fPME FREELANCE PHOT PHOTOGRAPHY TOGRAPHY MADE EASY ISSUE 16 • April/May 2008
Contents APRIL/MAY 2008 • ISSUE 16
24 SPECULATE TO ACCUMULATE A trip to Brussels sprouts opportunities to make some freelance cash
COVER STORY C
SStrid Wood, Wharfdale by Mark Sunderland taken in M aautumn 2005. ‘Most people aask if this is a Photoshop effect when I show it,’ says e Mark, ‘but it was achieved M in-camera with the long in e exposure recording the leaves le e flowing in the eddies in the river. Besides, e Iw wouldn’t know how tto o achieve this effect in P Photoshop!’
FREELANCE PHOT PHOTOGRAPHY TOGRAPHY MADE EASY ISSUE 16 • April/May 2008
PART THREE
8 WEBSITES Learn to love Google and it could soon help you improve your website
Pic spec P Camera: Canon EOS 5D C LLens: e 24-105mm at 40mm setting EExposure: x 8sec at f/22, ISO 100
News and leads
4
Photoshop for free? Can it surely be? Find out here, along with a host of ways to sell your images and other freelance-related news.
So you want to…
8
…get on the web. In the final instalment of his three-part series, Nick Lewis goes Google-eyed, explaining how to master one of the internet’s leviathans.
Money Makers
12
A selection of shots from FPME subscribers that have made money, along with the stories behind how they were taken.
Member Spotlight
18
Inspirational landscape images and unmissable advice for getting started in the, ahem, field from FPME subscriber Mark Sunderland.
Test your metal
22
How to cope when you’ve yes to a job that you have no experience of shooting before.
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Speculate to accumulate
24
It’s so easy to spend all the money you get from your freelance photographic career, but re-investing it can sometimes pay dividends as well, as Nick Lewis found out on a trip to Brussels.
Costa del cash
28
If you’re planning the holiday, we’ve got some timely advice as to how you can make the most of it from a freelance photography point of view – and keep the husband/wife/ partner/family happy too.
Business advisors
31
Our business advisor service is better than ever! We now have three able and willing advisors ready to answer your freelancing questions. No matter what the query, we’ve got the experts to answer it. E-mail: roger@fpme.co.uk.
Re-subscribe If your subscription is due for renewal, sign up now and get a healthy discount.
32
Who we are Freelance Photography Made Easy is produced six times a year by Jump Media for Magezine Publishing Ltd, Units 31/32 The Turbine, Shireoaks Triangle Business Park, Coach Close, Shireoaks, Notts S81 8AP • e-mail: members@fpme.co.uk
Web address: www.fpme.co.uk Editor Roger Payne roger@fpme.co.uk Design Jules Payne Advertising Director Tracey Johnson tracey@fpme.co.uk Web Developer Web support team support@fpme.co.uk Publisher Peter Bargh peter@fpme.co.uk The views expressed in this magazine are those of individual contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher, unless otherwise stated. The publisher accepts no responsibility for any errors contained within the publication. We welcome articles or photographs in digital or traditional form. Every care will be taken with any material submitted, but neither the publisher nor any of its employees, members, contractors or agents accepts any responsibility for loss or damage to photographs, illustrations, manuscripts or any other material submitted, however caused. Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope for any material that is to be returned to sender. All advertisements are accepted, and all material is published in good faith. No part of this magazine may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission from Magezine Publishing Ltd.
Feb/March £4.99
FREELANCE PHOT PHOTOGRAPHY TOGRAPHY MADE EASY ISSUE 15 • February/March b h 2008
Subscription rates: subs@fpme.co.uk 6 issues including post £35 (UK & Eire) £41 (Europe) £44 (Worldwide)
28
COSTA DEL CASH Going on holiday doesn’t mean you should stop making money
18
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Find out which FPME subscriber says this is his favourite location
12
MONEY MAKERS Read how this image bagged the photographer a three figure sum
22
TEST YOUR METAL Never shot industrial before? Neither had this photographer, but he still got the commission
I
always enjoy going to the Focus on Imaging show at the NEC, but this year was something of a highlight. It was absolutely packed and I was delighted to have the opportunity to chat to a number of FPME subscribers who came along to say hello. In fact, I spent so long chatting to various people that I didn’t even get a chance to go to the bar! It’s always good to get feedback, so I was especially interested to hear your comments about the magazine and website – mostly good, but some not so good. Rest assured, all of your thoughts will be taken into account as we continue to strive to improve the service we offer you. Of course, many of you won’t have attended Focus, so if you’ve got something to say about the magazine, please let me know. You can either start a new topic in our online forum, or get in touch MARK SUNDERLAND THANKS TO EVERYONE who helped get this issue together. Here are just some of the contributors who made it all possible:
In addition to supplying this issue’s cover image, Mark’s stunning work is the focus of our Member Spotlight. Find out more on page 18.
Rog’s shot Most of you probably won’t be aware of BPI, which is a trade magazine for the photographic industry. The editor approached me recently asking me to shoot an Epson printer in a home setting. Here’s the result – shot in my dining room and featuring the computer I’m working on right no now to write this column! The shoot itself was str straightforward, aalthough I have to admit to dr dropping the print in afterwards a using the Distort tool in P Photoshop. hot All in all it took too me a couple of of hours hou one Sunday evening evenin – well worth the £75 £75 I was wa paid for doing it. Pic spec Camera: C Canon EOS-1D MkII Lens: Sigma 17-35mm lens at 24mm setting settin Exposure: 1/4sec 1/4 at f/22
with me directly on roger@fpme.co.uk. u soon. I hope to hear from you Roger Payne, Editor
NICK JENKINS It’s been a while since Nick appeared in the mag, but we welcome him back as he tells you how to deal with the aftermath of saying yes to something you really shouldn’t have...
NICK LEWIS
DAN SANTILLO
A double dose of Lewis this issue. First he explains how to tame Google (p8), then jets off to Brussels to make some handy freelance pounds (p24).
Dan’s an FPME regular now and this issue he explains how to have a holiday and make money at the same time. Result! See page 28.
FPME APRIL/MAY 2008 | 3
NEWS Cover images sought for county magazines Two top-selling, glossy county magazines are on the hunt for eye-catching covers that reflect their respective areas. Berkshire & Chilterns Life and Hampshire Life are constantly seeking cover images with a ‘wow’ factor and welcome submissions from all photographers. ‘Our needs are very specific for our covers,’ says Berkshire & Chilterns Life editor Tessa Harris. ‘They obviously need to be portrait shots – you’d be surprised at the number of cover submissions we receive that are landscape – and they need to be seasonal. We certainly wouldn’t run an image of a place in the summer in our February issue, for example.’ Hampshire Life editor Claire Pitcher agrees: ‘The covers for our titles need to be something special. The
NEWS IN BRIEF Light is right Renowned landscape and travel photographer David Noton has released a new book. Waiting for the Light is published by David & Charles and showcases some of Noton’s best images from his 25 years as a photographer. It’s out now for £22.50, the ISBN number is 978-071532741-8.
