Case study: Selling your photos on-line
A lot of people take photos. No, seriously. A lot of people. But the number of people who actually do something with their photographs are an absolute minority. I decided to catch up with a friend of mine – Jason – to see how he turned his hobby into a multi-million, global sales success.
Okay, so I’m full of it: he barely even breaks even. But still – he’s found a cool way of trying to do something with his photos. And that’s worth taking a closer look at, methinks!
I’ve stumbled across Jason’s site, fotoviva, several times before I even got to know him. It goes to show that this global village of ours isn’t always as big as we think, I guess.
Jason is a web designer who’s an old-timer in the world of photography: He’s been taking photos for about 15 years, but always on a hobby basis. He’s a Nikon fan (Boo! Okay, just kidding), and shoots most of his photos with a modest D50. The results certainly make it worth it, however!
Occasionally, he takes photos that are so good that they deserve to be shared – but how? There are so many venues where you can show off or sell your photos, but Jason decided they weren’t good enough for him: Either they were a bit lacking, or they weren’t quite what he was looking for.
There are some great pieces of on-line gallery software out there, but they are limiting in that you can’t sell your work. The sales galleries? Well, they’re a bit crap too. So, being the ever-creative soul he is, Jason decided to just go ahead and start from scratch.
“Basically”, he says, “I launched it as a site to try and sell my own pictures as canvas and poster prints 5 months ago. Then I realised that there are so many really good photographers out there, completely unknown, yet they have no idea about the internet or how to create a website to sell their work and earn some extra cash.”
So he opened up his website to other photographers as well. “When I find a photographer whose work I like”, Jason explains, “I ask them if they would like to try and sell some of their pictures using my site.”
It’s not exactly a new approach (it’s what I do over on 3Songs.org for concert photography, for example), but it’s a win-win situation. As Jason sees it: “This helps build up my site, and offers the other photographers an outlet to sell their prints”
I think Jason’s Foto Viva website is one of the more elegant photo gallery / sales solutions I’ve seen, so I thought I’d share it with you guys.
So, he’s got a successful website and is a pretty accomplished photographer. Surely, that means he’s had all his dreams come true? Not quite… “One day I would like to spend at least half my time taking photos”, he admits, “not only
in England but around the world, whilst continuing website and graphic design on a much reduced scale.”
Spoken like a true photographer, that is.
My day job, if it can be called that, is being a writer. I've got one book out there so far and it's awesome, so go ahead and buy a copy! It's available from 
In front of you, five hyperactive men with guitars, drums, and microphones. Behind you, five thousand fans. In your hands, a camera... You're going to need more than just a little bit of good luck to pull this one off. That's where this book comes in.
Take a Canon EOS 450D. Attach a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens. Hit the streets of London. See what happens.
Insights, suggestions and comments
Would you consider writing a piece on type of lenses recommended for a new photographer? I am considering moving away from my point and shoot toy and buying a real camera (thinking of the EOS 30D) but the options with the lenses are grand to say the least and as a newcomer to the world of photography, I am finding the task daunting. Maybe a few pointers, recommendations, etc.
Thanks for the work you put into this blog,
What a coincidence! Jason is on Earth Shots today as well! http://www.earthshots.org/2007/04/rising-swan-by-jason/
I have been on fotoviva in the past and it’s a lovely site.
Jason recently won an award for his ‘Rising Swan’ image which is exceptional..
As an avid experienced photography nut, with 10 years in the realm of digital, I am so pleased to learn about ‘fotoviva’ and see these works of art. The world of digital photography is a seemingly large one growing exponentially every year by leaps and bound, and the number of websites that invite your photo submissions equally as expansive, but here I find something unique; intelligence and real good photographs! Real quality photography is not easy to find, so I thank you Jason for your site. Please keep up the great work too.
There are some really nice shot at the Fotoviva site, thanks for the tip
Great idea en nice photo’s.
To bad he says he only works with UK Photographers.. ;)
Elja
I recently interviewed Jason on my photography blog. I think he’s doing a cool thing and it’s a great example of thinking big…instead of putting your photos on someone else’s website and hoping they sell why not create your own site and get to keep the profits and have the experience of running your own business. You can read Jason’s Fotoviva interview here.
fotoviva is a fantastic site with some absolutely stunning images. I don’t know of any reason why an enterprise like that would fail. Great job Jason!
I think Jason’s site is great. I recently came across another site that was selling prints onto perspex. Seems to be a great idea and there are not many other people doing it. Canvas prints and great but this perspex stuff looks even more cool! The website is at http://www.fourblankwalls.co.uk
Just a quick note to say we now sell all our images on acrylic as well as canvas and poster. You can read more about our acrylic art here http://www.fotoviva.co.uk/acrylic-art-prints.asp
Thanks,
Jason
Jasons site is just fantastic. Im a Canon fan myself but I wont hold that against him :0) I came across http://www.opix.co.uk that allowed me to put my pictures on both canvas and Perspex which was great. I think its great that are now more options out there for photographers. I myself am not that techy so it’s nice to now there are sites to have my images mounted, others to get them framed in unusual ways and others to get my images critiqued. I’m really enjoying the new digital photography wave.
Hello Photocritic,
I want to sell my photographs pl guide me how to show you my photographs. pl suggest
regards
Rajeev Jadhav
India
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