first post...j tree

jeff lapoint · March 8, 2005

took a spur of the moment trip to joshua tree national park last saturday and got a few shots despite the weather...comments welcome.

Harryb · March 8, 2005

jeff lapoint wrote:

took a spur of the moment trip to joshua tree national park last saturday and got a few shots despite the weather...comments welcome.

Hey Jeff,

Welcome

and congrats on your first post:cheer

Thats a cool shot with great color. I also like the perspective.

Looking forward to seeing more of your work

Cosmic · March 9, 2005

Hi Jeff and welcome to DGrin!

Great composition and angle on that shot. Sky is a great colour as well. Nice!

~Heidi~

jeff lapoint · March 9, 2005

Harryb wrote:

Hey Jeff,

Welcome and congrats on your first post:cheer

Thats a cool shot with great color. I also like the perspective.
Looking forward to seeing more of your work

thanks harry. been lurking for a long time and have kind of had it with dpreview. i figure its time for less gabbing and more snapping/ sharing. maybe eventually i'll get to move up to the varsity bird squad!

jeff lapoint · March 9, 2005

Cosmic wrote:

Hi Jeff and welcome to DGrin!

Great composition and angle on that shot. Sky is a great colour as well. Nice!

~Heidi~

thanks heidi! i also did a B&W conversion, but it screams cheap ansel adams ripoff!

coldclimb · March 9, 2005

It always amazes me how so many major climbing destinations are also major photography areas. I definitely picked the right sport!

Pics like this always do something for a climber. Great job here, the only thing it's missing is ME, right there on the middle of that face.

ian408 · March 9, 2005

I like the perspective and the subject. Seems to work pretty well.

Ian

Nir · March 9, 2005

Beautiful photo Jeff!! The perspective, diagonal composition, exposure and colors really all work very well together!

Welcome to dgrin!!

jeff lapoint · March 9, 2005

coldclimb wrote:

It always amazes me how so many major climbing destinations are also major photography areas. I definitely picked the right sport! Pics like this always do something for a climber. Great job here, the only thing it's missing is ME, right there on the middle of that face.

thanks coldclimb,

got my first taste of outdoor climbing on the same day i took this shot. my wife and i have been gym climbing for years and were surprised how little that meant once we were outdoors. easily a different beast altogether. i ended up bouldering/scrambling around the face and made it to the top of the rock pictured. even taking the easy way it was a challenge...no easy plactic holds i guess!
jeff

Angelo · March 9, 2005

jeff lapoint wrote:

... been lurking for a long time... time for more snapping/ sharing. maybe eventually i'll get to move up to the varsity bird squad!

oh oh! he's thrown down the gauntlet! watch out Harry and Ginger!

:

welcome to dGrin Jeff

jeff lapoint · March 9, 2005

ian408 wrote:

I like the perspective and the subject. Seems to work pretty well.

Ian

thanks ian,

it was nice to finally get a keeper after botching several other shots...

jeff lapoint · March 9, 2005

nir,

thanks so much for the kind comments! you folks really know how to make the newbies feel wlcome around here

angelo,

the gauntlet may not be cast down yet as:

1. i'm still on the jv flower squad. and birds have been said to be flying flowers...
2. my wife believes she is chairperson of the camera and lens spending committee, so the aquisition of a longer lens may be....delayed

Dixie · March 9, 2005

jeff lapoint wrote:

the gauntlet may not be cast down yet as:

1. i'm still on the jv flower squad. and birds have been said to be flying flowers...
2. my wife believes she is chairperson of the camera and lens spending committee, so the aquisition of a longer lens may be....delayed

Jeff, your photography speaks for itself - it says great.

I just want to comment on your humor. I love it. A man after my own heart.

Angelo · March 9, 2005

jeff lapoint wrote:

2. my wife believes she is chairperson of the camera and lens spending committee, so the aquisition of a longer lens may be....delayed

perhaps someone here will help me direct you to an earlier post titled "No More L Glass". Quite apropos. Happy shooting.

jeff lapoint · March 9, 2005

Dixie wrote:

Jeff, your photography speaks for itself - it says great.