Focus facts This year’s Focus on Imaging attracted its highest number of visitors ever. Nearly 33,500 people visited the NEC, Birmingham at the end of February. Thanks to all the people who came to visit FPME stand. Dates for the 2009 show have already been set – keep 22-25 February free. See www.focus-onimaging.co.uk.
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image needs to be eye-catching so it will stand out on the shop shelves and most importantly it has to be aspirational – readers have to look at it and think ‘That sums up my ideal lifestyle’.’ Potential cover images should have enough space at the top for a masthead and sufficient space around the sides for cover lines. There needs to be a focal point in the picture – so it’s no good sending in a great image of bluebells if there is nothing to draw the eye in. Clear, uncluttered images are best. Images obviously need to be high resolution – 300dpi minimum – but photographers are requested to send low-res examples first for consideration. To see examples of previous covers go to www.berkshirelife.co.uk and www.hampshirelife.co.uk For Berkshire & Chilterns Life email your submissions to tessa.harris@archant.co.uk and for Hampshire Life to claire. pitcher@archant.co.uk.
Photography Monthly looks to 2009 The opportunities for freelance contributors – for words and pictures – is greater than ever at Photography Monthly. The team is already looking ahead to 2009 and beyond, and if you’re out and about this summer you could help them – and earn money into the bargain. ‘If you’re going to an event this year, think how you could shoot it for publication in PM’s Big Guide,’ advises editor Will Cheung. ‘The word ‘event’ covers a very broad range. Things like steam engine meetings, carnivals, balloon festivals, battle reenactments, garden shows and vintage car meets are certainly covered, but so are more unusual occasions. Family occasions such as weddings and sports events are also eligible.’ Will suggests that potential contributors should check out an issue to see the typical sort of approach
the magazine is after. ‘Basically, we want technically perfect, creative images that show skilful and excellent use of a wide range of camera techniques,’ he told us. When you’ve taken, edited and sorted your pictures send them in marked for the attention of the editor to: PM 2009, The Mill, Archant Specialist, Bearwalden Business Park, Wendens Ambo, Essex CB11 4GB. With your submission (film or digital) enclose return postage, a contact sheet in the case of digital and your details – an email address is ideal, along with a daytime phone number. ‘Don’t, at this time, submit any words except for a brief outline of the events photographed,’ Will continues. ‘If I like your pictures I’ll be in touch. There’s no deadline as such, but the sooner I see your pictures the quicker I can make a decision. Please note that I’m looking for new images rather than shots from file.’
NEWS Free Photoshop on the web It sounds too good to be true, but Adobe has indeed launched a web based version of the world’s most popular image editing software. Photoshop Express is currently only available as a beta version, which means it’s in the latter stages of product development and Adobe is looking for feedback on its functionality before the final version is made available. Express can be accessed remotely from any computer with an internet connection. It provides a healthy 2GB of storage so photographers can create and manage online albums, plus it has a number of editing functions. While these don’t go as far as Levels and Curves adjustments, users can tweak exposure and white balance with the click of a mouse as well as remove red-eye, crop and
resize shots, and even convert images to black & white and emphasise specific colours. The beta version can be downloaded from www.photoshop.com/express and is primarily designed to work in the US. Functionality isn’t compromised for UK users downloading the software, but you may find the application runs a little slowly. So is Adobe finally giving something back to photographers after much criticism of pricing structures of Photoshop CS3? Not entirely, reading the terms of conditions of the application’s use reveals a clause giving the company royalty-free rights to use your images. At the time of writing, Adobe had stated this was under review and that revised terms would be posted up in due course.
NEWS IN BRIEF High fibre Manfrotto’s 190 range of tripods has been added to with a range of three models featuring carbon fibre tubing legs. Prices for the CX tripods start at £200 for the CX3 and go up to £250 for the four-section CXPro4. Details at www. manfrotto.com.
Getty gotty Stock giant Getty Images has been bought out by US private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. In 10 years, Getty itself bought around 50 companies, which helped give it an estimated market value of around £750m. It sold for £1.2bn.
Canon come top
www.photoshop.com/express
Canon’s EOS 400D was the most popular DSLR in the UK last year, selling over 146,000 units. It’s the only SLR to appear in recently released top 10 digital still cameras list.
Mono portraits wanted Black & White Photography is on a portrait mission, and needs FPME members to submit their best portraits taken either traditionally or digitally for an upcoming. Editor David Corfield says: ‘We are especially interested in technique articles that the mainstream magazines miss. We recently published a feature on gum printing, for example, which proved popular.’ The magazine relies heavily on reader
submissions. A portfolio section deals with one theme or project for which supporting words are required. Expect to be paid £250 for this. Elsewhere printing and general mono technique articles can expect to fetch between £150 and £400 depending on pagination. Email davidc@ thegmcgroup.com with lo-res portrait submissions or write to the magazine at: GMC Publications Ltd, 86 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1XN.
FPME APRIL/MAY | 5
NEWS
It’s competition time! There are a whole host of competitions currently in progress that give freelance photographers a great chance to scoop cash and prizes of photographic equipment, or simply get their images displayed to a wider audience. If you fancy entering a competition, try one of these for size:
Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2008 With £15,000 cash going to the overall winner, this is likely to be a popular competition, but there are also individual category prizes as well, plus the competition is open to ALL photographers. In the first instance, entrants need to register on the competition website at poty2008.dcmag.co.uk (there’s no www. before this), after that you can upload images in ten categories: Urban, Hidden Britain, Action & Movement, Animals, Documentary, Dusk to Dawn, Landscapes, People & Portraits, Black & White, and Creative Vision. Up to five photographs can be entered in each category and you can upload shots into any category at any time between now and the closing date of 30 September 2008. Once uploaded, your images will appear in an online gallery which is then voted on by registered members of Digital Camera magazine’s website. Images should be uploaded as JPEGs with a maximum file size of 2MB. As well as the impressive overall prize, individual category winners receive £1000 cash, plus a year’s subscription to Digital Camera and a year’s membership of the Royal Photographic Society, second place images receive £350 and a subscription and third places images receive £150 and a subscription.
Environmental Photographer of the Year 2008 Organised by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), the competition is designed to ‘inspire people around the world to start taking care of the environment.’ Entries are invited in five categories: Changing Climates, A World of Difference, Quality of Life, The Natural World, plus under 21s. Up to six images can be entered per category with each shot being judged on impact, creativity, originality, composition and technical quality. There are no cash prizes, but winning images will form
6 | FPME APRIL/MAY 2008
part of an exhibition, will appear on CIWEM’s website and will appear in a number of international publication. Plus, success in an international competition looks great on the CV when you’re talking to new and existing clients. The closing date for entries is 31 July 2008 and you can find full entry details on www.ciwem.org/awards/epoty
Dog Photographer of the Year 2008 Run by The Kennel Club, Dog Photographer of the Year 2008 is after images in four categories: Dogs at Work, Dogs at Play, Dog Portrait and Man’s Best Friend, there’s also an under 16s category entitled ‘I love dogs because…’ Entries cost £3.50 (under 16 category is free) with winning images being displayed at the Discover Dogs 2008 show at Earls Court in November this year, appearing in the Kennel Gazette and receiving a framed print of their photograph. Up to four entries can be made per person (one per category) and the closing date for entries is 31 August 2008. Full details are available on the Kennel Club website at www. thekennelclub.org.uk.
