Recently been having more consistent sales of my landscape photography directly through contact via this website SuxxesPhoto. Thought I would do a post showcasing the landscape photos that have sold and some behind the scenes details why I think this may be.
Finding Landscape Photos
Started this website in 2017 about a year after I first got into landscape photography. Your own website really compliments the hobby of landscape photography and allows you to showcase your work. I know many photographers are happy to just post to social media etc. When you first start out building your own website you will get just a small trickle of traffic. Learning some SEO and the traffic will begin to grow over time. Especially after a few years as many new websites don’t last long and search engine algorithms know this. I wasted time with some third party galleries and paying money for these. They were nothing but trouble and not SEO friendly. Removing these and creating my own galleries with the built in widgets really improved the traffic to this website. Consequently been getting inquiries via the contact page.
Weymouth Dorset
One of the first enquires was for a photo I took one evening in the quay area of Weymouth Dorset. At the time was living in Bournemouth and took a little road trip into the western fringes of Dorset including Weymouth and Lyme Regis.
Back then at Weymouth harbour had been into landscape photography for little over a year. Looking at the image now, had some things to learn about composition and shutter speed in low light.
Personal
Photos that sell are not necessarily your own personal best. But often they mean a lot to the people who have gone to the trouble to source them from you and not choose alternatives.
Abbey Dore, Herefordshire
The next image of Abbey Dore in Herefordshire has had a few inquiries over the years including Herefordshire tourism and the people who actually live in the house in front of the abbey!
Still in my relative early days of landscape photography. But has all the elements of a good composition without really realising it at the time. Some things just catch your eye. raised the camera and took the photo. Again too slow a shutter speed, lucky it has come out sharp put that down to image stabilisation on the lens.
Google Images
Showcasing photos like these on your own website allows google to index them and include in its search results. If you put Abbey Dore Herefordshire into google then go to the images tab you will see the above photo included in the first page(at time of writing). That’s what you want. Visitors them come to the website and then the contact page.
Competition
This photo brings back good memories for me too. At the time was working in Gloucestershire on a 6 month contract which put me in easy reach of Herefordshire which is a wonderful county to explore with your camera. At the time also there was not a huge amount of competition in this part of England with other landscape photographers work. That also helps bring your work to the top.
Winchester Cathedral in the mist
Between contracts spent a second period in Bournemouth Dorset. One late winter morning got up early for a sunrise shoot from St Catherine’s Hill in Hampshire. Never been here before but had planned the shot extensively through using OS Maps online. Looked good on paper or the digital screen.
Had planned the sun hitting Winchester cathedral with a moon setting in the background. Missed the moon due to carpark being closed wasting a lot of time but got lots of mist instead. Took my time setting up even using a loupe to check focus and sharpness. At the time knew these were special photos and had captured something unique and rare.
The Times Newspaper
Six months later while working in Hertfordshire had a contact email from The Times newspaper wanting to feature the image with an article they were writing about the poet John Keats and his famous poem To Autumn. Amazing! there it was my image in the times newspaper the next day! Was on a high for a few days for that one.
Luck
Luck always plays a part, who would have known that morning would coincide with John Keats poem and the Times newspaper. Again, The Times newspaper had found the image on google images because it was featured on this website then contacted me directly. When you get a taste for this you want more, but that sort of coincidence is not common.
Although a good image there is always room for improvement. It was shot in later February so not autumn. Would have been better if shot in autumn. If only the carpark had been open then the sky would have included a setting moon.
Winchester College
Obviously with the above Winchester cathedral in the mist image being in a national newspaper it got a lot of views. I then got a few more enquires about it.
One lead was from Winchester College who wanted a high resolution image which they would print out and frame within the college. I sold them a few copies. Not sure if they ever ended up on a wall somewhere within Winchester College? If anyone knows?
Domain Name
For Winchester college to find me, the image printed in the times included a credit SuxxesPhoto down in the corner. This is important and enough for others to find this website on the internet. Today I do not like my domain name and don’t think it helps my cause. But at the time when I first created this website could not find a suitable domain name that was not already taken. So settled on Suxxesphoto. You cant expect people you meet to remember this, you have to give them a card. I have since thought of many good domain names that are not taken. But the advice is to stick with the one you originally chose. So choose carefully as you remain stuck with it.
Images not Prints
Through the website I provide high resolution digital images with full rights other than to sell or give away to others. There are many online printing companies that will then professionally print the image for you. Just do an online search for printing companies. Usually smaller companies do a better job than the large ones who print out in mass batches. Quite often inquires are for a print rather than a image. But this is more due to them not realising they can buy rights to the image and then use a separate company to print out the image.
Lowestoft Suffolk
While working in Hertfordshire put me in reach of east England counties of Suffolk and Norfolk and the coast. During this time would occasionally take a road trip to the coast and stay for a long weekend. Lowestoft was of particular interest to me as it was where my father was from and spent some time there as an infant.
So it was with great pleasure supplying a contact with a collection of images from Lowestoft and Suffolk. They wanted to put together a calendar of images for their father who had also grown up in the area. I wish I had more, but with only visiting a location a few times your available images are limited. These online printing companies can produce all kinds of media not just framed pictures but calendars, mugs etc.
