What is your experience with art decor and MF?

[Ric Trexell]

I was looking over some sites on the web about doing art decor photography such as is done at art shows and flea markets. I would like to hear from those that have dabbled in this and what would you say about it? Is this more of a LF thing, and can you sell photos with a MF camera? What about 35mm? Can you tell me what you found is the big sellers? If you included people in your shots, assuming they were not family, how did you compensate them? How long did you do this and was it profitable or did you just meet a lot on nice people? Also, I have heard that 16X20 is the best size as people can usually find a place for that size on their walls, and it is not like a 30X40 which is hard to handle. What size were the big sellers, 8X10, 11X14 or even 5X7? I would be interested in your take on this, and I assume others might be also. Thanks.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

With Thomas Kincade now gone this should open up huge opportunities for
photographers looking to crack the "art decor" market. One has to be sure to do images in different shades so as to more easily match the furniture.

 

[pgomena]

I walked into Costco on Saturday and there was someone hawking local pictures digitally printed on "canvas" and wrapped around a canvas stretcher.

Here's what I observed:

Shoot digital
Make colors as over-saturated and garish as possible.
Don't hold back on the special effects filters.
Print the pictures as big as your printer will allow. If they're smaller than 16x20", buy a bigger printer.

Seriously, 35mm probably won't cut it these days. You need to go MF at least, and LF if you go bigger than 16x20. Keep your materials costs as low as possible. Most art-fair folks I see offer the same prints in various sizes from 5x7" up to 16x20", and usually they have window mats.

(Overheard by a vendor at a neighborhood art fair - "I find $5 is a really good price point.")

I think either this forum or the LF forum has a whole section devoted to finishing and marketing work. You would do well to read the back posts.

Peter Gomena

 

[Brian C. Miller]

In my office, my coworker has a framed poster of some pink tulips. The flowers are about a foot high. One of the other guys popped in, and remarked how beautiful it was (he was really impressed), and asked me if I made the photograph. I smiled, and quietly said, "no."

Peter Lik and Thomas Kinkade have made money for a very good reason.

I have found that both 645 and 6x7 are good for 13x19. 6x7 of course gives you more breathing room on the print if a particular crop doesn't work.