How to Choose Editions

Lesson 85 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

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85. How to Choose Editions

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How to Choose Editions

So editions this is where things start to get fun because you get to really mold your process now and how you're going to offer your prints and exactly what your business will be like. I think it's really exciting at least. Hopefully you do too So you can have open editions or limited edition prints And this is just a choice that you'll make. So an open edition will be more affordable in general whereas a limited edition will be more expensive. And hopefully that's pretty obvious as to why, if you have an open edition meaning you can sell as many prints as you want at any sizes that you want You're never limited well then they're not special as much as a limited edition where you're not going to sell more than a certain amount so I shouldn't have said special that was really the wrong word they're very special either way because it's your image. But they're not as what's the right word give me a word for limited that's not saying rare thank you okay they're not as rare so that's why th...

ey're more affordable. And then the opposite is true of limited edition the more you limit your edition meaning you're limiting the number of prints that will ever be out there in the world it's going to be more expensive for that naturally. So then the number of editions this is a little bit confusing now, so we're moving into the confusing realm of editioning and pricing but the first choice is open edition limited edition and maybe already you guys are like I know what I wanna do I know the direction I'm gonna go in. Do any of you guys feel like you don't know you're just like nah I have no idea which one I want to do and that's okay, that's okay let it digest a little bit, and even I would really suggest going into galleries or spaces where prints are sold and seeing is this artist selling open edition prints or limited edition and what price point are they at and is that sustainable for me because the more you have open edition prints you're probably gonna have to hustle to sell larger quantities of them to make the same amount that you would for a limited edition print. Just something to consider when you're thinking long term about making a living from selling your prints. So the reason why I say this is confusing is because we're not only talking about open versus limited we're talking about the number of editions okay so if you have open editions and you're like I'm doing open edition I don't care I'm going to sell as many as I want in as many sizes as I want then what I have written below here does not matter. Cause you're not doing limited editions but if you want to if that's a consideration for you, then you'll want to think about how the larger number of your edition size I'm gonna make this very clear in just a second the more affordable it will be. So if I have this image right here and this is my one of my ten inch prints and I have this hanging on a gallery wall to sell, this is an edition of 15 meaning that I will print this exact image at this exact size 15 times and no more than that. So that's my edition number here 15 on this size print. So if I have 15 available that might have a lower price point versus the same exact print at the size where you're only selling five of them. So the larger the number of the edition, the more affordable the print is for the art buyer. The smaller the number the more expensive it is. And golly we're gonna talk about this even more. So these are my editions and my sizes and you can see that here. 10 inch print edition of 15, 20 inch print edition of and it keeps going down as the size gets bigger which is really standard here to have the bigger the print the smaller the edition size on that print. And the idea being that if it gets bigger you should be able to put a higher price tag on it and the way that you're helping yourself do that is by having a smaller edition size. This is all very difficult for me to wrap my head around so hopefully it's not difficult for you and you're doing okay there at the end of the day if we go back to this framed print here if I were to sell this image in all of my sizes lets just say I miraculously sold out of every single edition that I have at every single size that would mean that I will have sold 37 prints of this image okay. So it's not only important to think about your sizes of your editions here individually but also what is it add up to to the total size or I'm sorry the size of the edition so that's 37 for me. So for my general works I will sell 37 of this image at various sizes to sell out of that image completely. And that's a really important thing to think about which I completely overlooked when I was setting my editions You know when I was getting my advice everyone just said oh just set it by the sizes and I had four sizes and I chose numbers that seemed reasonable and then I had a portfolio review where I sat down with a gallery and she said do you realize that you offer 37 prints of this image and I was like nope I did not ever think about that even once and I regretted not thinking about that I regretted that I didn't take into account what those numbers add up to because I probably would have lowered my editions slightly but again the good thing is that when you put out a new body of work you can change your editions for that new body of work and that's always something to think about. So for my new series I have the two sizes and my eight inch size is editioned out of three and my 42 inch size is editioned out of two it's a total of five prints in case anyone can't do three plus two five prints total for every single image in that series. And that's very much limited from 37. Which is quite a large number especially if you have a high volume of prints that you offer which is a totally other thing to consider when you're editioning is do you have a small portfolio of images that you offer for print or do you have a huge portfolio of images that you offer for print? And it can be really hard to limit yourself in terms of what you offer for print because if somebody emails you and they say oh I saw this image way in the depths of your social media and I really wanna buy it it's not gonna be easy to say oh I don't offer that one for sale because the only reason why you're not is simply to limit the number of prints that you offer in the long run. So that can be a little bit of a test of willpower I think to say no to people if they want to buy a certain image but it is something to consider in terms of how you're pricing your work is how rare are my images not just with the edition number but how many total images am I offering to print for people? So something to consider.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Guided Daydream & Writing Exercises Workbook (Lessons 1-11)

Creating an Original Narrative Workbook (Lessons 12-18)

Finding Your Target Audience Workbook (Lessons 19-27)

Planning Your Series Workbook (Lessons 28-34)

Set Design Workbook (Lessons 35-41)

Compositing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 42-49)

Editing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 50-55)

Location Scouting Workbook (Lessons 56-60)

Stock Image Downloads for Practice (Lessons 61-72)

Organizing Your Portfolio Workbook (Lessons 77-81)

Pricing & Editioning Your Work Workbook (Lessons 82-89)

Writing Contracts & Licensing Images Workbook (Lessons 90-98)

Gallery Best Practices (Lessons 99-106)

Pitch Package Workbook (Lessons 107-111)

Writing Your Brand Workbook (Lessons 112-117)

Marketing Workbook (Lessons 118-122)

Social Media Workbook (Lessons 123-127)

Printing Methods Checklist (Lessons 128-133)

Self Critique Workbook (Lessons 134-137)

Bonus Materials Guide

Syllabus

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Brooke Shaden

Brooke explores the darkness and light in people, and her work looks at that juxtaposition. As a self-portrait artist, she photographs herself and becomes the characters of dreams inspired by a childhood of intense imagination and fear.

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topics covered in this class

Fine Art Digital Photography

Ratings and 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.

Angel Ricci

When the title says comprehensive, it means comprehensive! I loved every part of this course. It's inspirational, motivating, and insightful towards creating art work. Even if you are not necessarily considering a fine art specialty, the concepts discussed in this course are applicable to many areas! I find this super useful as a videographer and photographer and look to apply all of these exercises and concepts for my personal and business work moving forward. It is lengthy, but you will not regret a single minute. Brooke Shaden is an amazing artist and educator. I recommend keeping up with her work, presentations, and any future courses that may come in the future.

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How to Choose Editions

How to Choose Editions

Lesson Info

85. How to Choose Editions

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