Fine Art Photoblog Candidates
UPDATE: Six photographers have been chosen to be part of the site launch.
This is just a little teaser for the preliminary design of a single-photo post. The homepage and archives are pretty slick too — everything is done with images rather than text. The whole thing is very photo-oriented and geared for SEO. I haven't touched the colors, fonts, or other small details, so don't worry about those things — they're easy to change. I've been working on the major items such as the layout and functionality of the front-end and back-end.
Now, the real reason I put this post together is to allow all of the photoblog candidates to come together in one place and make a few decisions as a group. I'd like to run this thing somewhat like a Democracy, so your votes and opinions do have an influence on the direction we go. When it comes to making big decisions, the group will collectively work together to provide a solution.
There are two things we need to deal with before moving on with the photoblog. The first can be hashed out in the comments of this post, while the second I'd prefer to keep semi-private via email.
1) How many photographers will be included?
I didn't expect 30 portfolios to come rolling into my lap, but it happened. Initially, I said five photographers will be chosen for the launch, but that was only because I didn't know how popular this idea would be. Honestly, I'm OK with more photographers… to a point. I would still expect each photographer to contribute at least one image per week, so the blog would be publishing more frequently as a whole. So think about how many photographers should be part of the blog, and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
2) Which photographers will be included?
Browse the list below, evaluate the artistic value of the photos from each photographer, and tell me via email what your top 5 picks would be. Remember, if you're part of the photoblog you probably want to have your work displayed alongside the best photographers. It not only raises the quality and value of your own photos, but it does the same for the website. Like I said — vote for 5 — send them to me via email.
UPDATE: Here's a lesson in photography when it comes to portfolios. I asked for a portfolio of fine art photos that would be taken into consideration by other photographers for the purpose of this project and new website. For those who spent the time to narrow down a selection of their best works, I thank you very much and your efforts are noted. For those who didn't… that's fine, but realize that the lack of a dedicated portfolio may have an impact on the selection process.
When somebody puts together a portfolio directed toward fine art, this tells me that they're willing to spend the time and effort on this new website. My selections will be made not only on artistic ability, but also on the impression you give about your work and your interest level in this photoblog — and as voters, your selections should reflect the same. Feel free to regroup your portfolios and notify me of a new link. And for further enlightenment, check out this article on “Creating a Photography Portfolio.”
- Ariel Diacovetzky
- Trevor Carpenter
- Blake J. Nolan
- Andrew Gibson
- Martin Gommel
- Taylor Jackson
- Alexander Artemenko
- John Sercel
- Rose Bordett
- Joseph Szymanski
- Dave MacIntyre
- Shaun Krisher
- Victor Bezrukov
- Colin Wright
- Daniel Hellerman
- Jimmy Brown
- Mike Pavlov
- Andreas Manessinger
- Boris Taratutin
- Cody Redmon
- Saulius Eidukas
- Joel Witmeyer
- Jeff Mitchel
- Dez Santana
- Paul Pescitelli
- Andrew Bradley
- Ryan Dlugosz
- Allison Jacobsen
- Neil Creek
- David Ziser
Let's try to get a decision on the number of photographers as soon as possible. I'll leave the voting process open for a week, or until everybody votes if it happens sooner than that. So start looking and start talking.
Joel Witmeyer
January 5, 2008Sounds good.
Bryan Villarin
January 5, 2008If I’m worthy, can I still get in on this?
Brian Auer
January 5, 2008Sorry man, not at the moment. Most of the votes have been cast and I’m in the process of narrowing it down to the final group. We may open it up to a few more photographers down the road, so keep working on your photography and we’ll see.
Bryan Villarin
January 5, 2008No worries, I didn’t think so. I’m feeling more ambitious with the new camera, that’s all. 🙂
Brian Auer
January 5, 2008Well then, get out and take lots of pictures. Start building some portfolios for when the time arrives.
mikerussia
January 6, 2008well, what about result? How can I know about it?
Brian Auer
January 6, 2008I’ll put together a post for the final choices, plus I’ll email all of the candidates. It’ll probably be a few more days since I’m still waiting to hear back from a few photographers (plus make my own decisions).
mikerussia
January 6, 2008I’d like to ask – whom is the new site going to be for – for photographers or for byers? I mean – what is target group? there are a lot of articles for photographers in your site but there are not any ones for byers. What is your ideas about articles for new site? Or is it going to be a fotoalbum only? Share your ideas please.
