I’m new to the neighborhood and hoping to get your thoughts on the images below. But first, some framework. . .
Concept : Equivalents are 3000p x 4000p digital images (these uploads have been resized smaller) that can go onto anything that can connect to a computer; paper, fabric, plastic or video for example.
Purpose or Goal : These images were initially created as a personal project exploring the capabilities of mobile devices; the result was a digital tie dye process that could be done while waiting at an airport or standing in line. Some people knit. Others do crossword puzzles. I make digital tie dye. Where do they go? The good news is. . . everywhere. The bad news is. . . everywhere. So my “exploration” has moved into, “Who wants these?”, and so I’ve turned to this forum.
Format : As previously mentioned, these images are large enough for 4k TV, a 3’ x 4’ poster or through the magic of Photoshop, small enough to be used as a PFP (profile picture) for social media and anything in between.
Audience : I think my “best” customer is a reuser; someone who is already making something and would use one of these images to make their product look different. To that end, I’ve started to build me Etsy store.
Experience Level : I am a post Medicare-eligible, gray haired former professional photographer (who used Kodachrome film) and migrated into technology (doing multimedia, education and IT support).
Nature of Job: Plain and simple, this is an exploration. Who wants these? Where should they go? Having been a SCORE business mentor for almost 14 years, I have told many clients, “Nobody works in a vacuum and nobody gets through a big door unescorted.” So thank you in advance for your thoughts and insights. . . and hopefully nobody will reply with, “Don’t give up your day job”.
First, welcome to the forum, I’m glad you found us and hope you’ll stick around.
Second, sounds like you have a wealth of experience as a creative professional and as a SCORE counselor. I have benefited from SCORE myself. I’m sure that experience could help some folks around here.
Third, to speak to the art, I’d say they are interesting, and a nice exploration. Some have more visual appeal to me than others, but that is simply personal taste.
As someone who buys stock on a very regular basis, I don’t see these fitting into my needs, but that’s not to say someone else wouldn’t get excited about these. I’d classify these a background texture. When used as such, they would likely overwhelm the foreground element – unless it is something big and bold in white or black. Again, this is me speaking based on my experience. Someone else could have an immediate need for these as stock.
It won’t cost you anything but time to create some accounts, upload the art, and see what happens.
Side note: you might want to check out this thread:
These might find use on stock sites like shutterstock (other good stock sites are also available ;-P), although, you’ll prob need to upload a LOT of content before you find any money trickling in. Just having a few images on there and they will get lost in the mass of content available. There’s lots to read on such sites about how to get the most out of being a contributor. If you enjoy experimenting with this kind of stuff and create a lot, there no harm in adding them to a stock site to see how things go!
Thank you for taking the time to review my images and offer feedback.
I agree with you that as backgrounds, my images are loud, strong, pick-your-adjective. With a 40 / 50% transparency overlay, would they be more “useful”?
Also, while they may not be everyone’s style, they do “make a statement”.
Thank you for taking the time to review and offer feedback.
Having been with Westlight, Index, Digital Stock and Corbis, I did look into the stock photography “arena”, but got somewhat stymied by the (truly) artificial intelligence of the onboarding process.
