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How to Choose Editions

Lesson 85 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

How to Choose Editions

Lesson 85 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

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Lesson Info

85. How to Choose Editions

Next Lesson: Pricing Strategies

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Class Introduction

19:06
2

Storytelling & Ideas

27:34
3

Universal Symbols in Stories

03:19
4

Create Interactive Characters

02:16
5

The Story is in The Details

04:13
6

Giving Your Audience Feelings

05:49
7

Guided Daydream Exercise

04:20
8

Elements of Imagery

02:19
9

The Death Scenario

01:47
10

Associations with Objects

03:01
11

Three Writing Exercises

06:39
12

Connection Through Art

30:35
13

Break Through Imposter Syndrome

07:40
14

Layering Inspiration

23:13
15

Creating an Original Narrative

07:42
16

Analyze an Image

04:12
17

Translate Emotion into Images

04:31
18

Finding Parts in Images

06:02
19

Finding Your Target Audience

04:05
20

Where Do You Want Your Images to Live?

12:01
21

Create a Series That Targets Your Audience

32:43
22

Formatting Your Work

06:08
23

Additional Materials to Attract Clients

07:24
24

Which Social Media Platforms Will be Useful?

04:17
25

How to Make Money from Your Target Audience

11:27
26

Circle of Focus

07:55
27

The Pillars of Branding

06:18
28

Planning Your Photoshoot

09:05
29

Choose Every Element for The Series

07:38
30

Write a Descriptive Paragraph

09:37
31

Sketch Your Ideas

17:27
32

Choose Your Gear

02:50
33

How to Utilize Costumes, Props & Locations

26:18
34

What Tells a Story in a Series?

13:06
35

Set Design Overview

01:43
36

Color Theory

19:50
37

Lighting for the Scene

12:05
38

Props, Wardrobe & Time Period for Set Design

06:00
39

Locations

04:31
40

Subject Within the Scene

07:26
41

Set Design Arrangement

05:46
42

Fine Art Compositing

03:46
43

Plan The Composite Before Shooting

10:29
44

Checklist for Composite Shooting

18:52
45

Analyze Composite Mistakes

12:11
46

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

10:42
47

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing

08:36
48

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

08:17
49

Shoot: Miniature Scene

09:59
50

Editing Workflow Overview

01:57
51

Add Fabric to Make a Big Dress

08:35
52

Edit Details of Images

08:09
53

Add Smoke & Texture

10:47
54

Blend Multiple Images Into One Composite

24:58
55

Put Subject Into a Miniature Scenario

17:55
56

Location Scouting & Test Photoshoot

22:10
57

Self Portrait Test Shoots

22:30
58

Shoot for Edit

04:21
59

Shoot Extra Stock Images

10:01
60

Practice the Shoot

25:07
61

Introduction to Shooting Photo Series

03:33
62

Shoot: Vine Image

10:40
63

Shoot: Sand Image

09:50
64

Shoot: End Table Image

04:59
65

Shoot: Bed Image

06:18
66

Shoot: Wall Paper Image

05:54
67

Shoot: Chair Image

08:02
68

Shoot: Mirror Image

06:57
69

Shoot: Moss Image

05:48
70

Shoot: Tree Image

07:33
71

Shoot: Fish Tank Image

04:09
72

Shoot: Feather Image

09:00
73

View Photo Series for Cohesion & Advanced Compositing

07:35
74

Edit Multiple Images to Show Cohesion

36:55
75

Edit Images with Advanced Compositing

29:33
76

Decide How to Start the Composite

09:35
77

Organize Final Images

21:37
78

Choosing Images for Your Portfolio

08:19
79

Order the Images in Your Portfolio

16:28
80

Why do Some Images Sell More Than Others?

16:03
81

Analyze Student Portfolio Image Order

11:42
82

Framing, Sizing, Editioning & Pricing

02:19
83

Determine Sizes for Prints

16:44
84

How to Choose Paper

13:56
85

How to Choose Editions

07:18
86

Pricing Strategies

18:59
87

How to Present Your Images

13:26
88

Example Pricing Exercise

09:39
89

Print Examples

08:23
90

Licensing, Commissions & Contracts

04:44
91

How to Keep Licensing Organized

06:07
92

How to Prepare Files for Licensing

07:28
93

Pricing Your Licensed Images

12:33
94

Contract Terms for Licensing

12:07
95

Where to Sell Images

04:55
96

Commission Pricing Structure

08:23
97

Contract for Commissions

12:17
98

Questions for a Commission Shoot

08:45
99

Working with Galleries

08:58
100

Benefits of Galleries

07:39
101

Contracts for Galleries

10:32
102

How to Find Galleries

05:22
103

Choose Images to Show

08:53
104

Hanging the Images

03:38
105

Importance of Proofing Prints

08:04
106

Interview with Soren Christensen Gallery

21:59
107

Press Package Overview

04:35
108

Artist Statement for Your Series

18:20
109

Write Your 'About Me' Page

09:04
110

Importance of Your Headshot

03:55
111

Create a Leave Behind & Elevator Pitch

20:19
112

Writing For Fine Art

04:44
113

Define Your Writing Style

14:49
114

Find Your Genre

06:41
115

What Sets You Apart?