NEWS Add to Alamy’s 11+ million Despite having in excess of 11 million images already on file, online picture library Alamy is always looking for new images to sell. If you’re keen to start submitting to an online library, then this could be an ideal opportunity. ‘We do already hold images of near enough everything,’ admits Alamy’s James Allsworth, ‘but that shouldn’t put people off submitting further images. I’d advise photographers to look at the site and either look to improve upon the quality of images that are already there, or identify areas where we don’t have many shots and shoot specifically for them.’ If the idea of submitting to a library seems quiet daunting, Alamy only requires you to register on the site and then submit four images as a technical test. Providing
Standard raised Sigma has introduced a fast 50mm f/1.4 lens designed for use on DSLRs with APS-C sized sensors, effectively making it an 80mm optic. The lens features a hyper sonic motor and is available in Sigma, Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony fittings. See the Sigma website at www.sigma-imaginguk.com for more details.
Apple update
your images haven’t been sharpened and are technically good without excessive noise or dust, you’ll be able to start uploading images. There’s a dedicated area on www. alamy.com with full details and technical information. One word of warning, however. Alamy recently terminated a contract with
FPME BACK ISSUES FREELANCE PHOTOGR FREELAN PHOTOGRAPHY APHY MADE EASY ISSUE 3 • February/March b h 2006
GET STARTED
Landscape photography Seasoned advice from a pro in the know INSIDE VIEW
Online libraries
Tips for cyber success
SELL TO SHOPS
How to make money in your local high street
FREELANCE FREELAN N PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGR APHY MADE EASY ISSUE 8 • December/January b 2007
Winter warmers Shoot seasonal scenics that sell
Get published Insider tips to get your shots in print
School of rock How to make money from music
ISSUE 3 N Market your landscapes N Submitting to online libraries N How to sell images to High Street shops ISSUEE 8 ISSUE ISSU N Make money from music photography N Selling winter landscapes N Photo mag editor interviewed
FREELAN FREELANCE REELAN PHOTOGRAPHY MADE EASY ISSUE 4 • April/May il 2006
INSPIRATION
Livingg the dream
Meet the man who’s quit his job to take pictures INSIDE VIEW
Book ok ppublishers publishers hers
Get your shots in print PRO ADVICE
Shooting hooting ngg sport spport port
Top tips for action men (and women)
NEWS IN BRIEF
ISSUE 4 N Be an extreme sports photographer N How to re-size images N Get your images published ISSUEE 9 ISSUE ISSU N How to shoot weddings (Pt1) N Make money from local anniversaries N Submitting to local newspapers
To subscribe to FPME, FPME ME, visit our website at www.fpme.co.uk or e-mail
subs@fpme.co.uk
one of its photographers when it transpired that a signed model release didn’t exist for an image that was for sale on the site. The photographer concerned had uploaded the image stating it was model released, but it later transpired that he didn’t have a release and was hoping to track the person down later.
WE DO have a limited number of Issues 1-14 still available. Back issues cost £4.99 and can either be bought off the FPME website or by e-mailing backissues@fpme.co.uk.
FREELANCE FREELANC R PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGR APHY MADE EASY ISSUE 5 • June/July l 2006
INSPIRATION
Animal instinct Pro tips to help you sell your nature shots INSIDE VIEW
Travel magazines See the world, earn money
Apple has released an update of Aperture 2. Aperture 2.1 has architecture that allows the use of third party plug-ins to enhance its functionality. Existing Aperture users can download an update for free. Visit www.apple. com/aperture for more.
ISSUE 1 N How to get started as a freelance snapper N What stock libraries want N Getting the best from RAW
ISSUE 5 N Top tips from a nature professional N Get published in travel mags N Selling shots at craft fairs
FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHY MADE EASY ISSUE 2 • December/January 2006
MONEY MATTERS
Freelance income Who needs to know? INSIDE VIEW
Photo editors
Tell you what they want
WEBSITE ADVICE
The facts you need
to set up your own site
ISSUE 6 N Getting your shots in the national papers N How to win competitions N Opportunities with aerial photos
ISSUE 2 N Setting up a website N What photo editors want! N Who needs to know about your freelance income
ISSUE 7 N Lee Frost on shooting stock that sells N Be a top sports photographer N Make perfect inkjet prints
ISSUEE 10 ISSUE ISSU N How to shoot weddings (Pt2) N Why giving images away can be profitable N Mount your own exhibition
ISSUEE 11 ISSUE ISSU N How to join the paparazzi N Shoot garden centres to grow your business N Landscape member portfolio
ISSUEE 12 ISSUE ISSU N How to contribute to magazines N Novice wedding snappers tell all! N How to buck up your shots
ISSUE 13 N How to shoot lifestyle images N Royalty free or licensed stock? N Balance freelance with a full time job
ISSUE 14 N How to get yourself on the web N Is it worth working for free? N Why shooting the same stock images makes
ISSUE 15 N Why you need to start blogging N Add words to add value to you shots N Tips to get to the top shooting sport
FREELANCE PHOTOGR FREELAN PHOTOGRAPHY APHY MADE EASY ISSUE 10 • April/May 2007
FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHY MADE EASY ISSUE 13 • October/November 2007
FREELANCE PHOTOGR FREELAN PHOTOGRAPHY APHY MADE EASY ISSUE 11 • June/July 2007
FREELANCE REELAN N PHOTOGRAPHY PHOT TOGRAPHY MADE EASY ISSUE 14 • December/January b 2008
FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHY MADE EASY ISSUE 12 • August/September 2007
FREELANCE R REELAN PHOTOGRAPHY PHOT TOGRAPHY MADE EASY ISSUE 15 • February/March b h 2008
So you
want to... websites PART THREE
In the final part of his series, Nick Lewis explains how to get to grips with the might of Google
I
n the last two issues I have talked about the process of launching your own website and how blogging can also help show off your talents and knowledge online. In this issue, I am going to take a look at Google and how their technologies can help you get even more out of your website. Google are now a household name and it’s not unusual to hear in day-today conversations, the phrase ‘Have you Googled it?’ when discussing the internet. To many, Google is a search engine (a very good one indeed) but the fewer people will know that the company also provides a number of other services that are well worth investigating and making use of. I shall run through a number of these and provide some useful tips based on my own experiences with them.
