags that make up the code Google crawls when indexing your site.

When drafting your Meta Description, Google will truncate it at about 160 characters, so be concise and succinct in the way you describe your site and don’t exceed three sentences. “It also should be one to three sentences with details about your type of photography, your name and the location of your services,” says Jelan Coley, Technical Implementation Lead at PhotoShelter.

For your Meta Description, think about a formula: your overall photographic style, your services offered, service location, plus your name or the name of your business. That’s it!

8. Broken Links

What good is a link if it doesn’t work?

Links seem so simple and yet it’s another common mistake we see repeated across all photographers’ sites regardless of expertise and template choice. Links can be anywhere: on a custom page, in your navigation menu, or an image link, so it’s important to make sure you’re entering yours correctly.

Photographer Sarah Jacobs’ About page features links to the podcast she co-hosts, her photography clients and more.

Not only do broken links become frustrating for site visitors, but a broken link also leads Google to question your credibility. Link-checking is vital during any website audit, so make sure everything is displaying and loading the way you intend!

9. Metadata issues

Too few, too many, or none at all, metadata can feel a bit like Goldilocks.

But if we back way up, just think of metadata as a means of providing more context and credibility to your images. Captions, keywords, headlines, they all have a purpose and they’re all crawlable by Google.

Outside of more obvious image captions or titles, if you’re looking for some direction with where to start when it comes to metadata as we mentioned above with your bio, locality is your friend here. And when it comes to keywords specifically, we highly recommend using keywords that indicate a locality.

Google will consider how well a local listing matches a user’s search terms. The more niche and specific you can be in your metadata, the more Google will have to work with when trying to match a search query with relevant results in its indices.

Think of IPTC keywords as a combination of words and phrases that give context to your images. Without these keywords, a search engine crawler won’t index an image because it lacks readable content.

But remember: you can’t outsmart Google.

“Google is looking more at user experience: how visitors are behaving on your website and then turning those into ranking factors," says Alex Vita. "Because, the technical SEO stuff, like trying to jam a lot of keywords into your content, that’s actually now considered an older SEO tactic. You can’t game the system with keywords anymore. They’re trying to look at user experience signals and factors and use those.”

10. Not Taking Advantage of Menus

In addition to renaming, reordering, displaying, or hiding your navigation items, consider using a menu on your homepage to help site visitors see more of your work while also keeping your site nice and tidy. Menus enable you to keep that homepage clean—you’ve got to stay in Google’s good graces!—while allowing you to nest items underneath one another.

Photographer Kirk Decker’s site features multiple portfolios using menus, including his film and portrait work.

Once you get the hang of menus, your site becomes far more customizable.

About the author : Caitlyn Edwards is the Community Marketing Manager at the photography website service PhotoShelter, which regularly publishes resources for photographers. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Edwards has a degree in Peace & Conflict Resolution and is religious about black coffee and great wine (but never together). This article was also published here.

#educational #tips #tutorials #advice #caitlynedwards #google #protips #seo #webdesign #website

Get Hired: Harnessing the Power of Social Media and Your Archive

How can you distinguish yourself from other photographers? That’s the essential question every photographer embarking on a marketing strategy should be asking. But when it comes to a dedicated marketing strategy, there are a lot of options: email newsletters, printed promos sent via snail mail, social media posts, networking at in-person or virtual events, even cold calling editors.

What’s your plan for finding potential clients and photo editors? What are the ways in which you can get ahead of your competition? What point of view or unique skills do you offer the industry? Or, if you’re just starting out, think about which photographers are memorable and explore why.

The first thing to do is get comfortable with selling yourself. It’s a simple task on its face, but creating the right approach to showing your skill and personality takes some finesse. Below, we’re sharing the insights of two talented photographers, Lola Akinmade Åkerström and Aundre Larrow. They’re breaking down how they approach social media and providing their thoughts on how to get more out of the photos you’ve already made.

Not all social media is created equally

When we think about photography and social media, for better or worse most people immediately think of Instagram. Ten or even five years ago, Instagram reigned supreme when it came to marketing your photography. Using popular hashtags, geotags, and direct comments, you could amass quite a following.

