Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide
Lesson 90 of 138
Licensing, Commissions & Contracts
Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide
Lesson 90 of 138
Licensing, Commissions & Contracts
Lesson Info
Licensing, Commissions & Contracts
One big part of fine art, is not just selling prints, but also other ways you can sell your images to make a profit and maintain your artistic license over those images. Which I think is super important. Because if you do not maintain your artistic integrity when you're creating, then is it really fine art? Probably not. Because fine art is the practice of creating for yourself first and foremost, from your vision, and then maybe selling that later to somebody who appreciates that vision. So if who you're working for does not appreciate that vision and they ask you to do something totally different, then that's not really in the fine art realm anymore, that's a commercial image that you're producing. So I want to talk about how we can create our work that we love, the fine art style of work, no matter what that looks like for you, and sell that to a wider array of people instead of just prints through galleries or something like that. So we've got licensing as an option, commissions as...
an option, and within those two categories, there are so many details that we are going to want to think about, and I'll be going over the differences between those two things as well. And one of the main things that I want to discuss in terms of licensing and commissions, are contracts. How can you determine the correct terms and conditions for licensing your images and creating commissioned portraits. Those two things are very interesting, very complex, and we're going to get through lots of information about them. So licensing versus commissions. What is the deal here? What is the difference between licensing the image and being hired for commissions. So the main thing that we're looking at here, is that licensing is the digital sale of an image, okay? And the usage limitations for both parties. I wanted to really stress for both parties here, because when you license an image, you're telling that person that you're licensing to, okay here's my picture this is what you can use it for. But right back at the artist, they're saying okay, this is what you can use that image for now. Because, it's sort of like duel ownership. You maintain the copyright at all times, so you don't have to worry about oh I've given my image away forever and ever or anything like that, but if you license to, for example, an author who has a book coming out, and you decide that you want to give that image to them with some terms and conditions attached, for example they can't use that picture outside of promotions for that specific book? Okay, then that's your condition for that person that's licensing your image. But then, you also have an obligation to them, to figure out if you're allowed to sell that image to anybody else at all, within the publishing world, maybe within a different world, in the fine art market, et cetera. And so there are all these terms that we're going to discuss and there are a lot to think about. So I'm going to lay them all out for you, and hopefully that will be clear, and simple, and easy. And then we have commissions. A commission is the creation of new artwork for a client. So I have examples of that here, which I'll be showing you in a second, and it would be really easy for me to show you these two books, and to say, they're both licensed. Do you believe me? Or they're both commissions? Do you believe me? There's no difference between these, really. I would create this image, I would create this image. I created both of these images. But, I created this one, one random day early morning, in a foggy field. And I made this one in bits and pieces as I worked with a large team of people to make this book cover. This was a commission, this was licensed. This image already existed, and somebody bought it. This one did not, and I was asked to create it. And that's the difference between these two images. And it's very unusual that we talk about fine art and commissions, because a commission is very often a commercial endeavor when someone says please create this thing, you create it, you give your client the product, and it's theirs. But in my case, I do things a little bit differently, where I maintain my artistry as much as possible. I'm still making something that I would produce. It's just with the aide of a team, and for a specific project. So there's some debate as to if commissions can be categorized under fine art. But this is my fine art class, and I say it is. At least for our purposes.
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. :)