What it Takes
There is a world of difference between taking a picture for yourself, and having it printed to put in a photo album or on your wall (not a lot of cost or time involved) and taking a picture to sell and putting it on a website. I decided to share the process that I go through to get a photo to market. Even though you may not be familiar with all the terms this will hopefully provide the general concept.
To start with, let me say that I take as much control as I can away from my camera via the settings as I don't like the choices the camera makes in hues, saturation, colors etc.. Consequently the photos will download to my computer somewhat flat and dull. I use Photoshop as my software program so that I can bring the images back to life as I saw them. I DO NOT use Photoshop to add to my photos content which was not originally there at the time I took the photo. However,I may choose to crop it in an oval shape or be more artistic and add a vignette to frame the photo, etc.
DISCLAIMER: I am not saying that my process and workflow is what must be done to create and manage your own photo website, or that anyone else on this planet even comes close to doing it this same way. It is a way that works for me through trial and error in keeping everything organized and processing the photo each step of the way.
Now the process begins......
MY EXPENSES:
(Over a period of time) Purchase quality camera and lenses, tripod, carry bags, batteries/charger, camera cards, a computer monitor calibrator, exterior hard drives (to back up photos), pay a monthly hosting fee for website, purchase a P.O. box, pay for Registered Copyrights thru Washington DC every time a new group of photos are registered, photography seminars, gas driving to different places for photo shoots, photography business logo and card design as well as buying the rights to the design, business cards and other miscellaneous things along the way.
THE PROCESS
1. Custom build my website (this took a large amount of time and tremendous amount of trial and error) with page layouts, font, colors, header, menu bar, learning to navigate and manage the site. Pay Pal and so much more.
2. Calibrate my monitor with a calibrator that resets the correct RGB colors and adjustments for the ambient light of the room I am working in. I have to do this on a regular basis as monitors will get out of sync every now and then.
3. Once I have taken a group of photos, I download them to my computer and start the editing process. When it comes to action shots or moving wild life, like birds, I may take 600 plus pictures during a morning photo shoot. After editing through all of them, I might walk away with only three in which the tiny little eye of the bird is in sharp focus while in flight. I set my camera to take pictures in a Camera Raw format as opposed to JPEG (the only two choices I have). Camera Raw is a bigger file and has more bits of color and detail information.
4. Once I download the photos to my computer and open them in Photo Shop in the Raw format, I zoom each of them up to 100% to see which ones are in sharp focus. Small pictures are very forgiving but when you enlarge them, all the flaws will show. I edit thru each photo and select the ones I want to keep. If I have 10 or 15 pictures of the same subject and profile that are all in focus I will keep editing until I get it down to one.
5. I create the FIRST FOLDER as my original 'Camera Raw untouched folder', with sub folders for each category and create a SECOND FOLDER of 'Camera Raw duplicates' with sub folders for each category. I copy and make duplicates of the originals and put the duplicates in this second folder to work with so I always have an untouched copy.
6. I open the duplicates in Photoshop and work with each one to bring them back to life as mentioned before. I also do my cropping here which can take me anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes per photo and in some cases even longer. I spend a lot of my time here. I believe that how you crop your photo is one of the biggest make or break appeal to that photo. I try to position my focus point so that when you first look at the photo your eye will go right to the focus point without having to move. I obviously am not successful all the time with this but I try to be.
7. When finished with the Raw duplicates, I create a THIRD FOLDER 'Original Tiff 'and sub folders for each category. I copy and paste the Camera Raw duplicates and put them into this folder where I convert them to a Tiff format. Many printing places prefer a Tiff or Jpeg format for photographic printing. Tiff is close in quality to Camera Raw. I move each photo to it's proper category and double check everything for any overlooked issues and make sure I still like the crop. In this folder I position and number each photo in each category to keep them organized.
8. 'Sizing', Each photo will have different sizes. I do not stay with standard sizes (although some may fall out that way) because I don't want to be confined to a certain crop size. When I determine the different sizes and prices of each photo I write them in a notebook. I have filled up a few notebooks. Once this is done, I go back to the computer and open up the Metadata folder that accompanies each photo and type in all the sizes and prices that I wrote down in the notebooks. Later when I move these photo's to the web site I have to type and re-enter this data again per photo to the website.
