Tips for Photographers
Take Good Photos:
Get off to a good start --
- Avoid unpleasant situations. Always ask permission before shooting, and don't photograph children or pets without first asking the adult with them. Don't claim to be a professional photographer unless you are.
- Wear your Snapped4U cap and hand out business cards. The cap and card will make your potential customers more comfortable when you first approach. Click here to check out our baseball cap and business cards.
- Look for people out with friends, family, kids, and pets. 'Cute kids!' or 'Nice dog!' might be a friendly lead to, "Would you like to have a group (family) photo taken?" Explain the photos will be posted for sale at Snapped4U.com.
- Be prepared! Take spare batteries and an extra flash card.
Take photos you'd buy --
- Posed shots with smiling faces are the best sellers. Distant or candid shots rarely sell.
- Shooting at eye-level usually results in the shots most flattering to your subjects.
- Without seeming pushy, pose people and suggest they remove their sunglasses. Make sure everyone can be seen and that those on the end don't seem off by themselves.
- Take one pose from different angles, then change the pose a bit and shoot some more. Whenever possible, take advantage of stairs and benches. Avoid 'line-ups' by staggering layers of standers, sitters, and kneelers.
- The larger the group, the more shots you should take. Taking more shots improves the chance of getting one good of everyone. It may also lead to more sales, as different members of the group may like different shots.
- Kids and pets often don't pose well, so take lots of shots and improve your chances of getting some good ones. One good method for kids and pets is using your camera's sports mode (or action mode.
- Consider the angle of the sun and the views that provide the best backgrounds. Keep an eye out for distractions: Avoid radio towers, power lines, traffic signs, etc. Notice that a crowd in the background is usually acceptable, but a stray individual often is not. If a good background just isn't available, use a shallow depth-of-field aperture setting to put the background out of focus.
Choose good events --
- Outdoor venues make good shots easier to get.
- Public places require less planning. If you choose private property, be sure to get advance permission from the owner.
- Be selective choosing events. Shoots arranged in advance tend to have the best results, but don't rule out last minute opportunities. Watch for events where people will be out having fun: Air Shows, Art Fairs, Apple Orchards, Baseball Games, Beaches, Bowling Leagues, Christmas Tree Farms, Cycling Events, Derby Parties, Dog Beaches, Dog Parks, Ethnic Festivals, Equestrian Events, Fairgrounds, Football Games, Garden Club Events, Golf Tournaments, Graduations, Markets, Marinas, Monuments, Music Festivals, Nascar/Indy Events, Pageants, Parades, Parks, Pinewood Derbies, Political Rallies, Proms, Regattas, Runs/Marathons, Scenic Overlooks, Sledding Hills, Soccer Matches, Softball Games, Super Bowl Parties, Swim Meets, Tailgating, Tennis Tournaments, Tide Pools, Valentines Parties, and Water Sports.
- Occasionally very good galleries have poor sales. If your subjects are not comfortable using the Internet, your sales will likely face an insurmountable obstacle. Also, events where many people bring their own cameras mean lots of competition, so be prepared to do your very best work! Beware of ladies' luncheons, too: 'The rarest thing in the world is a woman who is pleased with a photograph of herself.' -- Elizabeth Metcalf
Resolution and Editing --
- For many cameras, high resolution will be the best setting. Shoot at a resolution that will allow you to edit and still maintain quality sufficient to produce a good 8x10, (ie, the long side should measure at least 1600 pixels). If you have high-tech equipment, remember our maximum file size is 4MB.
- Remember that all editing must be done prior to uploading, and that includes rotating for correct orientation.
- Review your photos before uploading, and keep your gallery's quality high. Delete the really bad shots and enhance others with basic editing such as straightening and cropping. Rename edited versions by simply adding a suffix to the original filename.
- Cropping one photo in different ways might even be posted as multiple shots. Name the cropped version by simply adding a suffix to the original filename.
- Look for photos that can be made more flattering by cropping at the waist or shoulders for instant weight loss -- and don't even post the unflattering view!
Promote Your Gallery:
- Photos must be found to be sold! Be sure your customers know the photos will be at www.Snapped4U.com.
- Whenever possible, choose events with a website or facebook page where you can post a reminder.
- As you shoot, offer to send a reminder and keep a list of anyone willing to share their email address.
- Hand out business cards and wear your Snapped4U cap to help your customers remember where to find your photos. Caps and Cards
- Create and post your gallery immediately after shooting to avoid missing the earliest customer searches. When this is not possible, create your gallery in advance and upload a jpeg message so that your customers know they've come to the right place and to check back soon.
Make Your Gallery Customer-Friendly:
- Galleries are automatically identified by the photographer's name. It is up to the photographer to provide other pertinent information so that the photos will be found when a customer searches.
- For Event galleries, choose the name for the Event/Venue that will be most easily recognized. For Photographer's Choice galleries, choose a concise description.
- As tags, carefully choose descriptive words not in the Event/Venue Name or the Gallery Description. When customers search by a keyword, the results will include galleries with that word in the Event/Venue Name or Gallery Description, as well as those with the word designated as a tag.
- Make your photos easy to search. Photos will appear in alphanumeric order within your gallery. Your camera or computer assigns filenames in chronological order, and that is usually the best order for customer searching. If you edit, rename edited versions by simply adding a suffix to the filename to preserve chronology. If a customer's photos are scattered throughout the gallery, they will be difficult to compare, or worse, some may not even be found.
- To use a favorite shot or jpeg message as the gallery icon, name it '0000' so that it will appear first.
Know the Options:
Snapped4U offers two types of galleries --
- Event Galleries are exclusively for photos of people, pets, and fundraising. The price is set at $4/photo and the photographer will receive $3.50/photos sold. Event Galleries are free to post and remain posted for a minimum of 8 weeks.
- Photographer's Choice Galleries let the photographer choose the subjects. The photographer selects the price. (All photos in one gallery are the same price.) The sales commission is $0.50 on photos priced $5 or less and 10% on all others. There is a posting fee of $9 per 3 month period. It is made when the gallery is first posted and marks the beginning of the posting period.
Have Fun and Good luck!
Please email us with more tips to share.
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revised 05/22/2011
