Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide
Lesson 96 of 138
Commission Pricing Structure

Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide
Lesson 96 of 138
Commission Pricing Structure
Lesson Info
Commission Pricing Structure
So commissions. Now we're gonna talk about how to work with clients, how to prepare your files for you clients, and how to price commissioned images. And it's gonna be, in some ways, similar to licensing, and that's why I wanted to pair these two things together. Because they're two different ways that you can make money through your fine art. What you see here are three different images that were created for somebodies use exclusively. Now I still have the copyright to these images as we talked about, but for each of these examples these people came to me and said, "This is the book that I'm making, "can you please make me an image to go on this cover?", and that's what commissions are. It doesn't have to be a company, it doesn't have to be a book or an album or anything like that it could just be you and me. You come to me, you say I want my picture taken, I say okay, here's what I do. And I know that we were having a conversation earlier even about people who misunderstand what you ...
do. Somebody coming to me and saying, "Okay I want my picture taken", and then they expect that it's gonna be like a senior portrait session or something like that, so it's a really really good idea to explain very clearly on your website exactly what your service is, and what your product is, because you don't want that confusion happening. And I think the confusion happens because these people are not photographers, so we can't blame them for not understanding how we work. Somebody who's not a photographer, sees me with a camera taking pictures, I guarantee you they automatically assume that I shoot portraits and I shoot nature and I shoot landscapes and all this stuff because they just don't know. You think about photography that's what you think of. So it's important that we're really clear about that. I'm just showing this slide one more time, to just really drill in this idea that we need to keep track of everything from day one, or else you could find yourself in a bad legal situation. So just, that's it, just one more time, okay moving on. Alright so this is that book cover that I showed you where you can sort of see the halo effect around it, and it's unfortunate to me that this did happen because I really liked doing this book cover I had super fun with it, they're great to work with. I love this author, and I thought it was all a brilliant experience but sometimes these things happen. So this is one example of a commissioned shoot that I was on. This was a very interesting experience for this book cover because I shot this probably I don't know a total of maybe eight or nine times, totally re-shooting it, hiring different models, etc, until we had to have they said a Chinese American model, specifically, with a very certain look, we shot it many different times and then as you can see there was not model in the final photo. So after nine months of shooting this cover, they came to me and they said "Can you just photograph a rose to put in there?" and I was like, "Fine, a rose will be fine." so we did that, and my point in saying this, is not, oh whoa is me, I had to shoot this for so long, usually companies are very good about these things. They'll pay you more money as time goes on, as you do more work, so it's not about being compensated. It's simply about expressing that this is not just you in this process, this is a team of people, who all feel that their artistic way of expressing themselves is maybe the right way or the best way or what will work for this particular project. So it's important to remember that yes, while this is yours, it doesn't always go how you hope it's going to go, I would consider this to be a commercial image that I produced. I would not consider this a fine art image. Because this went through so many transformations, to the point where I realized I am deep in this, and this is not what they want, and I need to either bail right now after five months of working on this, or just get it to how they want it. So for example with this image, I ended up having to make the grass this green color that I would never use, I had to make the sky really bright colors that I would never use, and there were different things that happened that were just simply not how I would've done them. And that's okay, as long as you can just let go of that image being yours for a little while then... You kind of have to decide, am I gonna work through this as a commercial project or am I bailing because it's not what I expected? And I'm not saying one way is better. Either way is fine. This was my golden book cover. The process that was just so perfect and I loved every moment of it and I recently got to meet this author, Mindy McGinnis, and I was just like, oh man, we're the same person, we are so on the same page about everything. About telling stories and about life and that was really interesting to see because a large part of the process of creating commissions is how well do you as a person relate to that artist as a person, and how well do you gel visually, so I created this image and they gave me a lot of freedom here. And I just wanted to talk about this particular cover, which I have here because it was very much a process of them saying this is what the book is about, this is what we like, now you do your thing, and we'll see how you interpret that. So I created this book cover with some guidance. They had said to me, I had this image of where I was half underground and half above ground, and they had seen that picture and they said, we really like this image but it doesn't quite have the right feeling for this book cover, but we would love something that's half underground half above ground, something like that. That was my guideline. Then they sent me the summary of the book. Which was sort of a historical fiction about a mental institution from I think the 1800's. So that gave me a lot of good guidance, half underground, half above ground, mental institution, 1800's, cool, I can do that. So I've got this book cover, and I decided that doing something indoors would be really interesting, having all the outdoors underneath, and then the indoors above, with this hole in the ground. And then we got to add this little hand in to the bottom which is the kicker for me, I just love that little hand. So this was a really rewarding experience, because what I came back to them with was what we used. I sent them this and they said great let's take it, and now it's on this book cover. And that's not very typical for me. Usually I have the unfortunate experience of having to go back and forth and back and forth many many many times and I was really thankful that this was not like that. So how I price commission shoots. I price it with a shooting fee, a licensing fee, and extra images. And there isn't really any point in me telling you, that I break out the shooting fee and the licensing fee, cause I don't really do that personally. Okay? The only reason I'm breaking it out is this. Let's just say that your shooting fee is $1,000, and your licensing fee is $1,000. Well what I would normally do for my commissioned shoots is just go to this person and say well, for $2,000, I'm never saying $1,000 and $1,000, I'm just saying for $2,000 we'll do the shoot, you'll get one image, and one print. And that is how I do my commissioned shoots, every single time, and then if this person comes back to me and she's like, you know what, that sounds great, but I would need probably like 10 to 15 images from the shoot, that's when I'll start adding in my extra image costs. So you could do this differently where you totally break it out, for a licensing fee, instead of doing extra images, you might just have licensing fee for extra images, so you do your shoot fee plus your extra images, and that's you licensing fee, but I tend to just combine the shoot fee and the licensing fee, because a lot of people just want one image from the experience, so it's just way easier for me to say for $2,000 you get the experience, the high resolution file, and the print of that file, and that's it. So it's really really simple.
