"Free Report"
8 Steps To Becoming A Published Photographer

Can You Revive Those Ancient Color Prints for Stock Sales?

If you are an editorial stock photographer, (that is, you enjoy capturing life around you with your camera and building a stock file that will appeal to book and magazine editors), you are going to find that our industry has moved cautiously into the Digital Revolution. Especially for the smaller markets, prints are rarely acceptable to photobuyers. This is not to say that no photobuyers can accept prints, but it is to say that most editorial stock photobuyers continue to require original slides or high-resolution digital scans submitted exactly to their specifications.

The high-resolution image is sent by e-mail (DSL or higher speed) or courier on a disc. In some case, the photobuyer will require the original slide.

And those prints? If you have the negatives, and they're in good condition, you're in luck. Color negative scans work well and are often better than transparency scans. This means you could send a high resolution digital scan of your image, produced from the original color negative.

THE DIGTAL MARKETS
Newspapers have been the pioneers in this digital\print revolution, but newspapers usually don't pay well enough for you to get involved.

The commercial stock industry, e.g. buyers at ad agencies, graphic houses, corporations usually can readily use a high quality hi-res scan just as well as a transparency.

Your prints can easily be digitized and employed on the web, but then again, that Internet market presently is not large. You'll find some of your editorial buyers are equipped to digitize your prints for their particular use. This saves you the expense of using a local service bureau to produce high-resolution digitized images from your prints or negs.

YOUR WORKING METHODS
In this new century, the marketing approach is still the same: "Find out what area appeals to you, find markets for that area of interest, and then photograph for it." Inquire of your particular photobuyers, which delivery method they prefer, and the buy camera equipment accordingly.

If you've been strictly a color-neg-photographer is the past, the digital era has provided you with new marketing opportunities.

Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and best-selling author of "Sell & ReSell Your Photos" and "sellphotos.com," has helped scores of photographers launch their careers. For access to great information on making money from pictures you like to take, and to receive this free report: "8 Steps to Becoming a Published Photographer," visit http://www.sellphotos.com

Welcome to PhotoSourceInternational.com. Here's where you'll find information about social photography, editorial photography, selling photos, buying photos, stock photography, photo research, and making a marketable photo.

Create a Trademark

& Identify Your Brand

Your photography is your trademark, once you get established.

But before you become established, a 'trademark' may very well be an important element to your success. A distinctive logo or design to your letterhead can help you start looking familiar to photobuyers -- and help your name to be remembered. As your photography enterprise progresses, you will build equity in your trademark.

When you design your symbol, or logo (as a trademark is often called), be aware of a common error: the temptation to use the obvious -- a camera, tripod, an aperture symbol, etc. You will, of course, want to choose from 'things photographic,' but try for a combination or a particular adaptation that's all your own.
Make it simple, and easy to remember. Recruit friends who are good at designing, drawing, and critiquing your work. Let them help in the decisions, based on the pointers mentioned above. Flip through the web or the Yellow Pages to see how others have tackled the question of a logo. Don't be 'cute' in your design, it will soon wear off, and could even be offensive to clients. Don't be obscure, either.

Some hints: If you are a nature photographer, choose a design that reflects your specialty. Children photographer? Choose a classic shot of yours that lends itself well to a simplified sketch or drawing. But be careful not to "date" the hairstyle or clothing.

One caution: Unless you are decidedly a specialist in only ONE category, you may not want to be too specific with your trademark design.
Example: you only photograph crocodiles. You may want to design a logo that reflects reptiles in case you expand your category somewhat.
You are building a foundation. Choose well. Your branding logo could remain with you a lifetime. Each day means you are establishing your brand of stock photography. If you change your field in the future, you will have lost the previous exposure you worked hard to build up for your original logo (trademark).

A trademark can also consist of the particular name that you give to your photography service, e.g. Johnson & Johnson.
Can another person copy (steal!) your trademark? Yes, a person can, but you have the advantage of common-law right to your name or design (or a combination of them), providing you were the first to use it.