Title: God's eye view of Yellowstone
Caption:
To shoot poignant pictures we only need follow the path of our enthusiasm . I believe that this feeling is the universe's way of telling us that we are doing the right thing. The viewing public will always disagree over the intrinsic merits of a particular photograph, but no one can deny the enthusiasm that originally inspired us to capture and offer that image to others. - Timothy Allen - On choosing subject matter - From an interview in 'Photographer' Magazine (Russian)
Once you have a beautiful photograph and it is a wonder to behold: The art of presentation to the world is often neglected. How you present your photograph to your audience is as important as the photograph itself. Here are some tips I have learned from experience.
1. Titling your photograph: All to often I have seen photographs represented by their file name. The title of the photograph is the bow on the package and the enticement to the gift within. I usually arrive at a title by how the photograph impresses me. Or sometimes by using a few words of the selected caption.
2. Selecting a caption: The few words that you add to your photograph in the caption can catapult your photograph high in the viewers mind.
How you choose a caption should be careful and deliberate. Most of the captions I use are thematic and are generally based on quotations about nature or photography.
A resource I use extensively is PhotoQuotes. Photoquotes is one of the best sites available for finding captions. It is easy to navigate and void of pop ups like many other quotation sites. It has a very well researched data base.
Not only does it provide a wealth of ideas about captions, I use it as a starting point to research other photographers.
3. Deciding on how to expose your photograph: I have really covered this topic in The Ten Top Reasons photographs sell.
I do have one more bit of advice and that is keep exploring opportunities on the Internet. As an example I would like to tell you PhotoQuotes is starting a new project titled: Showcase your photography book / fine art print on PhotoQuotes.com
This is an excellent opportunity to increase the exposure of photographs. And, it is not only good for the promotion of your photography: It is a good thing to do.
I highly recommend that you participate and you will see my name as one of the accepted photographers.
4. Think globally and think locally: An example of thinking globally is showcasing your photos on PhotoQuotes.
You should also think locally. I have given advice that you should donate photographs locally.
This is my personal project to give you an example. I am donating a 20x30 framed print to the Blue Ridge Medical Center in Arrington Virginia.
My plan is to do this for every medical center in Virginia that serves the poor. If you would like to help with this project Contact me. Your help would be deeply appreciated.
5. Think multiple sites: People can find my photographs on many sites. Two of the primary sites I use are SmugMug and Flickr. Both those sites have been a boon for photography.
I also use countless other sites such as: Zazzle, RedBubble, and Blurb.
6. Expand your list of social contacts: I use both Twitter and Face Book to expand exposure of users of photographs. I am sure there are many sources useful for your photographic brand to be discovered in other social media outlets.
Yet keeping up with those two are as about daunting as I care to be. Importantly, look for friends in the publishing field.
7. Build relationships with galleries: Galleries are by far much better for your exposure than the Internet. Having exposure where people can see your photographs displayed beats any online gallery. If you have trouble finding galleries that will exhibit your work try upscale consignment shops. I sometimes get better prices with some of those.
8. Be persistant: Sometimes having a lot of logs in the fire can become overwhelming. You have to take the time to re stoke the embers to keep the flame going. This is one of the most difficult tasks for me. But it is a necessary task, and I have to redouble my efforts.
I try to set some time each day to do what is needed at the different sites that represent my work. The old adage if you don't use it you lose it definitely applies. And an aside to you this is my major weakness.
9. Offer people commissions to sell your work: Good agents are hard to come by. But we all know those go getters out there. Do some of your own recruiting. In the present economy you will be surprised how enthusiastic some people can be.
10. Be Johnny on the spot with emails: Try your best to answer every inquiry promptly. Being a photographer you are often in the field. Try to take care of those back logs of emails.