But these days, Instagram is being transformed into a shopping app, and when it comes to promoting your posts to the feeds of your followers (and hopeful followers), the ever-changing algorithms care about money more than quality content. You have to pay to play, plain and simple. That said, it’s still a great app to share work, but we wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as the #1 marketing app for photographers hoping to land their next big gig.

Enter Twitter and LinkedIn.

For editorial photographers, getting on the radar of editors is priority number one. Follow editors you like and interact organically with them. Don’t be fake. Flattery goes a long way, but only when done in a genuine way.

Recently we caught up with marketing powerhouse and travel photographer Lola Akinmade Åkerström about her approach to marketing. She’s someone who appears to be everywhere all the time, so we wanted to get her take on which platforms to focus on and how she manages to land some of the coolest jobs in the industry.

Lola suggests a three-step approach to using Twitter for making contact: follow editors you know you want to work with, then engage with their content authentically, then email them (3-7 days after engaging).

“Especially with well-established publications, it can be really difficult to break in because those editors already have existing relationships with photographers,” Lola says. “Twitter allows you to follow—without being a stalker!—the editors you like. Listen to their chatter and see what projects they’re working on and what kinds of conversations they’re having. Interact organically, meaning if there’s something that really interests you, interact with that content. After you follow them (and if your portfolio matches what they’re doing), about three days later, then email the editor. They get lots of emails but because you’ve interacted with them already, there will be a kind of instant subconscious recognition, and they’re more likely to open up your email,” she says.

Twitter is also a great place to share how-to content, personal projects, behind-the-scenes stories or videos, and compliment fellow photographers on their work and latest projects using threads. Those allow you to provide more context and show more personality or gratitude, which all can help push you ahead when it comes to landing your next gig. Editors follow plenty of photographers, so the more you’re interacting with your peers’ work, the more likely you are to create the subconscious association Lola talks about.

Color grading in @lightroom. How does it work? It lets you establish mood and create depth using color. #lightroomambassador #colorgrading #editingtips pic.twitter.com/xKRGk0AdXq

-- aundre (@aundrelarrow) October 1, 2021

LinkedIn, while having been around for years, still seems to be the forgotten platform for many creatives. Created as a business networking platform and often evoking an image of hungry salespeople or hopeful recent graduates, it’s always been a bit of a mystery as to why more photographers aren’t using it to promote themselves and their work.

For photographers, it’s a great way to find the names of editors associated with dream publications and brands. Especially for commercial photographers, it’s helpful for determining who works for the marketing team of the brand you’re hoping to work for. With those teams almost always in charge of hiring and managing freelancers, using LinkedIn is an easy way to get to know those individuals and appeal to them. Using a platform as designed has incredible value when networking is such a key component to professional photography.

Creatives don't want to hear this but LinkedIn (agency, producers and potential clients) will produce more returns on for your work than Instagram.

-- Joshua Kissi (@JoshuaKissi) September 28, 2021

Note : Photographer and director Joshua Kissi recently sparked a great conversation on Twitter about the power of LinkedIn for creatives. Check out some of the quote tweets too.

To appeal to creatives, LinkedIn recently launched their “Creator Mode,” whereby you can build your audience through opt-in features like a “Follower” button, select the topics you can plan to talk about and more. While currently a paid feature, the first month is free and definitely worth a shot if you’re curious about how to harness more from your LinkedIn contacts and profile.

LinkedIn is special because people are actually trying to hire folks there. Often I think people get caught up worrying about coming off as needy on social media when they’re trying to make professional contacts and grow those relationships. But LinkedIn was built for that, the point of it is to talk about the work you’ve done to hopefully get hired again. It’s a unique space for creatives. Put yourself out there and show everyone the quality of your work. -- Aundre Larrow

It’s worth noting that while we’ve already stated that Instagram isn’t the #1 marketing app, it remains a great way to build relationships with the brands you want to work for. It still offers exposure opportunities if you’re focused in your approach. When done tactfully, an Instagram takeover allows your work to get on the feeds of thousands (and potentially millions depending on the company).

