I am always on the lookout for companies which provide me with a way to market my art.  That eventually led me to a product called PicFair.  PicFair, is essentially a hosting site where you can market your images for print products or as stock.  In fact that is what sets PicFair apart from others services. You get both stock and print sales.

I know what you are thinking.  You are thinking, "yet another site to host my images and offers no help on the marketing side of things."  If you thought that, you are kinda right, at least for the moment.  At the time of this writing, they do provide several documents, which will help you to get started in marketing, but there is no marketing plan to get your work in front of others.  Therein lies the rub, so they say.

I have been in contact with PicFair about this very thing and I hope soon to get some feedback on possibilities for marketing.  Anyone can create a web site to show off your images and there are even some very good ones that are cheap.  Does Fine Art America ring a bell?  But what these lack are marketing plans.  This is something that has always baffled me. Art Storefronts seems to be the only company trying marketing, and with them you about have to give them your right arm to play.

This review is after a day and half of testing and working with the product.  I hope to get more info soon and will update this when info becomes available.

Setting Up Your Site

Setting up the site is easy as pie.  It is simply a matter of paying (if you want the pay version) and configuring.  You can configure the site to use either  a dark or light theme.  In my case, I went with the dark theme.  I also chose a splash screen to snag the buyer as he comes in.  

Here is what my splash screen looks like.

    

   Your home screen is next to configure, and you can set it up to be either a list of images or use albums as I did below. Note how small the header is.  I found this to look just a tad unprofessional.

Overall the interface of the home screen is very clean and easy to follow for the buyer.  Navigation is in the top left of the screen and is basically the hamburger menu we are getting more familiar with over the last several years. You can add additional links and link to anything you want.  I linked to my main website and blog.

Hamburger Menu Showing Custom Links (Main Site and Blog)

Again, a super clean interface on the menuing system and it works without any weird JavaScript bugs that I seem to encounter on  other sites.  Overall, the image quality is quite good.  I did notice, however, that in some cases, there was a little blurring in images.  Perhaps this was due to resizing algorithms for various devices and desktops, but It gave me pause.

On my phone, I found the header to be pitifully small and almost of no use.  However, the images did look great on the phone and navigation was easy.  I did notice a bit of lag loading one of my albums on my iPhone X.  They need to tweak just a couple small issues here and we are good.  I am in communication with them on this as well and hope to get some answers.

Adding to the Cart and Checking Out

This is a crucial part of any system.  It has to be quick, easy and provide the artist with a way to follow up with the customer for future work.  

After clicking on the thumbnail image, the customer is presented very quickly with a "full size" image.  At this point he has two options.  He can either buy a commercial license for publishing or he can order prints for his wall.  Those two options together are what PicFair is known for and why they believe they stand apart.  

The Add to Cart Screen

At this point, if you choose the printing option, it takes you to a myriad of options for printing.  I won't go into all that here, but it is very typical.  You can choose wraps, prints and framed prints.  One thing I thought was odd was that I chose United States when checking out, but it still showed centimetres as sizing options.  I had to click a separate button to show them in inches.

I did not actually submit an order at this point, but I may do so and do a print giveaway at some point.  I found the prices to be quite reasonable, but I have no idea at this point how good the prints actually look.  Let me know in the comments below if you have used their printing service.

I hope you enjoyed this quick tour/review of PicFair and I hope you will at least give it a try.  If you would like to try it, click on the link below.

https://www.picfair.com/?rcs=BEgxPl8

I have, in the past and even today, participated with selling my work through stock agencies.  I try not to use microstock agencies, but I do submit to them from time to time.  What I am about to tell you has shocked me to the core of my being.  

Before continuing, you need to understand that microstock is really a commodity type of image sales where the photographer typically makes less than 1.00 per image.  So, it is really a tough way to make money to start with, but stay with me, because I think I will add more data to further complicate the issue.