9. I create a FOURTH FOLDER 'Tiff with Watermark' and again sub-folders for all the categories. I copy and paste duplicates of all the photos from the 'Original Tiff' folders and put them in the 'Tiff with Watermark' folders so I can add a watermark to each one and leave the 'Original Tiff' folders for prints only without this watermark. A water mark helps protect your photos from unauthorized use plus shows you have them registered copyrighted .Once I create my water mark, I transfer that to the photo I am working on and customize it. I re-size, change the color and opacity, and position it to accommodate that individual photo without distracting from it. The Watermark only applies to the photos on my website. When you purchase them, it will not have the watermark on them.
10. Now I have to convert the 'Tiff with Watermark' photos to a Jpeg format for the website. I create a FIFTH FOLDER 'Jpeg with Watermark' and sub folders for each category. I make duplicates of the 'Tiff with Watermark' photos, put them in this fifth folder and convert them to a Jpeg format. Once converted I open each one in photo shop and one at a time I re-size them to fit on the website as different websites have different size capacities that they can display the photos.
11. Once I finish this I make a CD of all the photos in that grouping, and before I put them on the web site I fill out a form, write a check, and send it to Washington DC for copyright registration.
12. I then download these photos to at least 2 to 3 external hard drives to keep as back up and stored in different areas.
13. Now I load them one at a time to the website. Once loaded I again type in all the different sizes and prices to each photo and put a title or caption under each photo as I choose.
14. When someone purchases a photo, I make a CD of that photo, take it down to the develop/print place review it with them, do a small test print to make sure it prints correctly, if not then adjustments are made and we try again. If they are not super busy sometimes I can wait around and hour or so and have them the same day without driving back and forth, if not then I have to make a return trip another day.
15. When the print is finished and paid for, I then purchase a large shipping tube to put the photo in, print the address label, tape it up, drive to the shipping place and ship it off to you.
16. I start this process over again for any new photos that I take and decide to keep after they pass the editing process.
To start with, let me say that I take as much control as I can away from my camera via the settings as I don't like the choices the camera makes in hues, saturation, colors etc.. Consequently the photos will download to my computer somewhat flat and dull. I use Photoshop as my software program so that I can bring the images back to life as I saw them. I DO NOT use Photoshop to add to my photos content which was not originally there at the time I took the photo. However,I may choose to crop it in an oval shape or be more artistic and add a vignette to frame the photo, etc.
DISCLAIMER: I am not saying that my process and workflow is what must be done to create and manage your own photo website, or that anyone else on this planet even comes close to doing it this same way. It is a way that works for me through trial and error in keeping everything organized and processing the photo each step of the way.
Now the process begins......
MY EXPENSES:
(Over a period of time) Purchase quality camera and lenses, tripod, carry bags, batteries/charger, camera cards, a computer monitor calibrator, exterior hard drives (to back up photos), pay a monthly hosting fee for website, purchase a P.O. box, pay for Registered Copyrights thru Washington DC every time a new group of photos are registered, photography seminars, gas driving to different places for photo shoots, photography business logo and card design as well as buying the rights to the design, business cards and other miscellaneous things along the way.
THE PROCESS
1. Custom build my website (this took a large amount of time and tremendous amount of trial and error) with page layouts, font, colors, header, menu bar, learning to navigate and manage the site. Pay Pal and so much more.
2. Calibrate my monitor with a calibrator that resets the correct RGB colors and adjustments for the ambient light of the room I am working in. I have to do this on a regular basis as monitors will get out of sync every now and then.
3. Once I have taken a group of photos, I download them to my computer and start the editing process. When it comes to action shots or moving wild life, like birds, I may take 600 plus pictures during a morning photo shoot. After editing through all of them, I might walk away with only three in which the tiny little eye of the bird is in sharp focus while in flight. I set my camera to take pictures in a Camera Raw format as opposed to JPEG (the only two choices I have). Camera Raw is a bigger file and has more bits of color and detail information.