Class Description
Creating a great photo for a client is one thing - but turning your passion and ideas into a series that is shared, shown, and sold is a whole different business. If you do it right, you’ll be shooting what you love all the time. Learn how to choose which ideas to create, how to turn your concept into a production, and steps to getting your work seen and even sold in Fine Art Photography: A Complete Guide with Award-Winning Photographer, Brooke Shaden.
This is an all-inclusive workshop that provides the tools you need to run a successful and creative business as a fine art photographer. You’ll learn creative exercises to find and develop your ideas, how to create an original narrative, how to produce your own photo series, post production techniques and skills for compositing and retouching, how to write about your work, ways to pitch to galleries and agents, and how to print your pieces so they look like art.
This workshop will take you on location with Brooke as she creates a photo series from scratch. She’ll walk through every step for her photo shoots including set design and location scouting, she’ll cover techniques in the field for capturing your artistic vision, post-production and compositing techniques, as well as printing and framing essentials.
She’ll round out this experience by discussing all of the details that will help make your career a success like licensing, commissions, artists statements, social media plans, gallery prep, and pricing your work.
This comprehensive course is a powerful look into the world of fine art photography led by one of the world’s most talented photographers, Brooke Shaden. Included with purchase is exclusive access to bonus material that gives exercises and downloads for all of the lessons.
Lessons
- Class Introduction
- Storytelling & Ideas
- Universal Symbols in Stories
- Create Interactive Characters
- The Story is in The Details
- Giving Your Audience Feelings
- Guided Daydream Exercise
- Elements of Imagery
- The Death Scenario
- Associations with Objects
- Three Writing Exercises
- Connection Through Art
- Break Through Imposter Syndrome
- Layering Inspiration
- Creating an Original Narrative
- Analyze an Image
- Translate Emotion into Images
- Finding Parts in Images
- Finding Your Target Audience
- Where Do You Want Your Images to Live?
- Create a Series That Targets Your Audience
- Formatting Your Work
- Additional Materials to Attract Clients
- Which Social Media Platforms Will be Useful?
- How to Make Money from Your Target Audience
- Circle of Focus
- The Pillars of Branding
- Planning Your Photoshoot
- Choose Every Element for The Series
- Write a Descriptive Paragraph
- Sketch Your Ideas
- Choose Your Gear
- How to Utilize Costumes, Props & Locations
- What Tells a Story in a Series?
- Set Design Overview
- Color Theory
- Lighting for the Scene
- Props, Wardrobe & Time Period for Set Design
- Locations
- Subject Within the Scene
- Set Design Arrangement
- Fine Art Compositing
- Plan The Composite Before Shooting
- Checklist for Composite Shooting
- Analyze Composite Mistakes
- Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing
- Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing
- Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories
- Shoot: Miniature Scene
- Editing Workflow Overview
- Add Fabric to Make a Big Dress
- Edit Details of Images
- Add Smoke & Texture
- Blend Multiple Images Into One Composite
- Put Subject Into a Miniature Scenario
- Location Scouting & Test Photoshoot
- Self Portrait Test Shoots
- Shoot for Edit
- Shoot Extra Stock Images
- Practice the Shoot
- Introduction to Shooting Photo Series
- Shoot: Vine Image
- Shoot: Sand Image
- Shoot: End Table Image
- Shoot: Bed Image
- Shoot: Wall Paper Image
- Shoot: Chair Image
- Shoot: Mirror Image
- Shoot: Moss Image
- Shoot: Tree Image
- Shoot: Fish Tank Image
- Shoot: Feather Image
- View Photo Series for Cohesion & Advanced Compositing
- Edit Multiple Images to Show Cohesion
- Edit Images with Advanced Compositing
- Decide How to Start the Composite
- Organize Final Images
- Choosing Images for Your Portfolio
- Order the Images in Your Portfolio
- Why do Some Images Sell More Than Others?