Shutterstock announced in late May of 2020 that they were implementing a new commission structure.  Instead of being paid flat commissions, as the contributors have for as long as I have been with them, they would now have a level based structure numbered level 1 through 6.

Graphic showing shutterstocks new level plan

So, you might say to yourself, OK, fine, they are trying to weed out bad photographers and keep the good ones who sell more licenses.  Before you get up on your free market high horse, let me fill you in a little bit more.

Shutterstock resets this level every January, so every contributor, no matter how good he is, must secure 100 licenses before moving to the 20% level.  So what you might ask does a level one contributor make per image?   A whopping 10 cents per image!  TEN CENTS!   Up until June 1, 2020, an established contributor would earn a minimum of  33 centers per image and potential to make more depending on the license.  It was a sad amount, but nothing like this kind of cut.

What is probably even more despicable is that they are doing this in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest of 2020.  Does that sound like a moral decision?  I sat at my desk, stunned by this immoral timing and horrific outcome of this thought process.  This will affect thousands and thousands of people who try to make their living selling imagery, and it is only the latest in another corporate greed story.  It is so sad to see this happening to a beautiful industry of hard working and creative individuals.

I did some further investigation and found they are actually hiring for many positions with salaries up to a quarter of a million dollars.  Does that sound like a company that needs to reduce their commissions?  To Shutterstock, I would say, shame on you!

As I sit her contemplating my last five years of selling my photography, I am struck by one thought.  It has never been harder to sell imagery.  There is no denying that.  Images such as this bear portrait below, might have brought in thousands of dollars every year only 20 years ago.

I think about how lucrative it was in the late 1990s and how much my fellow nature photographers could earn.  Those days are long past, but I still want to sell my work.  I want others to enjoy what I enjoy, by seeing my vision through my photographs.  The options that once worked so well, like writing photo essays, no longer generate much income.  The stock agencies of old, no longer exist, but are replaced with shadows of what they once were.

In today's world, we must be more agile as photographers.  We must find other media and find other and less expensive ways of doing the same thing.  10,000 dollar lenses and 5,000 cameras are not the answer, but the answer is out there, and I am constantly pursuing it.  I don't pursue it to make a huge amount of money, I pursue it because I love what I do.

In my undergraduate work, I was trained in what we called back then, videography.  We were called videographers  and not photographers as we seem to be called in 2020.  So, I have been dabbling in the world I was once in, as a supplementary income.  My primary passion is creating still photographs, but I do enjoy creating videos to a large degree.  The requirements are different, and the editing can be grueling, but there is creative satisfaction from doing it.

I do not know if I will continue creating videos, but it is something to creatively explore and understand.  I encourage you to give it a try and see what you think about it.

Below is a sample of one of my slow motion hummingbird sequences I have been working on.

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"Cardinal on Plum Branch"

This photograph is from my "Songbird" Collection.  ********** Named after the magnificent clothing of the Roman Catholic cardinals, the northern cardinal is a species that often needs no introduction to even the most novice bird watcher.   Although both the female and male cardinal are amazing in beauty, the bright red plumage along with the crest and mask, make the male a striking figure indeed. It could be argued that this bird is the most loved bird in America.   In fact, the northern cardinal is the state bird of seven different states in the USA. It should also be noted that I find the cardinal to be a very mild mannered bird (except during mating season) and so projects a bird that will win hearts across the world and already has done just that.   Canvas Prints From $65 Metal Prints From $64 Deluxe Prints From $23 GET 20% OFF ALL PRINTS OF THIS IMAGE. 3 DAYS ONLY. USE CODE: AHBUHX Shop this Image > Browse All > Proud member of the Carolina's Nature Photographers Association Become a VIP and Subscribe to My Newsletter * indicates required Email Address *  First Name  Last Name

"An Insect in the Bill is Worth Two in the Bush"