8 | FPME AUGUST/SEPTEMBER APRIL/MAY 2008 2007
Google Analytics In the old days of the web, a counter was all you needed to see how many hits your site was receiving over the course of time. Nowadays this is not enough – we want to know how long people are spending on each page, where they come from, whether they use a PC or a Mac and so on. This is where Google Analytics comes in very handy indeed and, what’s more, its completely free. Its also very easy to install as it’s simply a case of adding a small piece of code to the bottom of all pages within your site where you want statistics to be collected. Signing up is very easy, although you do need a Google account before you begin. You then provide the system with your web address and it provides you with the code you need to insert into your site.
So you
want to... “Taking the information from Analytics can help you tailor your website to improve the user experience. Pages that are getting fewer views can be improved or deleted.”
Once this has been done, Analytics will start to gather statistics for your site and its visitors. This process takes at least 24 hours and longer before you start to see a reliable picture of what is going on. Give it a week or so before you take a look and the first port of call is the Dashboard, a screen that gives you a very valuable overview of what has been going on behind the scenes. At the top you will see a line graph showing the peaks and troughs of your traffic over the past month. Just underneath you will see some other figures for Visits, Page Views, Bounce Rate, Average time on Site and percentage of new visitors - All of these figures are for the past month and are very useful to give you an at a glance indication of how well your site is performing. Further down the page there are a number of graphs and charts that give you an idea of where your traffic is coming from both in terms of site referrals and geographical locations. Taking the information can help you tailor your website to improve the user experience. Pages that are getting fewer views can be improved or deleted, while others that are already successful can be added to get further traffic.
Adwords Cost per click advertising has become a very efficient way of advertising your business on the web. All of the major search engines have capitalised on this concept and Google leads the way in this competitive market with its innovative Adwords system. The system revolves around the core search engine and whenever you Google something you’ll see a series of adverts down the right hand margin. This is basically all Adwords is, it displays a selection of adverts based on the keywords and relevance that the adverts have in relation to the user’s search criteria. You can run any number of adverts via means of campaigns, you can have many of these and typically they can be used for larger businesses that may wish to advertise various aspects of their services. You could, in theory, run campaigns for weddings, portraiture and commercial each linking to various websites, therefore enabling you to create scalable advertising schemes. Most photographers may wish to run just one campaign at a time, as these can be further broken down into groups of adverts which then contain as many keywords as you need.
c
FPME OCTOBER/NOVEMBER FPME APRIL/MAY 2008 2007 | 9
So you
want to... “Adwords displays a selection of adverts based on the keywords and relevance that the adverts have.” Keywords are the lifeblood of the system and should be given very careful consideration, as the more accurate they are the more likely you’ll attract those relevant clicks. Each keyword costs money and there is an associated risk involved that you may receive lots of clicks but not as much business as you’d like, so be very careful which keywords you choose. There is little point conjuring up words that bear no relevance to your services, as these will be a waste of time and money. Adwords also provide very useful reports that give you a clear picture of which keywords are working for you and which are not. The system is clever enough to allocate more of your budget to the better performing keywords. You can, in fact, set a fixed price per keyword if you wish and the rest of your budget is split between the other remaining keywords. This way, you can make your most important keyword perform better for you. This can be pricey though as some keywords command higher prices and ‘photography’ is one of them; no surprises there. If you bid the highest price, your adverts may start to rise to the top but you could burn your budget too fast or only get a smaller number of mouse clicks. All in all its a balancing act and it can be quite a good time waster playing with the system to get the best out of it! I have spent many a wasted minute hitting F5 to see if my advert jumps up the ranks or not, only to find that one person clicks on it, has a browse, wanders off and then my advert drops off the list for a day or so. So be cautious, don’t spend too much and see if it works for you. You can always disable your campaigns at any time if you remain unconvinced, no major commitment is really required.
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“Nobody truly knows how Google ticks and there are many companies who charge you a lot of money to help you gain a better ranking. But you can do it yourself for free.”
So you
want to... something to you, if not you could structure your site better by creating a number of directories. What we’ve used here is a method called ISAPI Rewrite, which enables you to replace cryptic web paths with meaningful English! Use Google’s sitemaps facility to quite literally map out your site and give Google a better idea of how your site is structured when it updates its huge database! To find out more about this go to www.google. co.uk/webmasters. Add a robots.txt file to the root folder of your site to tell search engines what NOT to index – www.robotstxt.org – has the added benefit of reducing your site’s visibility to spammers who use similar technology to Google to trawl the net. Make use of the META tags in your HTML code, which are used to add keywords, descriptions and many other things to your pages. It’s important to make sure these relate to the text content contained within your pages. This all adds fP ME up to give you a strong relevancy.
Adsense I shall only give Adsense a quick mention, as it’s mainly a means of making a little extra cash through your website. The problem I found was that it would list other photographers’ websites, which is far from ideal! Adsense enables you to display Google adverts on your own website and is perhaps best suited to blogs and forums where people may be looking for photographers and their related services. However the good news is that these Adsense banners may be promoting you on someone else’s website and the adverts are driven by Adwords!
Improving the visibility of your site Nobody truly knows how Google ticks and there are many companies out there who charge a lot of money to help you gain a better ranking in Google et al. I know of people who have spent in excess of £1000 to achieve this when, to be quite frank, you can do it yourself for free or at least have a very good crack at doing so. So what are the basic rules? How can you improve the visibility of your site? I could write an entire article dedicated to this subject but shall give you a basic idea for now: Your paths are very important and should be as descriptive as possible. To give you an example www.nicklewis. net/2008/02/07/a-quick-ssp-demo/ is a lot better than www.nicklewis.net/index. php?post=312456. If your site is database driven then chances are this may mean
About Nick Age 35 Location Farnborough Gear Nikon DSLRs with a range of lenses covering 18 to 300mm Experience Nick currently has over 1000 images with the Alamy online library Website www.nicklewisphotography.co.uk
FPME APRIL/MAY 2008 | 11
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Money makers Successful images and their stories from the people who took them Andrew Gibson WE showcased one of the Andrew’s shots in the last issue of Money Makers so we were delighted when he submitted some more. “The black & white shot was taken in Panama on a tour to an Emberan Indian village. The Emberans are one of several indigenous races living in Panama,” he told FPME. “It sold to Everywhere magazine (www.everywheremag.com) as part of an article I wrote on tips for travel photography and I was paid £50 and given a subscription to the magazine. Anyone can upload photos or articles to the website and the editors choose the best to be published. “The star is a piñata – a type of Christmas decoration made from a clay pot and coloured paper. At Christmas, a blindfolded child has to break the pot with a stick, releasing sweets hidden inside. I took this in Zihuatanejo on the southwest Pacific coast and it was sold to Latina magazine for £75.” See more of Andrew’s images on his website at: www.magicalplacesfineart.com
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“Anyone can upload photos or articles to the website and the editors choose the best ones to be published.”
