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How to Photograph Girls - The Professional Way -- Part 5

by Paul Markham of PaulMarkham.com

So far it's cost you a fortune and now it's time to get this money back, plus
a profit. For those that own their websites there's the first market and maybe
that's all that is needed. But there are also other markets and unless the site
is big enough to justify exclusivity you could be losing out. I recently went on
to "Google" to see what our potential market was. So I entered "teens sex
pictures" into the search line and came up with 385,000 sites. With this kind of
market place what is the need for exclusive? The chances of your work being seen
are remote. We've been doing this for years, selling on the Internet via some
very good Content Providers and very rarely see our work. Exclusivity is one of
the myths that have built up on the NET.

Here are some of our insights and experiences selling. Both, to Internet and
magazines. On the NET we deal with a couple of very good Content Providers who
are more than happy to take our content and as soon as we put up more, take it.
They've got their own loyal client base, which we cannot get to and these
clients now recognize them as the place to buy our content. Most of the people
we have encountered are honest businessmen who know the computer, Internet and
porn business. In fact we can see the day when the Net takes over from the
magazines as our main market But the reaction from some of the others is very
strange. Here are some of those myths we've found. "I only sell exclusive" But
they are rarely able to pay the right money for it. They are just not big
enough. And again with a market this big the question is "WHY" If you give a
good service and do not sell the same content for 10 years there is no problem.

Magazines do not expect it exclusive, even if they shoot it for themselves,
they often resell it or allow the photographer to. They expect a photographer
now to sell the work in the US, UK, Europe, Japan and on the Internet. This is
in a market of no more than 1,000 magazines. Compare that to the Internet. We
shoot everything ourselves. Can mean, "We think we can do it cheaper/better
ourselves" Or "I'm only doing this as an excuse to my wife to shoot naked
females" Truth is no site or magazine ever succeeded with the work of only one
photographer. To appeal to the broadest range of surfers/readers, within the
style, they have to have to be varied and developing. Even Hustler, *********
and Playboy who have 3-4 photographers "In-House" will buy suitable work from
any photographers. These companies have the money and muscle to shoot everything
themselves but know it does not work. A photographer working out of LA can never
cover a whole sites or magazines needs and the site or magazine starts to look
stereotyped and formatted. Working out of smaller city makes it impossible.

Content Providers who offer to broker your work and make you a lot of money
because they are so good. We get this offer all the time. The last one to offer
this told us for ten minutes how good he was at reselling content and brokering.
He was going to sell our content so many times and make us so much money. When
we pointed out to him that he could buy the set with the lifetime license to
resell for only $100-200. He said he could shoot for less himself, when we said
that he did not have TEENY content, he replied, "You shoot TEENY" So
professional he was telling us how much money he was going to make us, without
even seeing what we had. Plus if he could shoot it so cheap himself why is he
phoning in the first place? BE WARNED not every one is out there to help, most
are out there to help themselves. We have found that the Internet is still
regarded by many as a "New Frontier" and therefore attracts "Cowboys".

Thankfully it is growing up and most of the people you encounter are
businessmen that know a business relationship is not a better as a "marriage"
and not a "one night stand". "The Internet is different" Is usually an excuse
for people to produce, low quality or completely "Off the Wall" It is no longer
the exclusive arena for the "Geek". The Internet is being surfed by people from
their homes through TV cable. It has become another form of entertainment or
information service.

We are Content Providers and sell both ours and other photographers. After
only eight months are so successful that we are looking to expand our range of
styles and can only do this by buying from other photographers. We already
represent two other photographers and need more.

We will make a straight offer for content if we like it. Or just decline, we
can and will buy if we need it, either exclusive or non-exclusive. Then there
are the magazines. But if content providers and webmasters think they get
approached by a lot of photographers, they do not know what a magazine editor
has sent to him every day. Especially if he is editing a magazine like Club or
Barely Legal.

Last month I received a circular sent by one of the publishers. It said that
during 2001 they noticed an increase in submissions from photographers and were
now getting 250 sets a week!! They "noticed" an increase, so what were they
getting before? Most people running Internet sites pick up their own phones. In
the publishing world you go through a receptionist whose job it is to filter
calls to the editors from prospective photographers. Unless you have the direct
number or he knows you, the receptionist will just tell you to send in your work
with a letter and return postage and envelope. This will sit on the art editor's
desk. The editor look at the parcels sent in by the known and favored suppliers,
then the known but not so favored. If the editor is still looking to fill the
magazine, he will go to that pile and give each set a 10 second look to see
which ones are suitable. It's tough. A magazine set can easily pay up to $3,000
and these guys can be very picky. The chances of an unknown photographer getting
seen are 1 in 10. Of getting bought 1 in 20 if they know what you are doing and
have the right girl/lighting/style/setting/poses. Chances of getting bought if
you do not are 1 in 1000 or even less.

If you keep sending bad sets the post room is instructed to return your sets
unseen. However if you send us sets for the Internet and we think they are
suitable for magazines, we will include them in with our submissions to the
editors and if acceptable make you an offer. Forgot to say they pay on
publication, which can be 3 months to 18 months after submitting the set. So do
not expect to get any money quickly. So that's it not as easy as you thought? If
it were everyman in the world would be doing it and even though it some times
seems like that on the Internet, it's very tough to rise above the normal. I
hope you now have a little insight into what it's like to be a pornographer. We
would love to hear your comments so feel free to write to us @
paul_eva@paulmarkham.com

You can discuss this article here at Netpond

And thanks for this article to Paul Markham