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Frank Petronio
18-Dec-2003, 11:05
I got curious and checked out Paul's website. I have to admit it is one of the best portfolios of large format color nature photography I've ever seen, and I don't usually like that sort of imagery. (QT's is excellent too...) I especially enjoyed his 6x12 images of winter scenes. Congratulations, very well done - http://www.paulschilliger.com

JohnnyV
18-Dec-2003, 13:10
Beautiful images!

But I read a disturbing sentence by him: "I have personally stopped offering prints for sale due to the low demand and to the investment both in time and in equipment that was necessary."

Geez if he can't sell prints...who is?

Paul Kierstead
18-Dec-2003, 13:32
Yes, they are truly fabulous. I go to the site on occasion to get a little inspiration.

Selling prints is 3 parts marketing, 1 part image. Well, it may be worse then that. Just to visit some local galleries and see the stuff that is being sold; some are good, but an awful lot is barely mediocre (from a fine art point of view). But someone has made a good marketing/sales pitch and they prints are selling.

So what Mr. Shilliger needs is a business partner.

David R Munson
18-Dec-2003, 13:35
Beautiful stuff! Also reminds me why I should stick to B&W!

Paul Schilliger
18-Dec-2003, 14:48
Thanks for the kind words!

Johnny, be reassured, I never made any effort and I am rather holding back. But I might eventually purchase one of those large Ultrachrome printers and get into the job. Anyone interested yet??? ;-)

David, what do you mean by that ??? Yeah I agree, B&W is beautiful.

MIke Sherck
18-Dec-2003, 14:56
Lovely photos, I agree. A pity that you can't find (or build) a market.

I don't want to speak for Mr. Munson, but I had something of the same reaction to your comments. Your description of custom contact masks, etc. put me in mind of my simple B&W darkroom containing inexpensive equipment (and not much of that.) It sounds like a lot less fuss and expense.

Mike

Julio Fernandez
18-Dec-2003, 15:06
I always thought that Paul's images belong in art museums and in between the pages of beautiful books of photographs. Switzerland must be proud to count among its sons a talented artist such as Paul and should be proud to show the world its beauty through Paul's eyes. I have space reserved for that book in my shelves, it would sit next to Elliot Porter's. What are they wating for!

David R Munson
18-Dec-2003, 15:26
What I meant is that there are certain people that are able to use color in a way that I've never been able to approach. Your work is a good example of that. Color just doesn't fit the way I see the way it fit's the way you see, Paul. B&W is my bag, and seeing such beautiful color work serves to remind me of that.

Paul Schilliger
18-Dec-2003, 15:48
David, I took no offense and was just kidding you. Now I understand what you meant. I started LF with B&W which I loved more than color, but I was unable to see with the abstraction of color and I felt very disappointed and frustrated... until I switched to color.

Julio, my faithful and supportive friend! Elliot might turn in his grave to see who is this newcomer who dares standing along him!

Bruce Watson
18-Dec-2003, 16:28
Paul,

Excellent work. You can see. The comparison to Porter isn't as far off the mark as you think.

Your site says you use mostly Velvia - a slide film. In that case, why not send your film out for scanning and printing? This would keep you out of the expensive equipment business and yet let you sell some of your beautiful images. This is easier to do with transparencies because the printer has the trany to compare to. There are a number of companies in the USA that do this for photographers, so I'm sure there are a number in Europe as well.

Just a suggestion. If you change your mind about selling in the future, please let us know! And please keep shooting.

QT Luong
18-Dec-2003, 17:20
The reason why Paul had no success selling prints on the web is that his site doesn't have enough traffic. To obtain enough traffic to actually sell prints on the web, Paul would have to increase considerably the volume of his material on the web. Since one can have only so many great images, this would result in lowering the overall quality of the photos, something that might not be desirable to him and to those who admire his site.

Steve Hamley
18-Dec-2003, 18:49
Paul,

Have you seen the soon-to-be released Epson Stylus 4000? Bigger than the 2000 series and smaller than the 7000 series. Uses sheet or roll paper and can print a 16x20. There's a review at the Luminous Landscape.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/printers/epson-4000.shtml

Thanks!

Steve

Matt Miller
18-Dec-2003, 20:13
Paul,

Your work is stunning and beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing it.

