Often I get emails from budding photographers who would like an idea of what price point they should place on their images.  I try to avoid answering this question whenever possible,  I don’t want to offend anyone by undervaluing their prints nor do I want to give them a price that is too high and causes a drop in sales.  This is very personal to the photographer and what their future goals are.  I thought I would put together a short post on what I consider smart-pricing based on what I would like to accomplish with my photography collection.  My name is Jesse Bartram Donovan and I plan on becoming a successful landscape photographer (or go down guns blazing) and here is how I am going to go about it.

I have a lot of experience in the art business starting with my very successful year at Thomas Kinkade back in 2001 where I sold many limited edition prints.  Kinkade has a structured art collection which there are several price levels based on each edition.  Artist proofs, studio proofs, gallery proofs and many others I can’t remember.  I was able to see a couple original oil paintings as well.  To be honest I always felt a bit funny about the many different editions wondering what really makes each so different.   But because it allowed many different price levels, I suppose it gave everyone a chance to own one of his works.  That sort of structure also creates a sense of urgency for each edition as each got smaller and exclusive as it reached the top of the collection.  I was able to have a very successful venture however, selling three of his originals.  That sale started me on my way, as approximately a million dollars in sales will do that for you in the art market.  After working for Kinkade, I moved onto another gallery in Maui for a short while.  It didn’t fit my taste as I discovered I’m really not into paintings unless they are like Kush or Victor Bregeda.  Sometimes I can bare to look at my own paintings; you know the ones only a mother could love, but its a hobby that a bottle of wine shares with me.  As I posted in a previous blog, I later found what I really like (landscape photography) when I started working for Peter Lik which would lead me to be his U.S Director for years to follow.  The purpose of my history is not to brag even though that is pretty awesome… but more so, to emphasize the history I have had with successful artists and their pricing structures.  Peter Lik to my knowledge, last I checked has two editions one being an artist proof and one a regular edition and if I am correct they are both the same image but just have different numbers written on them.  The mentioned artists have huge success but will it be long lasting?

This brings me to my personal belief on pricing and the value I would like to instill in my images.  The first thing I realize is that I am not Thomas Kinkade or Peter Lik, who have already achieved great success and are household names, so I am going to be a bit more modest about my pricing.  I would also like to have pricing that allows the collector to acquire some appreciation if possible before they die.  To do this I have created only one edition and made relatively small editions some of them only having 30 prints.  I made a couple of my new images larger editions like 200 or even 300 still much smaller than previously mentioned artists and then I dropped the price point on them.  I figure if I am to demand higher pricing my edition must be very rare which will allow the collector the opportunity, should I become successful and maybe even some day famous, to possess a very collectible art print.  I should also point out that my entire collection of available images is very small and at times sad, as I browse across the web at all the amazing photographers around the world.  At the same time I think this is a good thing as I am careful about what I release and still shoot with film which slows my production of photographs down greatly partly due to my lack of time.  I plan on shooting more but keeping to my price structure of only one edition, and humble prices even when I become a bit more well known.  This would change with the edition size as I plan on producing a few editions where I will sell only one print coming with its slice of film which naturally would demand more money for its rarity.  My current price structure is very reasonable I believe as I have editions of 30 which will be some of the greatest moments in nature that I will experience and I am selling them from $450-950 depending on the size.  This image here is a great example being one of the most epic Sunsets I have ever seen and I made only 30 prints of which I have a third left.

La Jolla Scripps Pier with rare sunset

I also have some images that I have created larger editions of and am selling them from $110-450 and were talking about the finest of photographic papers on the market.  Some of my competitors are selling regular editions in the thousands and then artist proofs of which are the same image and paper for above 10k.  There is nothing wrong  with selling images for high dollar if your customers will pay that much but for me and my own personal beliefs I am planning on long term growth, consistency and not breaking the bank now.  If people are buying prints for 10-20k for a photographer who is living and producing many shots on a continuous pace is there much room for growth and opportunity for the customer to make any money back in the near future?  I hope people buy images because they look beautiful and not just because of the possibility to acquire  or gain value (because they have to live with the image) but if they are I plan on assisting in that process offering a fairly priced quality image that is both beautiful and collectible.  What do you plan to do with your prints?