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Bruce Whitnall BRUCE is has only recently started to make money from his images and didn’t really realise their saleable potential until a friend commented on the quality of some of his images he had on his walls at home. “I had some friends round for dinner and they said how much they liked my images, including this one, that were taken in an around my home town of Oxford. We chatted for a while and they convinced me to get a number printed up to sell at a forthcoming craft fair,” he told us. “This was one of three images that I printed up to A3 size and framed. I sold this for £45 and a number of other smaller images for £15 each. I’ve since printed up additional copies of this particular shot which have also sold well at other fairs. Now, I’m keen to see how far my fledgling business can grow!”
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Jeff Lynch FAMILY members are ready made subjects for the freelancer, especially when they photogenic kids like Jeff’s daughter here. “It was taken on Porthminster Beach in St. Ives, Cornwall a couple of summers ago – it was my daughter’s first attempt at body boarding,” explains Jeff. “I submitted the image to a photography competition that appeared in a magazine produced by Bourne Leisure and Haven Holidays. It won, but the magazine with this shot in never came out as the company closed it. “It earned me a Panasonic DMC-FZ7 Lumix camera, which I wasn’t very impressed with when it arrived, so I gave it to my daughter as she’d always liked having a go with my Nikon D70.”
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“Family members are ready made subjects for the freelancer, especially when they’re photogenic kids.” 14 | FPME APRIL/MAY 2008
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Carrie Bugg HERE at FPME we’ve often suggested contacting local firms to see if you can supply them with copies of your images to display on their walls. That’s exactly what Carrie did with these shots, displaying them at a local hairdressers. “A lady contacted me after seeing the shots on the wall and wanted to buy them for her husband on their anniversary,” Carrie explained to FPME. “She paid me £70 per framed image.”
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Peter Herbert THIS has to go down as the most unusual image we’ve printed in Money Makers and while Peter wasn’t around when the shot was taken, he was still able to make some money from it. “My wife inherited this shot from her relatives and it has just been stored in a plastic bag in a wardrobe,” Peter takes up the story. “I scanned it into Photoshop Elements and did very little to it other than leaving the software to sort the colour, contrast and sharpness. I did clone some of the background above the head of the lady on the left as it looked like she had a bush growing out of her head! “The image has been with Fotolibra for a year or so now and was recently bought for inclusion in The Encyclopaedia of Wales, which will be published soon. Sadly, I don’t know who the ladies are, but I received a payment of £38 – I’m just happy that I chanced my luck and placed the image in the first place.”
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Jane Hallin IT’S a common discussion among freelance photographers nowadays; how valuable a website is as a marketing tool. In Jane’s experience, it’s extremely valuable. “A colleague at work saw this shot on my website [www. moorlandandmore.com] and I sold him a copy for £39,” she told us. “It was taken last year at the end of an early summer evening walk on Dartmoor. This pond is just by the side of the road between Plymouth and Princetown and the dusk colours were in exactly the right place to reflect in the water. I had to work quickly to catch the light and get the right angle to avoid getting parked cars in the shot!”
ARE YOU A MONEY MAKER? Are you already making cash from your camera? If so, A we’d like to hear from you. ARE YOU MONEY MAKER? We’re interested in seeing images that have successfully Are you already making cash from your sold, and camera? hearing the stories behind them. It doesn’t matter If so, we’d like to hear from you. whether you’ve soldin your shot £10 or your 100th We’re interested seeingfirst images thatfor have successfully sold,instance, and hearingplease the stories for £1000. In the first use our Image Buyer behind them. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve on£10 the website sold your service first shot for or FPME your 100th for
www.fpme.co.uk
£1000. In the first instance, please use our Image Buyer service on the FPME website where a Money Maker request will be posted (www.fpme.co.uk) where a Money Maker request has beenthis permanently posted.out. when issue comes
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Money makers
Duncan Farquhar THIS area, in the West Highlands of Scotland, is a regular stomping ground for Duncan so on a windy day in May 2006 he knew he’d be able to get the shot he was after. “I hand held the shot as using my tripod would have hindered me in this location – I just waited for the waves to hit the rock and wanted to capture
“They cropped and printed the picture in portrait format, then used it again for two further calendars so in total it has earned me £316.”
the heavy swell in the sea as well,” explains Duncan. “I submitted the shot in landscape format to a corporate calendar publisher who selected it for a 2009 calendar for which I was paid £180. They cropped and printed the picture in portrait format, then used it again in two further calendars so in total it has earned me £316.”
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Member
Mark Sunderland FPME subscriber Mark Sunderland trained in IT, but is now a full-time landscape photographer. He tells us how he’s made his new career a success How did you get into photography? My interest in photography started when I was very young, watching my father print his black & white
photographs in the darkroom at home. I was fascinated by the image slowly appearing in the developer dish. I started taking photographs at the age of 11, with a Kodak Instamatic that
my parents got me for a school trip to London. I asked for an SLR and got an OM-1 for my 18th birthday and things grew from there.
What prompted the move into landscapes? I shot anything and everything in the early days, but once I had a busy IT career it was mostly based around holidays. After a few years working I decided I wanted to progress a little more with photography, so in 1992 I did a short course on general photography and black & white darkroom work which made me think a bit more about what I wanted to do. In 1995 I went on Nigel Turner’s Canyons of the South West workshop in the USA and learnt
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What’s the biggest success you’ve had since going full time and the biggest mistake you’ve made? Probably the biggest single deal is the one Indigo Art made to supply my images into every room of a very large hotel in the Cotswolds (over 200 rooms). I’ve had returns most quarters from Indigo Art with a stock of just eight images, with the last one being the biggest at £1200. I’m sure I’ve made loads of mistakes along the way, but I’m fairly cautious so I haven’t sustained any huge losses.
Where does the majority of your work come from and how important is your website as a marketing tool?
about shooting landscape on Velvia. It was this that made me realise I wanted to specialise in colour landscape.
You’re now a full-time landscape photographer. When did you realise you could make a living from your photography and how scary was it making the jump? It was quite a gradual process really. I had gone freelance in the IT field and so my holidays between contracts became landscape photography workshops or trips with a lot of camera gear in tow. I started selling a few prints and even made this part of my IT company, though it was a fairly insignificant part of the turnover. I had a break from IT in 2000 and spent more time on
photography, and had some success with a Highly Commended image in the British Gas Wildlife Photographer of The Year Competition, in the Composition and Form category, but around that time I had the opportunity to do some IT contracts abroad and so pursued that path for a while. By 2004 I was back in the UK and felt I’d done all I wanted to do in IT and had been thinking about making the jump for some time. I finally decided when a friend of mine (who had also moved out of IT) asked ‘If you don’t do it, will you look back in five years time and regret not giving it a go?’ So by the time I made the move, it wasn’t scary at all – it just felt like the right thing to do at the time, and looking back now I have no regrets.