I just want to comment on your humor. I love it. A man after my own heart.

thanks dixie,

the humor is, at times, the only thing besides my wife willing me through grad school. speaking of the wife, she's not buying the "i need x piece of equipment" approach anymore. you got any suggestions? i'm considering switching to the " it's time we invest in..." attack.

by the way, your gallery is amazing! truly inspirational.

jeff

Dixie · March 9, 2005

jeff lapoint wrote:

thanks dixie,

the humor is, at times, the only thing besides my wife willing me through grad school. speaking of the wife, she's not buying the "i need x piece of equipment" approach anymore. you got any suggestions? i'm considering switching to the " it's time we invest in..." attack.

by the way, your gallery is amazing! truly inspirational.

jeff

Thanks, Jeff, for the very kind comment.

Don't know if I can help you with the wife. I went through the stages you related above earlier in life, but now I am in the happy world of making more from photography then what I spend on it. ...so my wife is a happy camper.

Even in earlier years, I probably had an easier time with my wife. My degree is is a BFA with a minor in photography. Most of my photography courses were taken at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY (30 years ago). By virtue of the fact that art and photography were my chosen vocations, it made the purchase of equipment more of a necessity rather than a luxury. Of course it helped that I always had a day job as well to support "my habit" until January 2000 when I retired to devote full time to photography.

During the earlier years, I also went the Arts & Crafts route by selling my photos and setting aside those monies for equipment upgrades. As long as I was deriving an income, no matter how inadequate, from photography, my wife was supportive.

Arts & Crafts shows are a relatively inexpensive way to go. Their booth fees are usually well priced (meaning cheap), you only need a few of the better pieces framed for display purposes to get people to stop. The rest you place in plastic bags and keep in milk cartons or boxes to let people go through to purchase. Other than that about all you need is a couple of long tables which you can get from Wal-Mart for about $29.95. If you end up doing a lot of it, you can sink another couple of hundred in a nice shelter. They come in handy for protecting you from the sun and your work from the rain, but one isn't necessary to get started.

http://www.ezup.com/

I've found that if you keep your subject matter topical to the geographical location of where the Arts & Crafts show is taking place the photos generally sell better. As an example, here in northeast Alabama in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, local scenery sells well, but so does anything from the Smoky Mountains since they are a very popular vacation spot for local residents. On any given day at an Arts & Crafts show, I could generally clear anywhere from $50 to $400 in profit. Nice little nest eggs for adding equipment to the arsenal.

Another avenue is to talk with local restaurants and other businesses about hanging your work for sale. That requires more of an up front expenditure because few will take them without the photos being framed. Some will do it for free just to fill space on their walls and others will do it for a commission on the sale. However, many will not get involved with a money transaction so you are left with providing business cards and hoping that the patrons get in touch with you. Very iffy and not as productive as arts and crafts shows, but at least it helps to get your name out in public.

I still have work hung at our local hospital. Of course they don't do any selling for me, but they do pass out my cards with my smugmug web site on them and I've had a few purchases from my smugmug site. Again, it gets your name out in the public.

Now, on to business cards. They are important. I show my work in them and have about 10 different scenes depicted on the cards I use. I pass them out freely because that is what business cards are all about. I've found a place which will print them for me at $14.95 a hundred (regretfully they won't let you mix images within a order for a 100). You can get as many as 250 of one scene for $29.95 or a 1000 for $39.95. Cheap, but the work is great. You do have to create your own TIFF file with the image and text, but they provide all the measurements and templates for laying out your artwork.

http://www.overnightprints.com/

Examples of a few of my business card are shown below.