02:25
116

Write to Different Audiences

05:10
117

Write for Blogging

39:57
118

Speak About Your Work

14:21
119

Branding for Video

07:37
120

Clearly Define Video Talking Points

14:27
121

Types of Video Content

31:45
122

Interview Practice

13:22
123

Diversifying Social Media Content

22:32
124

Create an Intentional Social Media Persona

24:48
125

Monetize Your Social Media Presence

18:46
126

Social Media Posting Plan

04:01
127

Choose Networks to Use & Invest

02:57
128

Presentation of Final Images

19:13
129

Printing Your Series

09:16
130

How to Work With a Print Lab

13:39
131

Proofing Your Prints

10:11
132

Bad Vs. Good Prints

03:32
133

Find Confidence to Print

10:50
134

Why Critique?

06:55
135

Critiquing Your Own Portfolio

10:39
136

Critique of Brooke's Series

16:18
137

Critique of Student Series

40:07
138

Yours is a Story Worth Telling

02:09

Lesson Info

How to Choose Editions

So editions this is where things start to get fun because you get to really mold your process now and how you're going to offer your prints and exactly what your business will be like. I think it's really exciting at least. Hopefully you do too So you can have open editions or limited edition prints And this is just a choice that you'll make. So an open edition will be more affordable in general whereas a limited edition will be more expensive. And hopefully that's pretty obvious as to why, if you have an open edition meaning you can sell as many prints as you want at any sizes that you want You're never limited well then they're not special as much as a limited edition where you're not going to sell more than a certain amount so I shouldn't have said special that was really the wrong word they're very special either way because it's your image. But they're not as what's the right word give me a word for limited that's not saying rare thank you okay they're not as rare so that's why th...

ey're more affordable. And then the opposite is true of limited edition the more you limit your edition meaning you're limiting the number of prints that will ever be out there in the world it's going to be more expensive for that naturally. So then the number of editions this is a little bit confusing now, so we're moving into the confusing realm of editioning and pricing but the first choice is open edition limited edition and maybe already you guys are like I know what I wanna do I know the direction I'm gonna go in. Do any of you guys feel like you don't know you're just like nah I have no idea which one I want to do and that's okay, that's okay let it digest a little bit, and even I would really suggest going into galleries or spaces where prints are sold and seeing is this artist selling open edition prints or limited edition and what price point are they at and is that sustainable for me because the more you have open edition prints you're probably gonna have to hustle to sell larger quantities of them to make the same amount that you would for a limited edition print. Just something to consider when you're thinking long term about making a living from selling your prints. So the reason why I say this is confusing is because we're not only talking about open versus limited we're talking about the number of editions okay so if you have open editions and you're like I'm doing open edition I don't care I'm going to sell as many as I want in as many sizes as I want then what I have written below here does not matter. Cause you're not doing limited editions but if you want to if that's a consideration for you, then you'll want to think about how the larger number of your edition size I'm gonna make this very clear in just a second the more affordable it will be. So if I have this image right here and this is my one of my ten inch prints and I have this hanging on a gallery wall to sell, this is an edition of 15 meaning that I will print this exact image at this exact size 15 times and no more than that. So that's my edition number here 15 on this size print. So if I have 15 available that might have a lower price point versus the same exact print at the size where you're only selling five of them. So the larger the number of the edition, the more affordable the print is for the art buyer. The smaller the number the more expensive it is. And golly we're gonna talk about this even more. So these are my editions and my sizes and you can see that here. 10 inch print edition of 15, 20 inch print edition of and it keeps going down as the size gets bigger which is really standard here to have the bigger the print the smaller the edition size on that print. And the idea being that if it gets bigger you should be able to put a higher price tag on it and the way that you're helping yourself do that is by having a smaller edition size. This is all very difficult for me to wrap my head around so hopefully it's not difficult for you and you're doing okay there at the end of the day if we go back to this framed print here if I were to sell this image in all of my sizes lets just say I miraculously sold out of every single edition that I have at every single size that would mean that I will have sold 37 prints of this image okay. So it's not only important to think about your sizes of your editions here individually but also what is it add up to to the total size or I'm sorry the size of the edition so that's 37 for me. So for my general works I will sell 37 of this image at various sizes to sell out of that image completely. And that's a really important thing to think about which I completely overlooked when I was setting my editions You know when I was getting my advice everyone just said oh just set it by the sizes and I had four sizes and I chose numbers that seemed reasonable and then I had a portfolio review where I sat down with a gallery and she said do you realize that you offer 37 prints of this image and I was like nope I did not ever think about that even once and I regretted not thinking about that I regretted that I didn't take into account what those numbers add up to because I probably would have lowered my editions slightly but again the good thing is that when you put out a new body of work you can change your editions for that new body of work and that's always something to think about. So for my new series I have the two sizes and my eight inch size is editioned out of three and my 42 inch size is editioned out of two it's a total of five prints in case anyone can't do three plus two five prints total for every single image in that series. And that's very much limited from 37. Which is quite a large number especially if you have a high volume of prints that you offer which is a totally other thing to consider when you're editioning is do you have a small portfolio of images that you offer for print or do you have a huge portfolio of images that you offer for print? And it can be really hard to limit yourself in terms of what you offer for print because if somebody emails you and they say oh I saw this image way in the depths of your social media and I really wanna buy it it's not gonna be easy to say oh I don't offer that one for sale because the only reason why you're not is simply to limit the number of prints that you offer in the long run. So that can be a little bit of a test of willpower I think to say no to people if they want to buy a certain image but it is something to consider in terms of how you're pricing your work is how rare are my images not just with the edition number but how many total images am I offering to print for people? So something to consider.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Guided Daydream & Writing Exercises Workbook (Lessons 1-11)
Creating an Original Narrative Workbook (Lessons 12-18)
Finding Your Target Audience Workbook (Lessons 19-27)
Planning Your Series Workbook (Lessons 28-34)
Set Design Workbook (Lessons 35-41)
Compositing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 42-49)
Editing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 50-55)
Location Scouting Workbook (Lessons 56-60)
Stock Image Downloads for Practice (Lessons 61-72)
Organizing Your Portfolio Workbook (Lessons 77-81)
Pricing & Editioning Your Work Workbook (Lessons 82-89)
Writing Contracts & Licensing Images Workbook (Lessons 90-98)
Gallery Best Practices (Lessons 99-106)
Pitch Package Workbook (Lessons 107-111)
Writing Your Brand Workbook (Lessons 112-117)
Marketing Workbook (Lessons 118-122)
Social Media Workbook (Lessons 123-127)
Printing Methods Checklist (Lessons 128-133)
Self Critique Workbook (Lessons 134-137)
Bonus Materials Guide
Syllabus
Image Edit Videos