This photograph is from my "Bluebird Project" Collection.  ********** During the nesting season, the bluebird is a ravenous consumer of insects.  It is interesting to watch them as the perch on a fence or rotten tree top searching for food.  Once they spot the insect they will swoop in for the kill.  I have personally watched them take insects out of the air as well. I for one am happy that these beautiful hunters are among us.  They help keep at bay the insect population, and in return we get to gaze at their royal coloration.  This year, the nesting pair I have been following, are now on their second brood.  I am rooting for them, but I know the second brood is less likely to make it to maturity (at least in my area). If you have never experienced watching bluebirds raise their young, you are missing out.  Here is a nest box that will suit your needs well. Canvas Prints From $65 Metal Prints From $64 Deluxe Prints From $23 GET 20% OFF ALL PRINTS OF THIS IMAGE. 3 DAYS ONLY. USE CODE: AHBUHX Shop this Image > Browse All > Proud member of the Carolina's Nature Photographers Association Subscribe to My Newsletter * indicates required Email Address *  First Name  Last Name

It is June 6, 1944, the rough seas, combined with fear make for a sick stomach.  Your landing craft is approaching a beach where entrenched, battle hardened German troops wait to gun you down.  All of this does not stop you from what you know must be done.  You begin to think, "I must stand with my fellow soldiers, my friends.  I can't let them down or the American people. This tyranny and bloodshed has to end!"

The throttle on the landing craft begins to be eased back and you can hear the driver shouting.  Suddenly, the ramp in front of several rows of soldiers drops into the water with a huge splash.  For a moment you can see a beach, but you don't have time to think before German positions just past the open ground begin to fire on your craft.  You hear shouts to, "go go go!"  

You can see the men in front of you start to move, but they barely move a foot before 7.92 mm German MG bullets rip into them.  You have to step on those fallen in front of you, but you manage to make it into the water and make a dash for a tank trap you see ahead. A stray round rips into your left hand and you take cover behind the tank trap. You yell for a medic, but no one can hear you in all the chaos. Seconds are an eternity in what can only be described as destruction and raw carnage.

Later, in a hastily constructed medical tent, you realize that you survived the encounter, but many of your friends did not.  You have to live with the guilt of surviving something they did not.

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Memorial Day, is a day in America where we remember those who fell in battle.  We remember the soldiers who died during harsh winters at Valley Forge, D-Day, the siege of Khe Sanh, the battle for Fallujah and a thousand other unnamed battlefields.
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To help honor those who have fallen, I created this image of a strong bald eagle.  She is battle weary with signs of dirt on her white feathers, but she still stands.  Behind her a battle worn U.S Flag stands as a symbol of freedom and a symbol of all those who have fallen. 

We must never forget their sacrifice for out freedoms!  I will never forget.

"Red Wolf Drinking"

This photograph is from my "Best Sellers" Collection.  ********** The red wolf of North Carolina is a somewhat sad story, but a story that still doesn't have a defined ending.  The red wolf was hunted pretty much to extinction in North Carolina, because it was a danger to farm animals and thus the economy of the farm. Recently, the red wolf has had mixed results being reintroduced.  In the far eastern part of the state, they do have some stability, but there are still far too few of them to say they are stable or on the rise. Hybridization with coyotes has also become a concern.  In the image above, the viewer is peeking behind the rock in the foreground at almost water level.  The viewer's eyes are met with the eyes of the wolf.  There is strength and determination in those eyes.  There is a hope in those eyes.  The drinking of the water helps reinforce the idea of a hopeful future in the clear, nourishing water. Perhaps, one day, the red wolf will once again roam the forests of eastern North Carolina in larger numbers and be a stable force once again.  Through conservation, we can possibly keep the numbers stable. Canvas Prints From $65 Metal Prints From $64 Deluxe Prints From $23 GET 20% OFF ALL PRINTS OF THIS IMAGE. 3 DAYS ONLY. USE CODE: AHBUHX Shop this Image > Browse All > Proud member of the Carolina's Nature Photographers Association Subscribe to My Newsletter * indicates required Email Address *  First Name  Last Name