Matt

Geoffrey Swenson
19-Dec-2003, 14:45
Why are ya’ll so surprised that someone living today can be as good or better than a Master of the Past? Hmmm?

Paul Schilliger
20-Dec-2003, 00:42
Thanks for all the encouraging words! Yes, the Epson 4000 is a nice printer. A pitty that it sells here twice the US price, like all Epson printers.

No worries about my marketing, I have a plan: In my next life, I will reborn a marketing agent, dig out my work and start selling. ...Silly? Maybe. But yes, success is certainly from team work and that's why I have not been too attracted by success so far. So much different from my lone wandering...

Jonathan Brewer
20-Dec-2003, 10:30
Just as long as you're not planning on cutting off your ear.

Paul Schilliger
20-Dec-2003, 12:00
Jon, I do not plan on cutting anything... well, maybe my hair... next week.

About Elliot Porter, I must say that it's not the first time I'm told my photographic trials are somewhat reminders of his work. I wish I could see what his work was like, maybe to know better how mine is perceived! Unfortunately, all of his photography books are out of print. The only one I could find second hand is called "The Place No One Knew: Glen Canyon on the Colorado" but seems too specific to draw my interest at $75. I only have one picture of his in mind, a golden apple tree, very nice image that I had seen on the web. Can you suggest some of his best books titles? Maybe the titles would help finding some used samples. Thanks!

QT Luong
20-Dec-2003, 12:37
Regarding Eliot Porter, my two favorites are listed
at
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/books/landscape-color.html (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/books/landscape-color.html).
In Wilderness was a great hit with the public (possibly one of the most succesfull nature photography
books of all times) and as a result is widely available used at
ridiculously low prices.

Paul Schilliger
20-Dec-2003, 14:00
Thanks Tuan! Santa could not ship me an Epson 4000 this year because some of his reindeers are missing, but he promised some books.

Jonathan Brewer
20-Dec-2003, 18:26
Being an excellent Artist, you will still have something in common with Van Gogh

Paul Schilliger
20-Dec-2003, 22:46
Artists are known for living poor lives... maybe I'm on the right trail. But I will definitely keep my ear.

Julio Fernandez
21-Dec-2003, 17:12
Tuan: Thanks for the book list. Among those in the list are Jack Dykinga's nature photography. Jack has earned much acclaim, what seems to have gone unnoticed is that his style is so much copy cat Muench; Nothing that I have seen of Dykinga strikes me as new original work that I already did not see in Muench, although Dykinga as far as I know never awknowledged the favor. Nonetheless, I must say I like his work. The public always seems to need the stamp of approval that smart marketing confers on artists and Dykinga has benefited from that. But if what you want is image poetry that goes straight to the heart one should look beyond the list, in Paul Schilliger's work. In my opinion Paul is one of the finest landscape artits alive and we should not wait until history tells us so.

Geoffrey Swenson
22-Dec-2003, 09:53
Just to add to Julio’s thoughts this is what I said earlier;

“Why are ya’ll so surprised that someone living today can be as good or better than a Master of the Past? Hmmm? ”

It is amusing that anything from the past is great, but anything great in the present we don’t seem to notice!?!

Sam Eubanks
23-Jan-2004, 12:55
Paul, I think that your colleagues are hitting on something with the web marketing. I would like to recommend a product called Web Position Gold. You can probably find a trial version for free. This product can help you to not only improve your website hits but also register with search engines. There are quite a few products available that can help you get more traffic. Good luck. Beautiful images...

Paul Schilliger
24-Jan-2004, 01:26
As I have a chance to discuss this matter with experienced and self supported photographers, would others share on what impact has a website had on the developpment of their sales? My opinion is that a website alone does not make sales, unless there is another structure such as a self-owned gallery or galleries representations. People who buy photographs do not buy a photograph, they buy an association of things that are reminders of a special time they have had in their life. For instance, a trip to some place where they visited the gallery, or a reminder of their homeland when they are abroad. They also buy a fame when the photographer is famous. My website has up to 7500 visitors a months which is not much but fair, and although I received many compliments, I must say that it never made a sale in the two years it has been on. I had a price list and contact address. Maybe the kind of subjects matters too... And the tone of the website. Some websites are very commercial oriented, mine is not the least. You won't even find a contact address now! This is because I was involved in a full time job and had no time for developping that aspect. But things might change for I am considering getting into photography more seriously. Tips and shared experience are appreciated! (I'll be away for two days)

Frank Petronio
24-Jan-2004, 14:37
Paul, I've had a website since 1995 and now have several different websites for different aspects of my business. I hardly ever get jobs from random website visits - and I would be cautious of the random inquiries I do get. Instead, the website functions as a portfolio for people that I approach, or ayou are pointed to it by other happy clients, etc.

