US National Zoo pics (DC ZOO)

Nikographer

I've become addicted to going to the zoo and taking pictures. I've taken over 8,000 this fall there. Anyway here are some of my pics.

I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of how long it might take to sell some photos, I just signed up to smugmug this week, and have over 700 "hits" since roughly Tuesday, but I'm curious how successful some of the members here are at selling. Should I expect to wait weeks or months to get a sale? I am sending some traffic to smugmug from another site, so maybe I just need to be patient. I've also tagged my photos well I think and joined a few communites on smugmug...

Thanks,
Nikographer.


(account closed, cya)

StevenV

make sure that the Nat'l Zoo's rules don't preclude you from selling your pictures; I've heard that some (San Diego?) do.

Nikographer

StevenV wrote:

make sure that the Nat'l Zoo's rules don't preclude you from selling your pictures; I've heard that some (San Diego?) do.

I will ask around, but admission is free to the zoo, and I've heard nothing regarding it. I would be *very* upset if that was their policy. I quick google revealed nothing special.

I guess I could have submitted this to the mind your business area... I hope I get a response regarding selling and success rate people here have (I'm still in the trial phase).

[updated]
I found this photographer is selling work from there so I guess that's not a policy of theirs.

-Nikographer

DanielB

Nikographer wrote:

I will ask around, but admission is free to the zoo, and I've heard nothing regarding it. I would be *very* upset if that was their policy. I quick google revealed nothing special.

I guess I could have submitted this to the mind your business area... I hope I get a response regarding selling and success rate people here have (I'm still in the trial phase).

[updated]
I found this photographer is selling work from there so I guess that's not a policy of theirs.

-Nikographer

2nd one might fit the Reflection contest idea.

really like #2

Awais Yaqub

great series keep posting

Flyinggina

Good point, Daniel. So long as it was taken within the challenge period that started last Monday.

Beautiful photos Nikographer. Good luck with your sales.
Virginia

Rohirrim

Nice captures. Great lighting and detail.

As far as the selling goes. You will have to do more than just slap them on your website. Marketing your shots to the public, having a target audience, are needed as well as having great shots. The competition to sell photos is very high, there are a lot of very good photographers out there.

DJ-S1

Very nice stuff, hope to see you here more.

As for selling, some folks do pretty well but it's all a matter of getting your shots out there. Most people who sell a lot have customized their site to highlight the "buy me" aspect more. And also, it pays to make sure your site gets on the search engines, google et al. There are ways to make sure your site is search engine friendly, but that's not my area of expertise.

Nikographer

Thanks for the comments, and suggestions.

I think the reflection picture is older than last week.

I also just learned from another user here that I hadn't changed my prices! I thought there was a default mark-up that I started with! D'oh! So, I guess it's possible I've sold something and didn't know it. Also, my "hits" is more like 2,000 in two days, so I think I'm doing ok on that front for just 2 days. I plan on coming up with more ways to get traffic and generate interest.

Thanks again for all the replies.

-Nikographer
http://nikographer.smugmug.com/

Bobbie

Here is a link to the zoo's rules concerning photography. (last entry on the page) It does sound like you will need to obtain a license from the zoo to sell your photos.

Bobbie

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/visit/parkrules/default.cfm

Nikographer

Bobbie wrote:

Here is a link to the zoo's rules concerning photography. (last entry on the page) It does sound like you will need to obtain a license from the zoo to sell your photos.

Bobbie

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/visit/parkrules/default.cfm

Thanks for that! I've made my galleries private in the mean time, and won't try to sell any of those. I haven't sold anything yet.

I actually would like it if I got to give back to the Zoo and the Smithsonian, so, I just hope they're fair. I hope it's just a fee, and not a %.

-Jon

Bobbie

You're welcome Jon. I was wondering if they allowed tripods and was searching the site when I stumbled upon the information about the license. Your pictures are excellent and I don't see any reason why they shouldn't give you the go ahead to use them.

Let us know how it works out.

Bobbie

Nikographer

Bobbie wrote:

You're welcome Jon. I was wondering if they allowed tripods and was searching the site when I stumbled upon the information about the license. Your pictures are excellent and I don't see any reason why they shouldn't give you the go ahead to use them.

Let us know how it works out.

Bobbie

Thanks, but I'm begining to think this whole selling attempt may be more trouble than it is worth, given what I might sell, and the things I would need to do: license, taxes, etc. I'm going to be thinking hard the next few days.

Thanks again for forwarding me that info. BTW, I've seen people use monopods at the DC zoo, but I'm not sure about tripods. I'd imagine they're ok too...

-Nikographer