If you’ve collected the contacts and are reaching out via email to make an introduction, Lola recommends pitching yourself to companies and asking if they’re interested in a takeover. “A lot of photographers don’t want to share their work for free, I get it. But if there is a brand that has thousands of followers, chances are the people following that brand are probably potential customers and clients for you,” she says. Editors are known to follow one another (and each other’s brands) on Instagram, so finding ways to leverage that is key when it comes to your strategy on that platform.

We’re not saying to do Instagram takeovers 24/7. Instead, it’s all about weighing how much you believe the exposure you might get from one brand’s following is worth.

Getting the most mileage out of your photos

Once you’ve got your contacts, or at least the strategy to make contact, the next step is thinking critically about how you might be able to use your existing archive to get hired. Getting hired to make photos on assignment is one thing, but tons of brands and publications are looking for photos to match content that’s already been written. That’s where images from personal projects, trips you’ve taken, etc. can make you some money.

If you have regional expertise but you don’t necessarily have a story to pitch, plenty of publications have photographer callout lists. With those, when they’re looking for a certain type of imagery or story, they blast out to their mailing list to say what they’re looking for [region/subject] and wait for submissions to come in.

Once you have the email of an editor or creative team, reach out and let them know you’re available and want to be added to their callout list or database. According to Lola, something as simple as “I’m a photographer based in [location] and have spent a lot of time in [region], can you put me on your callout list?” goes a long way. Be polite, direct, and gracious. After all, being easy to work with is what’ll get you rebooked for jobs or referred by one editor or team to another.

If you’re looking to adopt this approach, her advice is to think critically about how you organize your website and archive. Consider organizing your website or archive by region or subject matter to make it easier for clients to find the type of content they’re looking for. You can also showcase the work you’ve already done for other brands on your site to add some credibility.

Lola Akinmade Åkerström’s archive, which features collections and galleries of all of the countries she’s traveled to and photographed. Lola also features 101 galleries featuring her work with brands and publications like BBC Travel, The Telephgraph UK, Wonderful Machine and more.

This is also where metadata comes in. Whether you enter it in Lightroom or another program during post-processing, metadata is what will give your work some extra legs.

Admittedly not the sexiest work and often overlooked, keywording your images is key to finding the content quickly for editors. After searching your archive, consider creating a custom gallery for editors to look through the photos you have to offer.

About the author : Caitlyn Edwards is the Community Marketing Manager at PhotoShelter, which regularly publishes resources for photographers. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Edwards has a degree in Peace & Conflict Resolution and is religious about black coffee and great wine (but never together). This article was also published here.

#educational #tips #advice #caitlynedwards #linkedin #marketing #photoarchive #socialmedia

Paralympics workflow: How the official Australian team photographer is getting the shot

#inspiration #caitlynedwards #gregsmith #paralymics

Reflections on a City in Constant Motion from a Rare Lifelong New Yorker

Sometimes I think New York is a city with a perpetual identity crisis. You can visit or live here for days, months, or even years, and it will never be exactly as you left the next time you return.

Businesses are opening and closing. Neighborhoods are dramatically gentrifying. Bodega offerings follow current food trends. (Newsflash: there is no way there was that much seltzer at your local corner store five years ago.) The city requires you to give up a bit of control if you’re going to fully appreciate it. And few know this as well as John Frattasi.

A commercial photographer and filmmaker, John has always drawn inspiration from the city he was born and raised in. As a third-generation New Yorker, he often heard stories about the city from the post Depression era through the baby boomer era in the sixties and seventies from this family.

Growing up he also naturally developed his own unique relationship with the city. From riding the subway as a kid to being a young professional all the way up until now, he’s seen and experienced his own evolution of New York City.

How can you effectively capture something that’s ever-changing? That’s where the idea for Velocity, his personal project came about.

"Velocity is a depiction of the modern-day urban landscape of New York City and its rapid development in the 21st century," he writes. "Inspired by the city’s vibrant colors, stark contrasts, and perpetual 'in-between' moments often overlooked throughout its day to day life, the images explore the interconnection between its inhabitants and the ever-changing architecture of a city soaring into the future."

I recently sat down over Zoom with John to talk more about the project and talk about the city we both care so deeply for.

The following interview was lightly edited for clarity and length.

Caitlyn Edwards: Can you share a bit about how the project came about?

