High Sierra Topix

For those of you who also sell photo's as residual income I would be interested
in knowing whether your clients lean more towards well known/famous/iconic
subjects like Half Dome, Mt.Whitney, mainly places they are familiar with or not?
What percentage like the natural look where you did minimal photoshop/lightroom
adjustment as opposed to where you cranked up the colors or gone wild with hdr?
I have noticed for the folks who are into art they seem to be more purist, and prefer
clean, true representation of what I saw, but not all.
The rest of the folks seem to like big scenery, with vivid colors, and some, though a
lower percentage, like to be able to connect, be familiar, with the scene in the print.

From your post it sounds like you are referring to "wall art" or print sales. Your description is typical of what I have found though it seems to vary quite a bit by location (living location). I have found that "higher end" clients prefer what I would consider "fine art" that is saturated in color but not "pumped". Other clients that might be traveling or on vacation seem to prefer common or pedestrian images of iconic landmarks shot mid-day. Something they can relate to not only in space, but in time.

All a matter of taste of course.

JD

Hi JD

Yes I understand it is quite subjective, I can also relate to the location aspect which
you refer too.
You have described the so called "high end" clients I deal with to the T.
By the way you write that one of you previous occupations was a back-country ranger
which park or parks?

Hi Maverick

I started my seasonal NPS career as a Climbing Ranger at Mt Rainier (Camp Schurman) in 1980. I then worked at North Cascades National Park from 1981 to 1992, first as a backcountry ranger than as a climbing ranger when that program was first started there in 1983.
During that time "off" seasons were spent in the Sierra. In 1993 we settled year round here on the eastside.

John

I met a ranger couple from Cascade NP, about 12-15 years ago hiking the Yosemite
Northern Loop, while I was descending Matterhorn Canyon, but I do not remember
there names.
I remember him saying that he had been to the Andes, Himalayas, and Alaska to name a few
places, and that the Sierra was still easily the most beautiful of them all!
If I remember correctly there was another ranger couple stationed at the temp
station at JMT-Bench Lake junction back in the early 90's from either Rainier or Cascade NP.

Good question maverick. Me personally, I like my landscape photos to be natural looking. I don't like over-saturated colors. I also don't care for most HDRs....you know the ones that people love on flickr. But, other people love that kind of stuff and I'm sure buyers love that kind of stuff too.

I wish I could tell you a formula for what sells....you'd be a wealthy man! My most popular print is not even a landscape, it's a compilation of a Lunar Eclipse.

Good luck!

Hi Mike

I was not looking for an answer, but was rather interested in what people here
are selling, and what there clients are looking for style wise.
There is no magic formula since each individual persons taste is a little, or a lot different
and believe me as a chef I know this quite well!
I would love to see the breakdown of sales of nature photographers according to the
popular categories like big mountain scenery, lake reflections, macro photo's, and
wildlife for example.
By the way I really dig that Lunar Eclipse photo, very unique!

maverick wrote:I met a ranger couple from Cascade NP, about 12-15 years ago hiking the Yosemite
Northern Loop, while I was descending Matterhorn Canyon, but I do not remember
there names.
I remember him saying that he had been to the Andes, Himalayas, and Alaska to name a few
places, and that the Sierra was still easily the most beautiful of them all!
If I remember correctly there was another ranger couple stationed at the temp
station at JMT-Bench Lake junction back in the early 90's from either Rainier or Cascade NP.

Well I wrote a long post but apparently it disappeared into the void. I don't think that was me as I haven't been to south America yet. But AK, NZ, Canada, Asia, Europe, it's all very subjective. The Sierra may be the prettiest in my mind as well but perhaps not the most spectacular.

The ranges of the "Great White North" are wild and young and I found them a good fit for when I was the same! But I do still recall the prettiest places in those ranges as the ones that reminded me of the Sierra!

JD

Hikin Mike wrote:My most popular print is not even a landscape, it's a compilation of a Lunar Eclipse.

One of my personal favs of yours. Not that I can even come close to labeling myself a photography critic; I just go with what I see and like.

ERIC wrote:

Hikin Mike wrote:My most popular print is not even a landscape, it's a compilation of a Lunar Eclipse.

One of my personal favs of yours. Not that I can even come close to labeling myself a photography critic; I just go with what I see and like.

It works for me!