Currently my revenue is fairly evenly split between stock, print and card sales and magazine royalties. Because of the nature of what I shoot (general travel as well as landscapes) most of the stock usages are editorial. I think it’s important for any business to have a website and it does prove a useful marketing tool, but I don’t see it as a way of generating a lot of online revenue at this stage. The focus of the website is on the print side at present and I sold two large canvases for a new building in a local college recently as a direct result of a web search, and I’ve had people turn up at an art show where I exhibit regularly having checked my event list on the site and driven out specially to buy from me, so it does work, though people tend only to buy when they see finished prints rather than off the web directly.
Your images are regularly on display around Yorkshire – do you exhibit to make money or get your name known? Where I have work up as a fixed exhibition it’s really about raising my profile as a photographer so I don’t really go into those expecting to make money. With the art shows and fairs that I do, however, it’s a combination of both. I’ve tuned the products that I show to make sales, and I do make a profit from these events, and occasionally I get sales leads from them as well. But probably the biggest benefit of selling work myself has been the marketing feedback that I get on
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Member
which kinds of images work best and the market segment that I should be targeting.
What, in your opinion, are the hallmarks of a successful landscape photographer? I think it’s all down to artistic vision. The mechanics of photography can be learnt, but once this has been done it’s a case of developing a successful style that is undeniably one’s own. Combine that with good planning and persistence and some decent landscape images should result.
Based on what you know what advice would you give to fellow freelancers wanting to break into landscape photography? Planning is very important in order to get yourself in the right place at the right time. At any new location, always think about what sort of light would be best and what time of year and time of day would suit the subjects that you want to shoot, and then you can plan to come back at the right time and get the best shots. Obviously there is always an element of waiting for the right light, but with good planning you can
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minimise this and with an eye on the weather forecast you can give yourself the best chance. Of course, the weather is not that predictable, so as well as a good plan it’s advisable to have a good plan B as well!
for other projects. I’d like to expand my greetings card business into retail outlets, as the hand-printed ones I show with my prints are popular, but too costly and too time-consuming to get a reasonable wholesale supply.
What are your future plans and how will you achieve them?
What’s your favourite location in the world, and why?
I see stock as a fairly solid part of my long-term strategy, so I’ll continue to build up the variety of locations I have to offer. I supply a number of libraries from the general (Alamy) to the more specialised such as the National Trust Photo Library and The Travel Library, so I’ve set myself annual targets submissions to these (which I’m just about keeping up with!). I’ve also set myself targets for magazine submissions, and am looking at doing a bit more writing here to supply more words and pictures features, following the success of a few articles last year. I’ll continue with the shows and fairs, as this year will be my first full season with a mobile credit card terminal, which showed a doubling of the average spend in the second half of last year, but will tune these down a bit in the future to release more time
Since moving back to my native Yorkshire in 2005 I’ve found it difficult to tear myself away from the Yorkshire Dales, but the area that got me into landscape photography was the American south west, so that will always be special. The image that I think sums up the striking landscape of that area and its impact on my photography is North Window and Turret Arch in Arches National Park, Utah, which I took on my first trip out there with Nigel back in 1995 and was my first doublepage spread in a magazine!
What’s the best piece of photographic advice you’ve been given? Learning photography is a bit like learning to drive a car – one you have mastered the skills, you need to work out where you want to go.
Would yo u lik in Membe e to feature r Spotligh Want to sh t? are your fr ee
lance exp and wisdom erience with your fellow read Then get in touch. In ers? the first in please up load three stance, low resolu that are in tion imag dicative of es your work FPME web using the site Image R eq A new pic uest servic ture lead e. entitled M Spotlight ember will be pos ted when this issue goes out to subscriber s.
About Mark Location: Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. Age: 44 Equipment: Two Canon EOS 5D bodies with 17-40mm, 24-105mm, 70-200mm L lenses and a 2x converter, Gitzo carbon-fibre tripod with Manfrotto head, Jobo Giga Vu Pro, Lowepro rucksack. Experience: Over 30 years taking photographs, professionally since 2004. Website: www.marksunderland.com
FPME APRIL/MAY 2008 | 21
FEATURE
Test your metal Trying a different photographic discipline can be lucrative – and nerve wracking – as Nick Jenkins discovered
T
he tale I am about to tell is a fairy story in many ways. I couldn’t have made it up, but it really did happen. I’m best known for my outdoor and landscape photography. The courses I run, both for my own business and others such as Light & Land, are very much planned and executed around landscapes and sunsets (sunrises too, if I can manage to get the clients out of bed). Indeed, last summer I had a small pitch at the Brecon Beacons National Park summer fayre to sell my outdoor and landscape photography products: books, calendars, postcards, etc. It was while I was there, however, that a chap passed by my stall and gave all my goodies a bit more than the usual cursory glance. I let him browse at his leisure. He smiled and walked off around the rest of the show, but returned a few minutes later. Picking up my latest book, Moods of Cardigan Bay, he flicked through the pictures and then asked me if I did any other sort of photography. I explained that I steered well clear of both wedding and portrait pictures, as there are those out there far better qualified than me, and I know it. ‘Actually,’ he went on, ‘I was thinking about industrial work’. Damn! I had never been anywhere near this area and just knew I couldn’t do it. I felt the
“My brain was formulating the reluctant ‘no’ reply, when my mouth got in there first.”
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opportunity for a new commission sliding slowly out of my grasp. My brain was busy formulating the reluctant ‘no’ reply, when my mouth got in there first. ‘Of course I do that,’ it gushed. ‘Not a problem’. ‘Excellent,’ he replied, and we agreed to meet the following week to discuss his requirements. He explained that he was the marketing director for his company and was very keen to get a good portfolio of promotional images into his files. Hell, did I sweat during the time up to our meeting! I had NEVER photographed anything other than outdoor stuff before. What on earth was my mouth thinking when it blurted out that reply? I went along to his office and after a chat, with some very carefully worded caveats from me, we ended the meeting with my undertaking to shoot a test set for his review and hopefully approval
“Hell, did I sweat up to the first meeting I had NEVER shot anything other than outdoor stuff before.”
before entering into any commitment. A few days later, I took my Nikon D2X into the factory (a steel works including blast furnace) and took several shots. A colleague helped me with some fairly challenging post processing (challenging as I was then just starting to get to grips with Photoshop). The outcome met with potential client’s approval and my colleague and I are now resident photographers for the company, a multi-million pound concern. Projects for them have included local product and process photography, as well as travel over the UK to sites where their products are used. The moral of the story? 1) Never turn work down (unless you feel you have a very good reason for doing so). 2) Think about offering a test shoot. That way both parties have a ‘get out’ opportunity if it all goes horribly wrong. 3) Network so that you have someone you can call on if some of the required fP ME disciplines are a little weak.
