Selling My Photos on Fine Art America

Posted on Sep 15, 2014 in Career, Photography | 2 comments

A friend of mine called me an “accomplished photographer”.  Thanks Bill!  While I disagree, his kind words encouraged me to finally look into the realistic prospect of selling my photos as artwork.  He recommended I check out a site called Fine Art America over the more well-known Imagekind.  He recommended Fine Art America for their superb marketing materials, and I can see what he was talking about.

Blue Eyed Cat by Trisha Lyn FawverI have been wanting to sell my photography for some kind.  I started by putting out photo books using Kindle Direct Publishing, but I also have photos that don’t fit into those general series and categories to be put into books.  I found that compiling books about railroads or cemeteries was easier because I feel the need to include some facts about the locations where I took the photos, but I have a ton of photos that are just good looking (I think, anyway) with no context or that don’t fit into a larger category that I’d feel inspired to write a book about.

So far I’ve added just two pictures to my Fine Art America account.  The one pictured here, which I’ve titled Blue Eyed Cat, and another from my neighborhood called Sunset Through The Trees.  I’ve made what I feel like are the most common sizes that someone might want to order available, though if you have a certain size you’d like to order, please let me know!  Of course, they don’t have the watermark on them when you order them.  I feel like if you’re buying something from me, it’s yours and you can use it however you like without my ugly logo on there.

My current plan is to add some more over the next few weeks.  I think I really need to be in an OCD mood to do it because it involves actually deciding on tags, names, descriptions, etc.  I’m a stickler for consistency, so I need to make sure everything is uniform where it should be.  It’s a blessing and a curse, really.  I am hoping, if I get some good reaction to selling my photography here, it can be a fairly lucrative side hustle for me.  The photography books and wine charms trickle some cash in every now and again, but I’m certainly not paying any bills with those creative endeavors.  Honestly, my goal really isn’t even to pay any bills… it’s really just to offset costs of getting new toys like new craft stuffs, new filters or lenses for my camera, etc.  Fingers crossed.

Can you all do me a favor?  Check out my photos at Flickr… let me know, are there any in particular that jump out at you that I should prioritize adding to Fine Art America?

 

2 Comments

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  1. Bill Swartwout

    Glad to see I provided some impetus for your decision. But I disagree with your initial statement – you are an accomplished photographer. Pet photos don’t usually attract my attention but the way you captured those blue eyes in the cat (your cat?) is incredible.

    Are you on a par with Ansel Adams? Probably not. Neither am I. But that is a good thing. Even though I admire Adams’ work I do not have any hanging in either of our homes. In fact, I only know one person who has anything by Adams on display. So you (and I) are able to provide quality images to people with other tastes in art photographs.

    I also have the attitude that I don’t expect to earn much $$$ with my photographs. But I would like to be able to get that “next lens” that I would not otherwise purchase unless someone buys a couple of prints. If we do make a lot of unexpected sales that will just be like icing on the cake.

    You can also create an account at Imagekind and upload some items there. But your OCD mood might find that difficult – because you know you will have to use different titles, descriptions and key words for them. LOL

    I do like the marketing tools at FAA and I also like the forum. Unlike the “nearly dead” forum at Imagekind, the FAA Community Discussions are very active.

    Enjoy your “new home” and Good Luck with expanding your photography reach.

    • Trisha Lyn Fawver

      Thanks for the encouragement Bill! It’s not my cat… it roams our neighborhood in the next block over. I don’t know if it’s a stray or not since there’s no collar, but I see it around sometimes. It seems too clean to be a stray, but who knows. It’s a gorgeous and very friendly cat… came right up to me and snuggled my leg, which is how I was able to look down and get such a great shot. This was my first week with my DSLR too 🙂