4. Once I download the photos to my computer and open them in Photo Shop in the Raw format, I zoom each of them up to 100% to see which ones are in sharp focus. Small pictures are very forgiving but when you enlarge them, all the flaws will show. I edit thru each photo and select the ones I want to keep. If I have 10 or 15 pictures of the same subject and profile that are all in focus I will keep editing until I get it down to one.
5. I create the FIRST FOLDER as my original 'Camera Raw untouched folder', with sub folders for each category and create a SECOND FOLDER of 'Camera Raw duplicates' with sub folders for each category. I copy and make duplicates of the originals and put the duplicates in this second folder to work with so I always have an untouched copy.
6. I open the duplicates in Photoshop and work with each one to bring them back to life as mentioned before. I also do my cropping here which can take me anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes per photo and in some cases even longer. I spend a lot of my time here. I believe that how you crop your photo is one of the biggest make or break appeal to that photo. I try to position my focus point so that when you first look at the photo your eye will go right to the focus point without having to move. I obviously am not successful all the time with this but I try to be.
7. When finished with the Raw duplicates, I create a THIRD FOLDER 'Original Tiff 'and sub folders for each category. I copy and paste the Camera Raw duplicates and put them into this folder where I convert them to a Tiff format. Many printing places prefer a Tiff or Jpeg format for photographic printing. Tiff is close in quality to Camera Raw. I move each photo to it's proper category and double check everything for any overlooked issues and make sure I still like the crop. In this folder I position and number each photo in each category to keep them organized.
8. 'Sizing', Each photo will have different sizes. I do not stay with standard sizes (although some may fall out that way) because I don't want to be confined to a certain crop size. When I determine the different sizes and prices of each photo I write them in a notebook. I have filled up a few notebooks. Once this is done, I go back to the computer and open up the Metadata folder that accompanies each photo and type in all the sizes and prices that I wrote down in the notebooks. Later when I move these photo's to the web site I have to type and re-enter this data again per photo to the website.
9. I create a FOURTH FOLDER 'Tiff with Watermark' and again sub-folders for all the categories. I copy and paste duplicates of all the photos from the 'Original Tiff' folders and put them in the 'Tiff with Watermark' folders so I can add a watermark to each one and leave the 'Original Tiff' folders for prints only without this watermark. A water mark helps protect your photos from unauthorized use plus shows you have them registered copyrighted .Once I create my water mark, I transfer that to the photo I am working on and customize it. I re-size, change the color and opacity, and position it to accommodate that individual photo without distracting from it. The Watermark only applies to the photos on my website. When you purchase them, it will not have the watermark on them.
10. Now I have to convert the 'Tiff with Watermark' photos to a Jpeg format for the website. I create a FIFTH FOLDER 'Jpeg with Watermark' and sub folders for each category. I make duplicates of the 'Tiff with Watermark' photos, put them in this fifth folder and convert them to a Jpeg format. Once converted I open each one in photo shop and one at a time I re-size them to fit on the website as different websites have different size capacities that they can display the photos.
11. Once I finish this I make a CD of all the photos in that grouping, and before I put them on the web site I fill out a form, write a check, and send it to Washington DC for copyright registration.
12. I then download these photos to at least 2 to 3 external hard drives to keep as back up and stored in different areas.
13. Now I load them one at a time to the website. Once loaded I again type in all the different sizes and prices to each photo and put a title or caption under each photo as I choose.
14. When someone purchases a photo, I make a CD of that photo, take it down to the develop/print place review it with them, do a small test print to make sure it prints correctly, if not then adjustments are made and we try again. If they are not super busy sometimes I can wait around and hour or so and have them the same day without driving back and forth, if not then I have to make a return trip another day.
15. When the print is finished and paid for, I then purchase a large shipping tube to put the photo in, print the address label, tape it up, drive to the shipping place and ship it off to you.
16. I start this process over again for any new photos that I take and decide to keep after they pass the editing process.