Neil Creek
January 6, 2008I believe you will find the answers to most of your questions in this post: https://epicedits.com/2007/12/17/want-to-sell-your-art-i-have-a-proposition/
mikerussia
January 6, 2008Ok.
Brian said:
The goal of the blog will be three fold: 1) To share more of my work than my once per week “how I done it” feature, 2) To motivate me to spend more time on my photography, and 3) To generate enough traffic to make sales.
I’m afraid the blog is going to be for photographer again: “1) To share more of my work than my once per week “how I done it” feature” and “To generate enough traffic to make sales.”
Yes. It’ll be enough visitors BUT photographers only, I think.
Why?
it will be THE SAME blog. Am I right?
What is different between old one and new one?
Sorry, but I didn’t get that.
Brian Auer
January 6, 2008Yup, it’s going to be for buyers — but photographers are certainly welcome. We won’t be posting any articles per say, but we’ll probably inject a little bit of discussion in the photo posts. It’s mostly going to be a dedicated photoblog rather than a photography blog such as this.
Neil Creek
January 6, 2008Boiling it down to the simplest level – the new blog will be a place to sell photos and everything is about the images. Epic Edits is about photography, the skill, the technique and the community.
mikerussia
January 6, 2008Do you have the main idea – How can you attract byers?
May be I wrong but now many sites about photos for photographers only because of articles.
I think we have to post the articles for clients not about photography but about live which is reflected in photos.
but this is a general (common) words only:-) I’m just thinking about it.
Thanks for quick replay, Brian.
mikerussia
January 6, 2008Ok, Neil. I’ve got it. Thanks!
Brian Auer
January 6, 2008Attracting buyers will be part of the marketing duties of each photographer involved. This site isn’t intended to be just another place you put your photos and hope for the best.
Certainly, a big part of the daily visitors will be photographers or other people just wanting to look at the photos. It’s that kind of traffic that drives other traffic though — including buyers. The more well-known it is from within the photo community, the more well-known it will be outside too.
The photoblog will deviate from the typical photoblog model in that each photo will be accompanied by supporting text. The photographer could write about technical details, emotional attachments, processing techniques, etc. In addition to that, I’m planning on having comments open on the posts.
mikerussia
January 6, 2008Ok, it’s quite clear now. Thanks.
mikerussia
January 6, 2008now my question is:-) what are you waiting for us (me)? For example – if I one of 5 (7, 10, 15), what I have to do to be well? show me range of my function here (as an exception of taking pictures, of course:-))
mikerussia
January 6, 2008I mean you know all here better than me so you can make it clearer before I’m going to it.
Neil Creek
January 6, 2008Mike – The voting was limited only to the photographers who submitted a folio when Brian called for expressions of interest a week ago. It is not open to new photographers, and noone else may vote on the photographers. Brian opend this post up for all to read because there was curiosity among visitors to the blog about the process.
Just to be clear – noone else may currently submit or vote on portfolios.
Also, please refrain from making so many posts in a row. It is better for you to consider all that you want to say and make it in a single post.
Brian Auer
January 6, 2008Mike, I’m just finishing up with the evaluation and selection process. I have a small handful of photographers that I’ll likely bring onto the site very soon, while there’s also another handful that I’m still contemplating. That second group I’ll probably ask the first group to help me with the decision process. I have a private forum setup on the photoblog that will allow us to communicate with each other.
Once the final selections are made, I’ll post the results here on the blog and I’ll let you and the other photographers know the final decision. This will happen probably later this week.
As for the typical duties of being a part of the site, I’ll expect that you post a properly documented photo once every week. By properly documented I mean keywords, descriptions, and other commentary. I’ll also expect everybody to be active with the site forum and provide feedback on any issues or decisions. Replying to comments on photos and making stronger connections with the visitors will also be a daily duty. As far as promoting the website, there are a ton of ways to do this and I would hope that each photographer will pursue their own avenues of marketing and promotion.
The biggest thing that I’ll ask from each of the participating photographers is that they make a commitment to the site for a period of time longer than a few weeks or months. Websites take time to build, and I’m looking for people that can sustain activity for the long haul.