Photo Art?

[Sanda]

I'm considering offering photo art as part of my business. I would be taking an ordinary photo and converting it to an "art like" print. It would be printed on Epson Watercolour paper or similar. The images are too large to post in the forum so if you would like to see what I'm talking about please go to
http://www.photorenovate.com/puppy.html
There are 3 images in the series, the original, the edited version and finally the "art like" version, just click next to see each one, sorry the files are so large but it's difficult to show the detail in a smaller one.
I would appreciate any advice and/or opinions. As I said I'm only considering it at the moment and your recations will help me decide if I will offer it or not.
Thanks in advance.
Sandra

[gland]

Sandra you have no way of knowing what kind of demand there would be for your product.

I would first look at the negatives. How much money would you have to invest to offer photo art as part of your business? If it's no more than the cost of a few sheets of special paper then I'd say go for it.

Positives: You already have the tools and can obviously do the work. There would be no learning curve.

Bottom line: I'd give it a try.

Gary

[thomasgeorge]

You might try putting your work on Greeting cards, calendars and so on for exposure as well as the full sized editions.
We print calendars and cards which we include with customer orders at no charge...this has resulted in several folks coming back for just calendars/cards with their special photos on them and for a small amount of Art type manipulations....I'd say give it a try!! Dont be afraid to experiment with new ideas! They are what build your business and reputation!! Good luck Tom

[Sharon Brunson]

Tom, that's an excellent idea. And that picture is perfect for a calendar.

Sharon

[Blacknight]

Yes. And getting them where they are likely to be unable to resist, with their pets or kitties or puppies or birds or little children is a great place to start. Offer it. See if there's any demand. I bet there would be.

[DannyRaphael]

Sandra:

Be sure you know the ramifications of and are (will be) in compliance with copyright laws. There have been some interesting threads / discussions lately about the legal ramifications of scanning (or taking a digital picture of) a photo "somebody else took" and then manipulating without permission it from a retouch or restore perspective. It seems to be a pretty ambiguous can of worms.

I'm sure photo-art 'for profit' would fall into the same legal swamp.

If you haven't yet I'd certainly consider getting some legal advice from a copyright attorney or do some extensive web surfing on the subject.

That said, I think offering photo-art is a WONDERFUL idea and like others have said, "Go for it!" The market will tell you if its a good idea or not.

~Danny~

[Trimoon]

Hope you don’t mind.. I cant turndown a chance to play

[Sanda]

Trimoon
I love it, as so would Junior(the dog)

Tom,
Great idea about the greeting cards and calenders, I'll give them a try.

Danny,
Yes I'm very careful about copyright, it's too dangerous to "borrow" without permission.
I'm lucky with this photo though it's one I took of my dog Junior. (he's such a poser when there's a camera around, )

Blacknight,
you think they way I think

[jeaniesa]

Nice job Trimoon! I love that background - how did you do it?
Jeanie