$5,000 Postcards

[cps]

From his bio: "He has sold in excess of $200 million of fine art photography..."

Is that even possible?

[Mark Sawyer]

From his bio: "He has sold in excess of $200 million of fine art photography..."

Is that even possible?

Absolutely! I sold $200 million of fine art photography. Unfortunately, I sold it for $60...

[Drew Wiley]

I don't know where Lik is making his money. Selling some overpriced kitch on the web
is obviously part of it, but the galleries themselves are in locations with high overhead.
It is entirely possible he's copying what Kincacde did and is fleecing franchisees who
have borrowed money to keep the galleries open. I wouldn't be too envious. These
kinds of things have a way of coming back to haunt people.

[Brian C. Miller]

Instead of going on about how he didn't make the photograph, perhaps a better conversation would be about how we can make a photograph like that.

According to one of the links posted about night sky photography, a DSLR was used to make something similar using ISO 1600, f/4, and 20sec exposure time. Kodak Portra 400 can likely be pushed a couple of stops to 1600, and with some testing for reciprocity, an acceptable exposure can be made.

[johnmsanderson]

Drew --

His work sells. A lot. The stuff is pretty much marketed as decorative art, if you see his galleries they are replete with his soi disant furniture, and viewing rooms that have adjustable lights to show how the prints look under different light.

He also has a pretty smart marketing campaign. Salespeople are told to hype the work up and make it seem more complicated in its making (like his TV Show does). A Linhof 617 becomes a "very difficult camera to use, which few photographers master." And the prints are "unmanipulated and natural" or "straight from the camera."

They dwell on the uninformed.

[tgtaylor]

Film Astrophotography is old hat now. Here's a deep sky image taken with a 150mm lens on a Pentax 6x7 camera:

http://www.narrowbandimaging.com/ic1396_film_page.htm

[Brian C. Miller]

That one has a bit of star trail to it. I was going to review "Tree of the Universe" but it's been replaced (with the same shot that's preloaded with Windows Vista). Oh, hey! Price reduced! 2/3rds off or best offer! (Craig's List has it cheaper) (Hmm, the image is too small to judge the quality of the star detail.)

Yes, film astrophotography is "old hat" but based on the comments I've seen on this thread, a person might be given to think that it's impossible, and it's also impossible to sell pretty pictures to a public that wants pretty pictures.

A while ago I listened to an interview with a country music star. Somebody called in and claimed that while they knew how to write hits, the caller didn't want to, and wanted to know how to get an audience for what they liked to make. So the country music star replied, "Well, if you write some hit songs for yourself, you can make enough money to buy enough booze to puke all the way to the bank, and then you can do what you want with what's left over."

[Darin Boville]

From his bio: "He has sold in excess of $200 million of fine art photography..."

Is that even possible?

I read a Wall Street Journal article about Kincaide a few years back and they pegged his yearly gross at $450 million. That was the high point, I think.

--Darin

[Drew Wiley]

I'm pretty familiar with how public corporations fluff their alleged value when they're
actually running on a bluff, just to sucker potential investors, and there seems to be
something parallel here. Kincade bankrupted. He might have made quite a bit of serious
personal income in the process (it's often done that way, at other people's expense),
but let's see what's left after all the legal hassles. Maybe he'll stay out of jail, but time
will tell. Lawsuits are a different story. But based on the odds, white collar hijinks pays
more often than not. Is the total "fine art" print even worth $200 million in a year? One
would have to wonder. Lik doesn't fit in this category anyway. Might as well be
selling private label K-Mart blue jeans for all I care. I don't know why anyone with
an ounce of self-respect would care to emulate him.

[reyno bundit]

flickr fodor,

so many digi guys like this stuff, but ive seen a lot better.

if you like the pre printed art canvas dollar shop kinda thing, manhatten landscapes, waterfalls and sunsets on beaches then this shot is just the ticket.

sorta pics that cheer up a cream dominated decorated room.

i like it ;0)xxx