Sold my first photo! Super scared
I'm so excited! I just received notice that I've sold my first photo!! Big thanks to tookapic for what I've learned these past few months.
I got my camera back in 2010 and have been on-and-off using it but last year I decided to really give a solid shot at learning how to use it properly. Then I discovered I love sports photography and needed a telephoto lens to get close enough, so picked up a second hand Canon 75-300mm f4-5.6 lens for $100. I love off-road motorsports so figured an el cheapo lens getting dusty and possibly chipped by flinging rocks wouldn't be too bad.
At the start of this year I heard about tookapic.com and have been having a blast discovering more and more about my trusty ol' Canon 1000D. Each sporting event I found I learned more and more, getting better and better.
3 weekends ago I had a revelation session where eveything clicked so easily for every shot. I could see what I wanted and where I needed to be to get it. My fingers knew exactly what to do to the camera to make the settings be what I needed. It was fantastic! The day finished and I had my shot of the day of a swimmer mid-stroke tookapic.com/photos/78719
I felt good so organised to head off for another event, this time an off-road Rally, the Janolan Caves Classic just outside of Sydney. I knew one of the organisers and managed to secured a spot at a road closure. It was a fantastic day! I went in with the goal of getting atleast one shot of every racer. Mission accomplished. Once again my fingers knew what to do, I saw three possible shots from some locations that needed 3 different settings so made use of pre-dialled in settings for Manual, Aperture, and Shutter priority modes - change mode and ready for the next shot. I was having an amazing time! Between each car I was changing each mode's settings to be OK with the changing light and dust conditions. The next day I edited the photo's like mad, my Lightroom skills having increased to "skillz" since starting with Tookapic.
A person from the Facebook group "Sydney Photographic Club" is setting up a sales and printing website called Shutterzoo and needed demo volunteers. I figured "Why not try this sales thing for the Rally?" so signed up.
Sometime over the past few days I got my first customer :) The photo they chose was actually on my culling list, but then I decided to keep it included as I didn't have a better photo of this particular car. Of all the ones that could have been sold, it's my least favorite of the lot. However these cars are very important to their owners, so I respect his love of this photo. The one chosen; shutterzoo.com.au/users/richar...
At first I was massively excited! Someone likes my photo of them so much that they are willing to pay money for a copy of it! Then I saw the size ordered... I thought that bigger prints had been disabled, but turns out I only did this for one of the 3 galleries. Oh no! My Canon 1000D is a 10MP camera, he's ordered a 10" x 15" and a 16" x 24" The 10x15 should be ok, but the 16x24 is going to come out pixelated :(
The sales gone through, printing completed by the time I hear about the sale. Now my first customer might be unhappy with the final output and this makes me sad. Tomorrow I'm going to call him and say if he's unhappy for even the slightest reason with his order then I'll quite gladly give him a few free prints of the next rally, then behind the scenes give them extra special touch-up attention.
So while I'm massively excited about someone liking my work they are willing to pay money for it, I'm upset at the output, but believe I can turn this around into an even better customer experience.
If I hadn't started my tookapic journey as my New Years Resolution then I wouldn't have learned as much as I have so fast, and wouldn't have had the courage to think I could photograph cars flying past me as fast as they could while keep my calm knowing I know what to do.
Thank you tookapic, you are helping me achieve my dream. Thank you Pawel Kadysz :)
You can see more photo's of the rally at these 3 links. CnC are welcome, can't get better without knowing what I'm doing wrong.
Event Stage 3 facebook.com/rmorwood/media_se...
Service Park facebook.com/rmorwood/media_se...
Event Stage 7 facebook.com/rmorwood/media_se...
Richard Morwood
Thanks Aaron!
I spoke with the shutterzoo website team who say the image resolution drives what options prints can be purchased for. Mine is over the threshold for 16"x24" so should be ok
bvphotosnap Congrats on your first sale! Question, do you have to get release forms signed?
Richard Morwood
Thanks bvphotosnap!
No release forms required in this case. The photos are of competitors being sold to competitors only.
If they were to be used for commercial purposes then I would need the release forms. If the event organiser wanted to use them for advertising materials then they would need permission from the person - and these terms are already agreed to in their entry form (but I own the photo so they'll also need my permission)
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Aaron Great little anecdote and experience! I remember the swimmer, and it's great that you're feeling more and more confident. I think that most of us doing a similar project feel the same way - with the need to churn out a photo every day you do learn a fair amount as you go, for better or worse!
Great news on the sale, well done there. The preview actually looks nice, and I'm sure the owner will be pleased when they get it. If it really is a little underwhelming on that size the print shop might do a little work, and if the customer still is a little iffy about it then there's not much you can do other than what you've said. At the end of the day, it's still your first sale! :)