John Frattasi: About four years ago I really started to think about the innate theme of change in New York City. I started to pay more attention to what was happening across different neighborhoods and the contrast between new construction buildings reflected in the city’s architecture, and the more traditional features like fire escapes and pre-war buildings. It began to dawn on me that New York is perhaps undergoing its biggest wave of development since the arrival of skyscrapers in the 1920s and 30s.

And while change is inevitable in all aspects of life, it’s a really big part of being a New Yorker. You have to embrace that if you want to live here. The main idea behind the project was to capture some of the change that’s been happening in real-time… And that change, while painful at times, is also part of what makes New York so dynamic and truly one of the most exciting cities in the world.

Sometimes it feels like photographing New York is photographing the Mona Lisa and finding a perspective that hasn’t been shown before is a big challenge. So I thought “Ok. How can I sort of shift a perspective on one of the most iconic and over photographed cities in the world?” I just started to explore different neighborhoods in my free time with this idea of “NYC in flux” on my mind.

CE: What do you hope the project will evoke in people?

JF: Well, these photographs aren’t meant to cast any judgment on New York for what it’s becoming versus what it’s been. These really are just observations through my lens. I wanted to make images that convey some type of movement across the change spectrum, whether that’s the beginning, middle, or end. That could be as subtle as the hardware store in your neighborhood going out of business and six months later becoming a hip bar or restaurant. Or something as big as that massive shiny building on Front Street that now completely interrupts the iconic view of Manhattan from DUMBO. I feel like everyone can relate to this project on that level, but I guess my hope is to engage viewers to look at the city a little bit differently.

Change sometimes feels like it’s just unrelenting in New York City; just how often things get torn down, built up, and just constantly refreshed. As a New Yorker living with that constant evolution, it’s easy to miss sometimes. Part of my goal is also to capture something New Yorkers might normally overlook.

CE: Working for brands like Samsung, you do a lot of commercial work. This story is quite different for you. How was the experience overall? Are there things you struggled with?

JF: Well I love photography in all of its forms and consider this project a synthesis of different things I enjoy as a photographer. Velocity has no one single identity. It combines some spontaneous elements of street photography with a more structured approach to architectural photography.

Some scenes I approached with a very specific frame in mind at a very specific time of day. Sometimes I waited for that light, that train to pass. Other times I just happened to stumble upon an interesting place at the right time. The mix really helps make this exciting to work on as a long-term project.

CE: Do you have one favorite image from the story? What does it mean to you/what’s the story behind it?

JF: No, I don’t think I do. Not one favorite.

There are certain images that really have that old and new juxtaposition and I really love some of those, but I think viewers also need more.

That presentation of an old brick building next to some shiny, modern building resembling a spaceship, while it does tell a story, my goal is to make images that have more layers to them. There’s also a huge emphasis on light. I love those rich, detailed blue skies. I also just want someone to look at some of these scenes in a fleeting moment and think, "Oh, wow, that’s beautiful." Because THAT is New York.

I guess I do have a few favorites though. There’s one photo I took in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn, which has the guy with the hood walking by. There’s a house that’s just been boarded up behind him and while I’ve never been back to that exact location, I’m sure that house has since been sold and renovated and that street probably looks very different, even just a couple of years after taking that photograph.

CE: You mention that the project is about New York’s inhabitants and the city’s ever-changing landscape. I noticed a theme of anonymity regarding the people in your images. Was that intentional?

JF: My approach to how I shoot this project has evolved over time. I try to stay open. I love having people in the photographs, but I don’t really want any one image to be too much about that character making a statement. It’s really about how that person appears in the greater context of what’s happening in a neighborhood.

Part of being a New Yorker is being in your own world, right? You’re not always paying attention to all the change because it’s so ubiquitous.

So you’re walking to the subway, you’re on the phone, you’re walking your dog, just going about your business. Even tourists who are usually running around Manhattan. One of my favorite shots in the project is where there’s this monstrosity of a construction site behind with a tour bus in front of it. What other city starts a tour in front of a scene like that?

**CE: This is a sensitive question. This past year, we’ve all obviously experienced a tremendous amount of change. There are so many unknowns about the future of the world, but I think we can agree that New York has been disproportionately impacted.

