You have to work hard if you want your photos to be seen

In sales there is a saying that applies to just about every thing in life.


You have to circulate to percolate.

You have to get people to see your photography if you want them to like your photography.

Unless you work for a newspaper or a magazine getting known can be a real challenge.

You need to join photography clubs in your area, join active photo sharing sites such as FlickR and you have to become active.

Far too many people post their pictures on FlickR but they neglect to make comments on photos by other members. The result is predictable. Nobody looks at his or her pictures. Don't make the mistake of thinking your images are so great people will be compelled to look at them trust me, they are not. You have to work for your audience.

The same goes for photography clubs. Yes! You have to get up before the group and show your photography. Do a show and tell and do it often. Enter in all the photo contests these groups offer. You have to circulate to percolate.

Enter your photography in photo contests offered by magazines, your local paper and television. You will mostly fail but if you don't do it you will assuredly fail.


Keep plugging, keep entering, keep improving.

I intensely dislike photography forums but some like Dpreview.com can provide you with a huge audience. Just don't get drawn into their discussions.


Show your pictures, schmooze a bit and let it go at that.

Personally, I think showing your work in galleries is pretty much a waste of time and money. Your audience is very small, the demand on your time and money in preparing your prints for display, sitting at the display all demand non-productive time. It costs an enormous amount of money to put on a good display.


I would only do this if I were already well known and published.

Smugmug.com is a cool place to display your photos but you are not going to attract a huge audience unless you get some important photo sites linking to you.


Fat chance, you have to work hard before that happens.

Blogs and personal websites are also great places to show your photography but you will have the same problem of having a very small audience, at least for the beginning.

You need to get into the search engines. I link this blog and my Smugmug site whenever I upload pictures to FlickR.
I beg people to link to this blog. It's the only way the search engines will notice you.

I believe having an account with Smugmug and having your own blog are your best chances for fast notice. Get active, really active.

On FlickR I comment on about 200 images uploaded by others every day. Leave comments and your URLs on important photo blogs. You have to circulate to percolate.


It don't hurt to schmooze like hell. Flattery is the grease that makes social intercourse work. Don't expect immediate results. Instead expect to work for about a year with hardly any recognition and sales. It's a slow grind but success will come your way if you persist.

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