I think if you advertised and promoted yourself in the right places, the website is invaluable. But to simply post even the finest website and expect new business from it - well, it won't happen.

Rory_5244
26-Mar-2008, 20:55
Anybody know what happened to Paul? Is he still taking pictures? He kinda just dropped off the map. I would have never gotten a large format camera if it wasn't for his pictures, so I'd be kind of sad if he lost interest in this stuff.

Michael Kadillak
26-Mar-2008, 22:02
I continue to see people pouring considerable amounts of financial resources into their photography to pursue their craft completely devoid of the equally necessary business acumen and dedication necessary to succeed in this regard. You can make the most beautiful photographs in the world but without a well thought out business plan all you have are beautiful prints. For many this is all that they want to accomplish and are happy satisfying their own personal desire to make the best photographs that they possibly can. The sad part somes from the struggle that usually arises from an investment in materials, equipment and time with the expectation of income that just never materializes. No matter how you slice it selling photographs is a business and business is hell.

Several folks that I have seen successfully sell fine art photographs readily admit that they have spend as much as 90% of their time in self promotion, marketing and selling and about 10% of their time making photographs. This is where the problem arises. Most photographers just want to make photographs and inherently have less than zero interest in business let along continuous self promotion.

I remember reading an article about Gordon Hutchings saying that his good friend Morley Bauer used to tell him that you need to immerse yourself in the business of photography good bad or indifferent to be a "real" photographer. Gordon decided that he wanted to photograph what he wanted when he wanted and opted for a day job with the State of California for his base income. He retired early with a pension to enjoy photography completely devoid of any stressful iterations involving generating income from photography.

I have opted for Gordon's approach to participating in this art form. In the long run I feel that managing stress is the most important component to surviving in this fast paced thing we call life. When I make photographs the last thing I think about is the daily grind and that is a good part of what I find so appealing about the anolog process. Whatever works.

Cheers!

hoffner
27-Mar-2008, 03:27
Anybody know what happened to Paul? Is he still taking pictures? He kinda just dropped off the map. I would have never gotten a large format camera if it wasn't for his pictures, so I'd be kind of sad if he lost interest in this stuff.

He's doing well, but has his own reasons not to figure in this forum, as far as i know. I wish him well.

Rory_5244
27-Mar-2008, 07:47
Okay. I'm happy to hear he's well. I haven't a clue about the business side of photography, but I have heard lots about it. I guess being an amateur has its advantages. :o

h2oman
27-Mar-2008, 08:44
Beautiful work, Paul.

Frank, thanks for bringing these photos to my attention.

Color landscapes are my passion. Look carefully at Paul's work and you will see something is missing in many of the shots - the horizon! I tend to look to the horizon a bit more than I perhaps should (maybe that is an artifact of growing up on the prairie of Wyoming), and I'm trying to lower my sights (literlally, not figuratively!).

For another photographer who is a master of extracting beautiful detail from forests and mountains, try Charles Cramer. A quick search will find his web page.

Zaitz
10-Jan-2013, 01:09
Bump...:o Hopefully not out of line.

Just discovered Paul's work searching through old long lens discussions. Such an amazing portfolio of work. Thought others unaware might appreciate his work too. Would love to create images like those.

Andrea Gazzoni
10-Jan-2013, 06:00
it's a coincidence, I was pointed to this website yesterday by the friend member Gregg.
it is stunning, I keep looking at it.
this guy is standing side by side other masters like Porter and Burkett.
in my opinion, his work is sometimes even better than Burkett or Dykinga i.e.

it was almost a shock reading that he's not selling his work due to the low demand.
worth a visit, and more.

Renato Tonelli
10-Jan-2013, 07:24
Beautiful work.

...I had to stop looking at it as I was getting a strong urge to throw my camera out the window...

Sal Santamaura
10-Jan-2013, 09:39
Bump...:o Hopefully not out of line...Not only not out of line, it's the appropriate thing to do rather than starting a new, redundant thread.