About Nick Age: 51 Started freelancing: 2002. It’s never too late to start a business for something you love! Favourite photographers: Charlie Waite, David Ward, Joe Cornish Gear used: Nikon F5 film SLR, but have recently invested in a Nikon D2X. I also use a Mamiya 645 Pro. My favourite film is Velvia 50, but I am relying more and more on Velvia 100. All landscapes are shot using a tripod, normally a Gitzo, but I also own a (very solid) Benbo 2 and a smaller but more versatile Uni-loc. Website: www. freespiritimages.com
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FEATURE
Speculate to Re-investing some of your freelance income can lead to further money making opportunities, says Nick Lewis
A
little while back I had an idea. I’d made some good money during 2007 through my parttime photography business by writing articles, selling stock through Alamy and a couple of other outlets. The idea was to invest some of this money into exploring Europe, capturing some new images, marketing them through Alamy
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and writing about my experiences along the way. My theory being that I’d be able to make more money, which would finance further trips. Having discussed the idea with my wife – who bought into it immediately – we decided on our first destination: Brussels. Brussels is a major city and, since the mid-1980s, has been the seat of European
accumulate parliament so it’s often written about in the media. Brussels is also a fascinating city of many contrasts in terms of architecture, history and social identity. Our four-day trip cost £244, which included return travel on Eurostar and a hotel for the two of us. We didn’t account for the cost of eating out whilst away, so it’s worth bearing this factor in mind if you have a tight budget to work to. On our first day, I didn’t take a single shot, concentrating instead on doing a recce to familiarise myself with the new environment. Some of the best shots require planning and prior knowledge
is often valuable. I drew up a list that I ticked off as I went along, to make sure I got the shots I was aiming for. If you’re already contributing to photo libraries, it’s always a good idea to check their current image requirements before you travel. They may well be looking for rather unusual shots of your chosen destination and you could be onto an instant winner by seeking this special shot out whilst out and about. Naturally, other ad-hoc photographs do come about. It’s important in these situations not to carried away, it’s important to pay attention to the usual things like
where the light is falling, the shadows, distracting objects and so on. One thing that quickly became apparent during our stay was the fact that a lot of the buildings were under scaffolding or cranes! This meant that some buildings on my list had to be skipped and some skylines required editing to get rid of the cranes. I travelled light both in terms of camera gear and other personal items asc
“I drew up a list that I ticked off as I went along, to make sure I got the shots I was aiming for.”
About Nick Age 35 Location Farnborough Gear Nikon DSLRs with a range of lenses covering 18 to 300mm Experience Nick currently has over 1000 images with the Alamy online library Website www.nicklewisphotography.co.uk
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FEATURE
I knew I would be doing a lot of walking. You get to see a lot more of a city this way and get many more shots. It’s crucial to make note of things along the way, so that you can caption and keyword your photos accurately later on. A notepad and pen will do or if you have something more technical like a PDA, this can save time later on.
Is it worth taking a laptop? It’s entirely up to you but I decided not to on this occasion, opting instead to stock up on memory cards, which are now becoming so cheap. If I were travelling on a longer trip, I would probably take my laptop, as it’s handy to download, caption and keyword images in the hotel room in the evening, not to mention being able
Nick’s tips for successful photo trips DO ● Plan your trip as much as you can before travelling. ● Set yourself a budget for travel, accommodation, food and drink. ● Aim for a mixture of regular shots of famous landmarks and some more arty versions, to keep your sales options open. ● Try exploring areas off the map but take your personal security very seriously. ● Ask the locals where they recommend, as quite often they may know of some little gems that the travel guides miss. DON’T ● Forget to take a notebook and make plenty of notes about the subjects you photograph, so that you can caption images easily later on
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or be ready to answer questions about your photographs when asked. ● Take all of your kit, it will weigh you down plus airports and Eurostar do impose limits on luggage. Check before you travel. Try and travel as light as possible. ● Use public transport too much, as you’ll miss photo opportunities in the process, it’s better to walk. Take decent pair of shoes or better still walking boots. ● Be afraid to ask people if you can take their photo, character portraits can tell you a lot about the people and their city or country. Quite often more so than when you take their photo discretely. ● Forget to take plenty of water with you during the day to keep hydrated and eat regularly.
FEATURE
“It’s worth taking some spare batteries and a charger for your camera as energy gets used up quickly.”
to minimise the amount of work when returning home. It’s worth taking some spare batteries and a charger for your camera as energy gets used up quickly. I also took very little in the way of lenses and I even left my tripod behind. Some may question my sanity for doing so, but my Sigma 18-200mm OS lens coped better than I’d thought it would with the task. In addition to this lens I took only two others and carried my smaller Slingshot rucksack. Travel photography opens up a lot
of options for the photographer in terms of subject matter. I like to stretch my abilities and often its good to step outside your traditional photographic comfort zones. I have to confess that one thing I do find hard is asking a complete stranger if I can take a character portrait. I didn’t find many opportunities of this kind in Brussels, but it was an option I had in mind whilst we were exploring. Weather can be a problem and we had both fine and wet days during our stay. This can either hamper progress or open up new opportunities for you. In our case we ventured into various churches and
cathedrals where I was able to (without flash) take some decent shots using a very high ISO setting indeed. Was my trip worth the effort? Well, I have placed all the images with Alamy and have picked a selection of my favourites to sell as signed prints on my website. I have also penned an article about Brussels that I am going to pitch to non-photographic publications; the aim being to try and make inroads into another magazine niche entirely. So far, it’s early days but I feel confident that with time and patience this area of my fP ME business will develop.
FPME APRIL/MAY 2008 | 27
FEATURE
Costa del cash
Planning a holiday? There’s no reason why you can’t turn it into a money making trip. Dan Santillo tells you how
H
olidays are a great opportunity to add photos to your library that are outside your normal working area. Doing some research beforehand and being diligent whilst on your holiday can enable you to make money from your family trip, be it abroad or in your home country. In 2005, I was lucky enough to go to New Zealand on my honeymoon. Part of the holiday was a ten day guided tour – not your normal coach tour, but trekking in rainforests and across volcanic landscapes, mostly off the normal tourist track. I made sure that I had packed a handful of model release forms in case
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I took some photos I thought would be able to make money from. Over the ten days, the group of ten bonded very well and were happy for me to take photos of them. At the end, they all happily signed the model release forms, so I went away with a digital wallet full of saleable photos with people in them. The following year, we went on a family holiday to Aosta in northern Italy. This time, I searched Alamy and Photographers Direct to see what photos existed of the town and was delighted to see that there were only a few hits, so I knew we’d chosen a good location.
I also bought a couple of magazines about Italy. When looking for potential magazines to approach, I always check out the editorial staff list – if the list is packed with different members of staff, then it’s possible they do all
“Doing some research and being diligent whilst on holiday can enable you to make money from your trip.”
“I pay specific attention to front covers, as magazines normally pay more for them…”
Dan is a regular visitor to the FPME forums, so if you have a question about this feature, post up a question and he’ll send you an answer.