Pricing
I sell images to individuals at a set affordable price, if they want a collection can just settle on a price that works for them. Appreciate many people not have a ton of money but these images can be of great value to them. So just coming to a compromise. With big organisations etc can obviously settle on a higher price or you will tend to find they have a set price to buy an image. Its best to buy in high resolution as can always save in any smaller resolutions you desire and not lose detail.
St Marys Bay Kent
When I first moved to East Sussex it was great exploring the coastline pushing further out into Kent St Marys Bay and Dymchurch beach. Was contacted about a particular seascape at low tide on St Marys beach.
Had a lot of sentimental value to the purchaser. Was happy to supply, they wanted to take this to a professional printer and put on their wall. Think if the walkers had not been in the background they would have not been so interested. Maybe bringing back many fond memories of walking the same beach.
Editing Support
Technically the photo was good. But took many years ago and my initial edits were well over the top. When you first start out in landscape photography you will tend to over saturate your photos post processing thinking it makes them pop more. Often the photos taken long ago that people enquire about I look at and think bad editing. They are often pleasantly surprised when send it to them re-edited.
The above seascape was shot in some challenging lighting conditions high dynamic range. Had to do some dodging and burning to balance it out. So when I sell a photo through this website really want the customer to be happy so will give any photo sold a re-edit and then support them in any further edits required. When printing an image it usually needs to be lightened as not backlit like when viewing on a screen. Its nice if the customer comes back and leaves a positive comment but not all do. Comments are good for traffic search engines like them.
Dunwich Beach Suffolk
Another fond memory for a contact, another seascape and another image from the Suffolk coast. Another road trip to the Suffolk coast while working in Hertfordshire this time to Dunwich.
The boat, early mornings on Dunwich beach were important to the buyer of this seascape photo. Arrived just in time to catch the rising sun behind the cloud.
Stock Photography
Many of the landscape photos on this website are also for sale on the major stock photography sites like Shutterstock, IStock and Adobe. Not all images are up on the stock photography sites. Some are rejected by some and accepted by others. Quite a few customers have contacted me saying they cant find the image they want on the stock photography site can they buy direct. I wish they would all buy direct. But cannot compete with the likes of Shutterstock. For a full resolution image it will be much cheaper to buy from me direct and you will get full support until you are 100% happy with the image you have purchased. I must have lost lots of sales through the stock photography sites who take the lion share when they sell giving the artist a pittance. NFTs may be the way to go in the future if I could only understand them.
Bewl Water
Got contacted one morning about some landscape photos had taken during a bike ride around Bewl Water on the East Sussex Kent border. They were writing a tourist guide for Bewl Water and specifically interested in some photos I had taken there.
They were looking for something very specific in an attempt to sell Bewl water, here is a description they sent me.
An attractive large water feature as a tourist facility offering active recreation as well as tranquil enjoyment. A tranquil and remote area of the High Weald and in conjunction with the neighbouring areas a mysterious ‘wilderness’ with the extensive woodlands and Bewl Water as the core. Secluded valleys with ghyll woodlands and winding natural river channels. A landscape with a scattered settlement pattern of historic farmsteads and a strong pattern of woods, trees and hedges.
Wish I could write like that. Its very motivating when people buy your landscape photos. Makes you want to get back out with the camera even visiting these same places.
Passive Income
They purchased 4 images in total so was a good morning for me. Its great when you earn some passive income, pays for the petrol used that day. Passive income is possible through selling landscape photography. Most achieve it through youtube channels. Unlike my camera I am not a hybrid photographer and videographer. At least not yet. But although small do make some passive income from landscape photography and over time through this website would like to see that grow. There is a small market for selling landscape photos a huge market for selling how to take landscape photos.
Ashleworth River Severn
Finally and recently(as of writing) another oldie that I had completely forgotten about and nothing out of the ordinary. A landscape photo of the river Severn near Ashleworth done it for the Cantores choir. They are going to be playing in Ashleworth and wanted to use this image on their brochures etc.
Its a nice image, again low shutter speed that could have easily have been rectified with a higher ISO. Today the composition would not have included the distracting branch coming in from the left. But maybe they liked that. Its very subjective what photographs each of us like.
Landscape Photography Sales
So there you have it. The above list is not completely exhaustive. Iv had many inquires that have not resulted in a sale. I think they may then find it on the stock sites, I do sell daily on the stock sites. Else they find a better image elsewhere or lose interest. Its just lately that direct sales of my landscape photography has increased. In the last few years not really got an increase in traffic to this website, which is fairly consistent and quite low. But sales are up. Stands to reason if could double traffic could double sales.
So if you are interested in any of the landscape photos on this site they are for sale. Please contact me. If your a budding landscape photographer looking to create a website and sell some photos I hope this compilation has helped in some way.
Check out the landscape photography website sales gallery
Check out the Dorset landscape photography gallery
Check out the Kent landscape photography gallery
Check out the Gloucestershire landscape photography gallery
Check out the Suffolk landscape photography gallery
Check out the Hampshire landscape photography gallery