Ratings and Reviews

April S.
 

I tuned in for most of Brooke's lessons in this course and watched some of them more than once as they were rebroadcast. First I want to say that Brooke is a very good instructor. Her easy-going, friendly, down-to-earth, somewhat quirky manner cannot be mistaken for unprofessional. She is very prepared, she speaks well (not a bunch of hemming and hawing), she is thoughtful, she is thorough, she is very relatable and at ease, and she is definitely professional in her presentation. I really thought when I first tuned in that it would mostly be background noise while I was at work, sound to keep me company. Not because I didn't like Brooke but I really didn't think I was into fine art photography nor did I think I cared about the business side of things much. Not now anyhow. I was really wrong. Brooke sparked a deep interest in me to delve into fine art photography, to consider creating images for myself, from my imagination. In fact, I realized that this was something I'd been thinking about for a couple of years though I hadn't put a name to it (the idea of creating pre-conceived images based on my own creative goals). I gleaned many little treasures from her about image sizes, working with printers, different types of paper, selling, interacting with galleries, and so much more. I may not need all of what she taught right now because I'm definitely headed in another direction at the moment, but she planted ideas and information in my head that I know will be useful at some point. Things I may not have thought of on my own, but that seed is in my head now so when the time comes, I'll know. I'd really like to buy her course but at the moment, with the holidays right around the corner, it's not in my personal budget. I'm grateful to have caught the live and rebroadcast lessons though, and her course is on my list to own. I think it's a great reference to be consulted over and over again, not watched once and forgotten. Kudos Brooke for really putting together an excellent course.

Ron Landis
 

I'm retired now, but spent decades in the people and training business. Brooke is extraordinary! Even though this course is extremely well organized and she's left nothing unattended, she moves through it with friendly conversational manners and without a sense of it being stilted. It's as though we are all her friends, not students, as she shares her heart and passion with us. What a joy it is to listen to her. And what a clear, unambiguous command of her subject. Wow! She explains it with such ease using explanations and techniques that won't overwhelm artists just starting their portfolio or the Photoshop-squeamish among us; but despite its simplicity her resulting art is breathtaking and beyond original. I wish more of my professors at school were as engaging. This was by far my best buy at Creative Live yet.

Angel Ricci
 

When the title says comprehensive, it means comprehensive! I loved every part of this course. It's inspirational, motivating, and insightful towards creating art work. Even if you are not necessarily considering a fine art specialty, the concepts discussed in this course are applicable to many areas! I find this super useful as a videographer and photographer and look to apply all of these exercises and concepts for my personal and business work moving forward. It is lengthy, but you will not regret a single minute. Brooke Shaden is an amazing artist and educator. I recommend keeping up with her work, presentations, and any future courses that may come in the future.

Student Work

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