For you, someone who was here for major events like September 11th and Hurricane Sandy, do you think that has impacted your outlook on change? Made you more aware of it?**

JF: You know, living in New York, I have my own little window of experience growing up in an outer-borough, but I’ve still seen how the city has changed. Having been here for so long, I’ve lived through some times of crisis like the ones you mentioned. And during a crisis, as weird as this sounds, New York has a way of being strangely at its best in some ways. They can bring out a greater sense of community and unity amongst New Yorkers which has always made me feel proud

I think living through those moments has instilled a confidence that the city will always recover. Even with COVID-19 and New York going through probably the biggest challenge in our lifetime—the city is in pain with so many different neighborhoods and businesses and people being impacted simultaneously—I believe New York will prevail and will emerge as something even better. As a friend of mine said recently: “The New York you know is gone, the New York you love will still be here.”

To see more of his work and the entirety of Velocity, check outJohn’s website and follow him on Instagram.

About the author : Caitlyn Edwards is the Community Marketing Manager at PhotoShelter, which regularly publishes resources for photographers. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Edwards has a degree in Peace & Conflict Resolution and is religious about black coffee and great wine (but never together). This article was also published here.

Image credits: Photographs by John Frattasi and used with permission

#features #interviews #caitlynedwards #interview #johnfrattasi #newyorkcity #nyc #photoproject #project

The Tangibility of Memories: Exploring Life, Loss and Family Through Photography

This past Mother’s Day marked ten years without my mom. I was 19, a sophomore in college trying desperately to become a respected adult when she died. Predictably, caring for and losing a parent is one way to really accelerate that process.

Over the last decade, I’ve struggled to process not only the loss of my mother but also the loss of our future together. I don’t know what she would have thought of my writing or interior decorating. I don’t know what trips we might have taken or how she would have reacted to the challenges of the pandemic. I don’t know, and that is one of the nastiest things grief does.

As I’ve navigated my heartache with sympathetic friends and a lot of therapy, photography has also proven to be a trusted tool through which I explore my grief. It’s allowed me to come to understand my mom better. Seeing photos from before I was born — her in diapers, her first marriage, as a college student in the 70s, that awkward teenage phase and questionable haircuts — alleviates some of the despair. Uncovering images and stories about her life, even the parts that include me and my brother or dad, has had a powerful effect on reducing my fear around a future without her. Instead of doubling down on my sadness, photos whisper clues as to what she might have thought and felt about my unknowns.

Some photos carry more mysteries than others, and I so enjoy the process of exploring all of the possibilities. What was so special about this moment? Are there any clues as to what year that was taken? Is that guy sitting next to her a friend or former boyfriend? Does it even really matter?

In a world where some of my photos push 50MB apiece and we all contemplate the best cloud storage solutions for our terabytes of personal data, there’s something very humbling about the 4×6” family photo collection stowed away in a shoebox or folder inside of a dusty cabinet. Often featuring poor composition and displaying an aggressive use of flash and/or forced smiles, they are a far cry from the “phone eats first” and facetuned society we now live in. Kids are asking for iPhones in elementary school and Instagram accounts for their birthdays. What ever happened to the original filter: the lowly disposable camera?

Physical printed photos remind me of how deliberate photography once was. You had only so many rolls of film. Your batteries were going to run out (not to mention they weren’t rechargeable via USB). Organizing a professional photo shoot necessitates planning and intention. At times, like in the case of a family photo in a studio, a new artificial story is being told. The idea that each of the four members of my family independently decided to all wear turtlenecks on the same day? Think again.

Broadly speaking, photography is about storytelling. It’s an effective narrative tool, sure, but it’s also an important form of proof. Proof that my mom wasn’t always sick. Proof that her legs were way too long and skinny as a kid. Proof that when she was really laughing and happy she’d throw her head back. Proof that we once had the same haircut at the same time. And proof that I look like her now.

Each photographer has their own very personal story as to why they chose this medium. For me, it just feels like a natural extension of how I see the world. I look for quiet moments, light, patterns and textures everywhere I go, and it’s only through photography that I’m able to offer the world slivers of my brain. There is great power in creating memories and freezing moments in time that satisfy something within me.