- Analyze Student Portfolio Image Order
- Framing, Sizing, Editioning & Pricing
- Determine Sizes for Prints
- How to Choose Paper
- How to Choose Editions
- Pricing Strategies
- How to Present Your Images
- Example Pricing Exercise
- Print Examples
- Licensing, Commissions & Contracts
- How to Keep Licensing Organized
- How to Prepare Files for Licensing
- Pricing Your Licensed Images
- Contract Terms for Licensing
- Where to Sell Images
- Commission Pricing Structure
- Contract for Commissions
- Questions for a Commission Shoot
- Working with Galleries
- Benefits of Galleries
- Contracts for Galleries
- How to Find Galleries
- Choose Images to Show
- Hanging the Images
- Importance of Proofing Prints
- Interview with Soren Christensen Gallery
- Press Package Overview
- Artist Statement for Your Series
- Write Your 'About Me' Page
- Importance of Your Headshot
- Create a Leave Behind & Elevator Pitch
- Writing For Fine Art
- Define Your Writing Style
- Find Your Genre
- What Sets You Apart?
- Write to Different Audiences
- Write for Blogging
- Speak About Your Work
- Branding for Video
- Clearly Define Video Talking Points
- Types of Video Content
- Interview Practice
- Diversifying Social Media Content
- Create an Intentional Social Media Persona
- Monetize Your Social Media Presence
- Social Media Posting Plan
- Choose Networks to Use & Invest
- Presentation of Final Images
- Printing Your Series
- How to Work With a Print Lab
- Proofing Your Prints
- Bad Vs. Good Prints
- Find Confidence to Print
- Why Critique?
- Critiquing Your Own Portfolio
- Critique of Brooke's Series
- Critique of Student Series
- Yours is a Story Worth Telling
Reviews
April S.
I tuned in for most of Brooke's lessons in this course and watched some of them more than once as they were rebroadcast. First I want to say that Brooke is a very good instructor. Her easy-going, friendly, down-to-earth, somewhat quirky manner cannot be mistaken for unprofessional. She is very prepared, she speaks well (not a bunch of hemming and hawing), she is thoughtful, she is thorough, she is very relatable and at ease, and she is definitely professional in her presentation. I really thought when I first tuned in that it would mostly be background noise while I was at work, sound to keep me company. Not because I didn't like Brooke but I really didn't think I was into fine art photography nor did I think I cared about the business side of things much. Not now anyhow. I was really wrong. Brooke sparked a deep interest in me to delve into fine art photography, to consider creating images for myself, from my imagination. In fact, I realized that this was something I'd been thinking about for a couple of years though I hadn't put a name to it (the idea of creating pre-conceived images based on my own creative goals). I gleaned many little treasures from her about image sizes, working with printers, different types of paper, selling, interacting with galleries, and so much more. I may not need all of what she taught right now because I'm definitely headed in another direction at the moment, but she planted ideas and information in my head that I know will be useful at some point. Things I may not have thought of on my own, but that seed is in my head now so when the time comes, I'll know. I'd really like to buy her course but at the moment, with the holidays right around the corner, it's not in my personal budget. I'm grateful to have caught the live and rebroadcast lessons though, and her course is on my list to own. I think it's a great reference to be consulted over and over again, not watched once and forgotten. Kudos Brooke for really putting together an excellent course.
Ron Landis
I'm retired now, but spent decades in the people and training business. Brooke is extraordinary! Even though this course is extremely well organized and she's left nothing unattended, she moves through it with friendly conversational manners and without a sense of it being stilted. It's as though we are all her friends, not students, as she shares her heart and passion with us. What a joy it is to listen to her. And what a clear, unambiguous command of her subject. Wow! She explains it with such ease using explanations and techniques that won't overwhelm artists just starting their portfolio or the Photoshop-squeamish among us; but despite its simplicity her resulting art is breathtaking and beyond original. I wish more of my professors at school were as engaging. This was by far my best buy at Creative Live yet.
Juli Miranda
She save my life this isolation time. Everything you need to know about fine art photography super well explained and super easy to get. She es funny and sweet as much as expert. it is a super recommendation! Yes!! Thanks. :)