Digital BW, The Print

Here's a new/old thread. Mark, Steve, et. al. Hope you will chime in. There
have been a lot of comments about rocks and trees, mountains and streams
and, while these may be trite and more than tired, there are some beautiful
prints out there. Personally, they're not my bag, but who am I to judge?
Judging by what sells there are a lot of people out there who disagree with
me. 

On the personal side, I make some images (in fact most of them) just because
I like them or because they mean something to me or because I find some
beauty in them or because I compelled to make them. I'm working on a series
of beds in inns, for instance. I doubt they'd have any commercial value but
they mean something to me. I also make commercial images, portraits mostly,
because I love to shoot people and it's my principal photographic income. (I
own, for lack of a better description, a cross between an agency and a
design firm, www.ideate.com, and I'm lucky that something I love so much
also pays the bills.) I'm now starting to make images to sell as fine art
and I'm spending a lot of time thinking about (and looking around at) what
sells and what doesn't. I don't really want to do the rocks and trees
business because I don't find it meaningful or interesting. But I do want to
shoot stuff for fine art SALE. Nudes? Too many already and most of them are
mediocre anyway although the subject has potential. What else besides the
traditional landscapes and historical imagery sells?

Color (forgive the word) or b&w?

I'm unwrapping the 7500 today. Where to from here? Not for my personal work
because that directs itself, but for my fine-art-for-sale work. It's a
difficult question because it's both a matter of art and commerce.

Thanks all for your thoughts...


Rick Colson