Like old friends of hers I’ve connected with, I will also always be grateful to photography for its ability to teach me about my mom after her death. Without the images in my shoebox, I would surely have forgotten just how her hands looked and what watch she wore. I would have a hard time visualizing her smile, but I have the proof.

About the author : Caitlyn Edwards is the Community Marketing Manager at PhotoShelter, which regularly publishes resources for photographers. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Edwards has a degree in Peace & Conflict Resolution and is religious about black coffee and great wine (but never together). This article was also published here.

#editorial #caitlynedwards #loss #memories #personal

Five marketing tactics every photographer needs to know

#inspiration #caitlynedwards #marketing #marketingforphotographers #marketingtips #photographymarketing

5 Marketing Tactics Every Photographer Needs to Know

As photographers, we all know marketing is important. We regularly hear that it can make or break a business. Good marketing can help you stand out. We’ve all wondered how and why some photographers have hundreds of thousands of followers when others are struggling to even hit triple digits.

When you’ve got people talking about SEO and page ranking, the power of networking, Instagram vs a portfolio website, and more, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. How are you supposed to narrow down where to start?

Enter Darina Kopcok, a commercial food photographer and educator who recently broke down her five pillars of marketing for us and why they’ve been successful. Whether you’re like Darina and exploring commercial opportunities or looking for editorial work or something else entirely, these tips are fairly universal. Take a look below to see where you might be able to improve or reshuffle marketing priorities.

It’s essential to remember that there is no “quick fix” to marketing. Like page ranking and finding the perfect client, it’s always a moving target. But there are some tools and approaches that work, so give those a try and see what happens!

Pillar 1: Online Portfolio

We’ll say it until we’re blue in the face: Instagram is not enough.

The first step in getting hired is curating an exceptional portfolio that speaks to your target audience. Working with a photo consultant can be very helpful since so many photographers have emotional attachments to certain images. We have great stories about the place and moment an image was taken, but the typical image viewer or hiring manager doesn’t know that story. So if the image itself doesn’t evoke a feeling, tell a story by itself or show your unique skill set, it should live outside of your portfolio. As Darina put it, “When you’re looking at your body of work, it can be hard to see the forest through the trees.”

Also, having a portfolio isn’t enough. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you’re updating your site every 6 months or so. This helps with SEO but also helps repeat clients know what you’ve been up to.

Ask yourself who your portfolio is targeting. How is that clear on your homepage? Ask friends or family, photographers or not, to give their honest opinion and tweak accordingly.

Pillar 2: Research

The next step in effective marketing is identifying your target market and creating a database to keep track of leads and your marketing efforts. Having great SEO is wonderful, but that still doesn’t ensure your site is being visited by your ideal clients. You still have to do a lot of the marketing yourself.

So, whenever you send someone an intro or promotional materials, or you’ve made a new contact, it’s essential that that be documented somewhere. Many photographers use Excel or Google Sheets, but Airtable is another stellar option. “It’s Excel on steroids,” says Darina. ( Business Insider has a helpful writeup about the capabilities of Airtable.) Even better news about Airtable: it offers both free and paid options.

Make sure you do your research with spam laws! But note, conflicting information is common.

Pillar 3: Email Promotion

Email promotions can take on a few forms. With an organized email list of past, current and (hopefully) future clients, email promotions are a huge opportunity to remind everyone you’re here and ready to work.

As a first task, create a one-pager (kind of like a postcard) that can be embedded into an email. A bio, a few images, and your contact information are all you need. It’s quick and easy, plus many photo editors and hiring teams keep emails like these in special folders so they can tap you when the right project or assignment comes along.

Darina also recommends sending a quarterly blanket email promotion. That includes a few curated images—attachments aren’t going to work here, you don’t want anyone to have to work to see your photos—with a theme and title. Those can go to both cold and warm leads. Seasonal promotions are an easy way to get in touch, show clients your work, and remind everyone you’re there.