FPME APRIL/MAY 2008 | 29
FEATURE their own writing and photography, but often magazines have few staff and occasionally a list of contributors to the issue, which means it’s a prime publication to target. I emailed the editors of each magazine to ask if they had any picture needs from that area and also what their guidelines for submission were. One reply told me they were specifically looking for photos of towns with people in them, so that was a high priority on my list (despite not liking town photography). I also pay specific attention to front covers, as magazines normally pay more for them than inside photos - it’s the front cover, which helps to sell the magazine. Each day of the holiday can result in several hundred photos, so it’s important to keep track of where you’ve been. I happen to write travelogues for my personal enjoyment and to show family and friends, but they also work as an invaluable guide to where I went and what the photos show. Tourist locations often have information signs, so I always take a photo of the sign – they’ll never be processed to be printed or sold, but they contain lots of valuable information that can be used to caption photos and write features. Tourist Information Centres (TICs) or their equivalents are also an essential visit, as they offer useful free brochures (for example, about the history of the town and so on). I keep these at home, so I can refer to them later. TICs also sell maps and, again, these are invaluable for ensuring you spell place names properly. They can help to jog your memory of where you’ve been. Thinking laterally is important, for example, when in northern Italy, we spent several days walking in Gran Paradiso National Park. I noticed the campsite at the bottom of one of the valleys, so took a couple of photos with Camping magazine in mind, as I’ve written for them before. It’s important to check out local laws. I found out after going to Italy that it’s illegal to take photos of people without their written permission, but a general street scene is OK as long as it’s not of specific people. It’s also worth ensuring your equipment will work at your destination too – when I went to Colorado, I was using an IBM Microdrive. The week before I left, I read that they don’t work above 10,000 feet above sea level. For most people, this wouldn’t be a problem, but we wanted to visit Pikes
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Peak at 14,110 feet so I was able to make sure I bought a CompactFlash card. Once back home, the real work of sifting through the photos, processing and captioning begins. The sooner the photos are with a stock library and being sent out to magazines, the sooner they will start paying for themselves. I’ve since had some photos of Italy published in a newspaper and a book with a photo from New Zealand is soon to be published thanks to a stock library sale. I’ve also sent photos and feature suggestions to Italy, Camping and Country Walking. I’m lucky that my wife is very understanding and encourages me to take photos on holiday, but just nipping out for an early morning shoot before everyone else is up for breakfast can help add some pennies fP to the bank balance! ME
Dan’s tips for success DO ● Research the area you are going to beforehand and use stock libraries to see which photos are currently on sale. ● Collect as much information on your holiday as possible, such as leaflets, maps, photos of signs, etc. ● Take your camera everywhere if possible. ● Keep detailed notes of where you’ve been, place name spellings and what particular photos are showing. ● Think out of the box about your photographs and who you can target them at as you can often aim at several different markets with the same photos.
DON’T ● Ignore local laws regarding photography, for example, the Eiffel Tower in Paris has restrictions on selling photos as does Lulworth Cove in Dorset. ● Forget that images with people in sell well, but try to avoid cars as they date the photo. ● Fail to visit the Tourist Information Centres. ● Leave it too long after the holiday to caption the photos. ● Forget that, ultimately, it is a family holiday and you may have to compromise your photography to keep everyone happy.
SUPPORT & ADVICE
BUSINESS ADVISORS Got a question related to freelancing? Our team of advisors will be able to give you the answer you’re looking for
THE ADVISORS JOHN DOORNKAMP – Running your business John spent 12 years as the MD of a consultancy company before running his own practice for a further 15 years. He now runs a freelance photography business and has produced a CD that carries a whole range of business aids and practical advice. For more details, visit www.doornkamp.co.uk.
LARS SWANN – Accountancy Lars has been in accountancy for 14 years working for large companies like Johnson & Johnson and Fujitsu Systems. He now works full time as an accountant, specialising in small and photographic businesses. He also has his own part-time freelance photography business.
ROGER PAYNE – General enquiries Roger has been a journalist for the past 17 years, working on both photographic and motoring titles. In addition to editing FPME, he is also the associate editor on Photography Monthly magazine, a freelance photographer and runs a publishing company with his wife, Jules.
GO ON, ASK If you’ve got any questions that you’d like answering about the business side of freelancing, you can do this in one of two ways. Either use the link on the FPME website, or e-mail them to:
roger@fpme.co.uk Note: The advice given here cannot take into account individual circumstances. No responsibility is accepted (either by the publisher or the author) for the consequences arising from any actions taken based on this advice. In all legal and financial matters you should seek appropriate professional services
Stock library start up
Q
I am starting a stock library of my own images and wonder how film should be accounted for. Technically, because I am selling the rights to use the image, the film is a fixed asset as it has not been purchased for resale but for use in the business and the cost of processing the film would add value. Because the film is of low value however is it treated as a cost of sales in calculating gross profit and hence offset against tax. If it is an asset would it have to be depreciated and as such be recorded in the balance sheet? Can these costs of film and processing be treated as start-up costs for the previous seven years? Does the image have an inherent value for insurance purposes – is it an intangible asset? Brian Arnopp
A
The cost of producing the image should be held in fixed assets and depreciated over its useful life. It would not necessarily increase your tax on profits because under Inland Revenue rules depreciation is disallowed for tax purposes and replaced by giving you a capital allowance. In the first year you receive a first year allowance, which for the 2007/08 year is 50%. So in this financial year you receive a tax advantage assuming you depreciate at 25%. You can only go back six years with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and I wouldn’t advise it unless you want to resubmit six years’ of tax returns to HMRC and risk an enquiry into your tax affairs. Finally, I would say yes the images do have an inherent value, but it would be difficult to value the asset unless you could accurately predict future incomes from the images. LS
Image size conundrum
Q
Thanks to your excellent magazine and website I’ve been inspired to submit some images to an online image library. However, I’ve been told that most libraries need file sizes around 50MB. I’m going to buy a new DSLR but, to my knowledge, very few produce files this size. Am I stuck before I’ve even started? Peter Rice
A
You’re right in your observations that there are precious few cameras out there that produce file sizes of 50MB straight out of the camera. Not even the latest 12 and 14 megapixel models such as the Nikon D300 and Pentax K20D get close to that. But the good news is, your stock career isn’t hampered before you’ve submitted a single shot – thanks to file interpolation. Alamy is one of the biggest online libraries and they recommend that you use an SLR with a resolution of at least six megapixels to produce a file size of approximately 17MB. Then you simply have to increase the file size using software such as Genuine Fractals or Photoshop itself (providing you have version seven or later). Both of these packages will increase (interpolate) the files by looking at groups of pixels in the image and adding new ones in accordingly. Early interpolation software increased the file size, but lowered the image quality as a result. Modern versions are much better and will deliver quality 50MB files. One thing to be aware of, if you interpolate files using Photoshop, be sure to select Bicubic sampling when you tick the Resample Image box in the Image Size window. RP
FPME APRIL/MAY 2008
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