I hope my ramblings help.

jeff lapoint · March 9, 2005

dixie,

great post! thanks for the advice. what would you say the minimum number of pieces would be in order to start selling at craft fairs? do you think (honestly

) that the photo in this thread is of sellable quality? never thought of selling my photos before, but even a small income would mean alot...

maybe i should consider removing my kidney from ebay...

any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

jeff

Steve Cavigliano · March 9, 2005

jeff lapoint wrote:

nir,

thanks so much for the kind comments! you folks really know how to make the newbies feel wlcome around here

angelo,

the gauntlet may not be cast down yet as:

1. i'm still on the jv flower squad. and birds have been said to be flying flowers...
2. my wife believes she is chairperson of the camera and lens spending committee, so the aquisition of a longer lens may be....delayed

Nice shot Jeff and welcome to Dgrin

@ your #1 :lol Just remember, even us JV boid shooters sometimes take Varsity level shots

(thx for quoting my flying flowers comment....lol)

Can't help you with number 2

My wife also runs a tight ship (and a hermatically sealed purse....lol). I just can't convince her to forget about food and the mortgage payments, so I can get more glass

Geeze, talk about your misplaced priorities :cool

Thanks for sharing your lovely pic,
Steve

Dixie · March 9, 2005

jeff lapoint wrote:

dixie,

great post! thanks for the advice. what would you say the minimum number of pieces would be in order to start selling at craft fairs? do you think (honestly) that the photo in this thread is of sellable quality? never thought of selling my photos before, but even a small income would mean alot...

maybe i should consider removing my kidney from ebay...

any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

jeff

No problem with the photo being of saleable quality. Regretfully, quality is the second thing most buyers consider. The first being whether the print means anything to them. The best example I can give of that is some of my Yellowstone photos. I usually have a few on hand, but they don't sell anywhere near as well in this locale as the Smoky Mountains photos or local landmarks. However, I had a couple buy four photos at one time during one show because they had honeymooned in Yellowstone. I'm glad it was a happy marriage or I wouldn't have sold even one of Yellowstone that day. That should give you an idea of what I am talking about in what makes someone want to buy a print.

Stay away from the really large prints which can get expensive. For your large ones go with (assuming 1.5:1 aspect ratio for your camera) 8x12 prints for your largest shots ($3.99 your cost from Smugmug) and have a variety of smaller formats down to 4x6. You can dress them up with matting from Wal-Mart or off the web at a reasonable price without having to go the price of frames (besides, people normally want to pick frames which go with the decor in their homes).

I would say at least a minimum of 20-30 different scenes with a variety of sizes available in each. If anyone wants a larger format then give them your "card" with your smugmug site and let them order direct from Smugmug at the price you set there. However, that is relying on them to follow through with an order. I always try to get them to pay me for the larger size (that's easier when you have name recognition) up front then have the enlargement sent directly from smugmug to the buyer.

I also used the "insert-a-pic" cards and would sell them for $2 each or as sets of six for $10.00 using 4x6 prints. The rest is pretty much up to your imagination.

jeff lapoint · March 9, 2005

dixie,

thanks so much for the advice...looking for craft/art shows right now.

steve,

the flying flower comment was just so good i couldnt help but toss it out there. next time there will be a footnote giving you credit

jwear · March 10, 2005

Hi Jeff
great name by the way , did you see many wild flowers in JT when you were out there .With the rain and all ???? MY last trip was the weekend it snowed sat night woke up sunday to 6 in' of snow and more on the way . very nice shot btw welcome to dgrin from another calif boy Jeff oh and thanks for the nice comment on my shot

jeff lapoint · March 10, 2005

jwear wrote:

great name by the way , did you see many wild flowers in JT when you were out there .With the rain and all ???? MY last trip was the weekend it snowed sat night woke up sunday to 6 in' of snow and more on the way . very nice shot btw welcome to dgrin from another calif boy Jeff oh and thanks for the nice comment on my shot

jeff,

thanks for the comments. we did not see to many wild flowers, but i'm sure there are plenty. we took off on from LA on a whim and were only in the park for about an hour.

oh, and i must insist...you are the one with the great name!

first post...j tree

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