Also, mix up your promotions! Take different approaches. You can be formal sometimes, informal the next. They can be personalized or specific to that one client (e.g. if it’s a yogurt company, demonstrate you’ve taken yogurt photos) or a more general overview of your work. You should share new content you’ve created that you’re excited about, too. The goal is to come off to clients as flexible and quick on your feet as a photographer, so demonstrating that flexibility with your marketing is a great place to plant that seed.

In terms of gathering emails, Hunter is a helpful tool for finding emails that Darina recommends. You get 25 free searches per month after you sign up for an account and you can pay for more searching when/if you need them.

Hunter’s results when searching for email addresses

_Pro tip : While cold LinkedIn connect requests are generally a no-no, the platform is useful for information gathering. Try a search for “Art Director” or “Photo Editor” at [Company] and then go to the company’s homepage. There, you’ll either see employees’ emails listed or you’ll see the company’s email structure. If you have their name, then you’ve likely got their email. _

Pillar 4: Printed Promotion

Printed promotions aren’t free, so it’s advisable to be a bit more strategic about who gets these. An important thing to note right now is that many photographers have stopped their printed promotions during COVID because almost everyone is working remotely. That said, now is still a great time to plan out your printed promotions—design and strategy are both key—so you can take full advantage of everyone’s eventual return to the office.

Printed promotions can look like just about anything: magazines, postcards, and one-page mailers are common and should go to agencies or any other key contacts in your network. A printed book and/or portfolio is also an option, but these should be reserved for special circumstances due to the cost. In terms of where to get those, Blurb is ideal for magazines or books and Moo is better for postcards.

Photo Editor Rob Haggart has a great Instagram account, @aphotoeditor, where he posts examples of printed promotions he receives. It’s the perfect place for inspiration and ideas, plus it’s useful to see any trends that might be emerging in the print promotional space. He also does some interviews with photographers on his blog.

Sample promotions from the Photo Editor Instagram account

No matter what you choose, when the time comes, promotional materials are an easy way to stand out and show a client that you mean business.

Doing something outside of your website and email promotions to show clients you exist and are interested and willing to work for them can make a big impact.

Pillar 5: Social Media

So first thing’s first: Instagram. Your Instagram presence and marketing should have a strategy, not just be about forming a community with other photographers. Having a network is important, but you shouldn’t be doing that at the expense of working with dream clients. Your Instagram strategy should align with other marketing goals and your target market.

Interact with dream clients’ feeds. Comment on their posts and say something genuine. Heads up: “Nice shot!” isn’t going to cut it. You want to be specific and thoughtful based on the brand and the specific post you’re commenting on.

Also, we advise using DMs with caution. If that’s your first impression, you might come off as intrusive or less professional. Depending on the size of the company, someone working in social media may have a relationship with the Art Director or Creative Director, but more likely than not they don’t, so focus your efforts elsewhere.

In terms of other social media platforms, use those to boost your content, interact with brands’ posts there (the same rule goes for being genuine!), and just try to show a bit of personality. Post behind-the-scenes photos, share more about a recent shoot. Plus, psychologically, if brands or ideal clients are seeing your name frequently, it’s more likely you’ll catch their eye in your next email or print promotion.

Photographer Melissa Lyttle is a pro at showing her goofy and fun personality on shoots, and how comfortable she makes the celebrities she photographs

Final Thoughts

Remember: All of your marketing should be about building relationships and your foundation. When you market is also important with how you’re marketing.

Don’t be passive! Go after clients with new approaches and be willing to change things up. Persistence and consistency are what you need to be a successful marketer. Rejections will happen. View them as opportunities to innovate.

Don’t give up! Keep marketing, even if you don’t hear back. You’d be surprised whose radar you’re on without your knowledge. Darina joked that your goal should be to get 100 no’s. It sounds disheartening initially, but it’s also confirmation someone is looking at your stuff.

Finally, just be genuine with your marketing. Looking good is important but you’re selling yourself and your skills. Be honest and true to yourself and your brand.

About the author : Caitlyn Edwards is the Community Marketing Manager at PhotoShelter, which regularly publishes resources for photographers. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Edwards has a degree in Peace & Conflict Resolution and is religious about black coffee and great wine (but never together). This article was also published here.

Image credits: Header photo licensed from Depositphotos

#tips #advice #business #caitlynedwards #marketing #promo