Many of our photo scanning clients are professionals, but many more would like to turn their hobby into a paying interest. "How can I sell my photos?" is now one of our most frequently asked questions.
It is not easy, the main problem is getting your images in front of people who might be prepared to pay for image rights. Here in the UK it's tough, established image libraries are picky about accepting new photographers, and are very demanding in terms of image quality. Unless you have a massively important or unique collection of images it's likely that setting up your own website will be doomed to failure, you'll never get back the cost of setting up the site and publicising it effectively.
So, check out this potential solution - Flickr.
Yes, that's right. One of the biggest amateur photo sharing websites has a link with Getty Images. This means you can flag your images as being available for sale, buyers are then able to access your images and who knows, you might make some money.
Looking at the site today I was impressed with the help and guidance available on the site, so if you're looking to dip a toe in the waters of paying snapping, check out Flickr.

Some years ago I was asked by Kodak if there were any enhancements I could suggest for their photo scanning software. One of my suggestions was to find a way to automatically remove the white borders that appear on many prints. Sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line, I guess there's hard maths behind that. Anyway, that feature has yet to appear.

When we scan slides we typically crop inside the frame, so the client sees a "borderless" image, same with negative scanning. the only exception is with professional photographers who typically don't trust us to get the crop right so want every last bit of data.

Recently we've added a slideshow building facility and I'm pleased to say it's being well received. We off three options and ask clients to express their preference. Each slideshow has it's attractions but none is outrageous so I expected preferences to fall pretty evenly across each style. Much to my surprise one is an out front leader, and guess what? It automatically adds a white border to all the images in the slideshow.

This after noon I spent a couple of hours on a rescue job. A client supplied a set of images taken of his late mother, but due to a camera operator error they were all out of focus. Hence time spent trying to get a degree of sharpness into each image. If you're familiar with Apple's photo editing application, Aperture, you'll know this has a solid set of sharpening tools. You can sharpen the whole image or you can "paint" sharpness into an area of your image.

So, switch off USM in Silverfast, scan the negatives, then load them into Aperture. Finally yielding 12 images where the subject is acceptably sharp, and that area of the image is isolated with the background slightly unfocused. Then I was reminded of this - the Lytro field camera.

This is a special device, it's a camera that doesn't focus. It is a revolution in photography.

I won't try to describe the camera - just go to lytro.com to see it - but it looks different and the resulting image can be focused at any given point in the image. I don't mean finally, you can post the image on a website or email it and the observer can adapt focus as they wish. A truly brilliant idea.

Having just acquired an iPad I opened the supplement in today's Sunday Times looking for ways to use my iPad for something photographic. They list several apps but most of them are for the iPhone. No use to me, I'm Android. Still they do mention a couple for the iPad.

8mm Vintage Camera: add a nostalgic style to movies. Adds dust and flecks and the sound of a running film reel.

Paper Camera: makes your photos look like they were hand-drawn on paper.

Thumba Photo Editor: looks like a powerful set of tools - cropping, rotating, brightness & contrast adjustments, hue / saturation, adjust white balance. Sounds a lot for just 79p.

So, once proud Kodak has filed for protection from its creditors. For people of my age Kodak, like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Ford and so on, was one of the names we grew up with and as I've said many times it's a company that owns photography. So it should, it invented most of it.

I wish Kodak well, particularly those we've had contact with in their photo scanning division. Kodak is needed, not just by this business, but by everyone who has ever picked up a camera. Let's hope this tactic will give them the time they need to pull through.

Although I wish them well I have to say I think they're on the wrong track. Kodak IS images, not printers and certainly not flogging off their patents, which seems to be the plan of the current top man. Why, why, why are they flogging themselves to death advertising printers when surely the evidence of their own eyes must prove that nobody is bothered about printing.

Yesterday I was in a branch of PC World. Yes they had a cute display of Kodak printers, curiously at ankle level. Nobody taking any interest. People were congregating by the large displays of cameras, still and video, an area where once Kodak would have dominated. Nikon, Olympus, Leica are all great names from the past who have somehow pulled through to the other side. It would have been nice to see a Kodak credit on some of those cameras.

Best of luck Kodak, hope you make it, but you might have to forget those printers before it happens.

This is the first post about issues, thoughts, ideas, and a few gripes on photo scanning.

When is a book not a book? Well according to the VAT man, when it’s a photobook. Apparently he’s long taken the view that a photobook is really a special type of photo album, which means they’ve been subject to VAT.

However a recent ruling in a case brought by Truprint, photo and photobook printers. it has been agreed that all photobooks should be treated like ordinary books, effectively exempt from VAT. Apparently there’s been a split for many years in the photobooks industry between those suppliers who emerged out of the book publishing trade and those who turned to photobooks from printing snapshots. It was difficult for the latter to compete with the former as the VAT people told them to charge VAT, not an instruction they’d given to their competitors who naturally thought they were in a variant of the book business. Truprint and I’d guess others are now in line for a chunky tax rebate.
What does that mean for the market? Maybe prices will fall, maybe not. At least all suppliers will be on the same tax footing going forward.

We’re doing everything we can to make sure we meet our Christmas deadlines. One concern is potential delays in the mail at this time of year but we’ve been assured by Royal Mail that Recorded and Special Delivery will be unaffected.
Photo Scanning
All work with us now will be completed and posted to online albums. We have additional capacity for runs of up to 1,000 images but as next week goes on returning prints will be tight. Images will be available for download soon after scanning.
Slide Scanning
All work received will be scanned and returned. We could handle additional small tasks, up to 200, but larger projects will be completed in the New Year.
Negative Scanning
We are expecting a large batch of 35mm negatives which will absorb all capacity up to Christmas.
Video tapes to DVD
Existing orders and video tapes with us now will be completed. Nothing received from now can be completed before Christmas, sorry.

If you’re interested in photo composition, there’s an interesting article here.

You can’t win them all, although we try. Last week I had a couple of conversations with a client who’d inherited a stack of 35mm slides. He has nearly 200 slides.
Of course I said, use us. Save time and bother, access expertise and technology (high price scanners, specialist software) that hobbyists are unlikely to afford. He was doubtful, in retirement he has time, a decent PC, so why not spend his money on a scanner?
Today he rang to say he was going to take the DIY route, so - sorry, but ....
Could I recommend a 35mm slide scanner?
Not wanting to sound like a sore loser I said I’d revisit the scanner market, which I’ve just being doing via Amazon. As the many users of our slide scanner amnesty will know I have a virulent dislike of the many cheap and cheerless scanners based on the insides of cheap digital cameras. Don’t waste your money, I’m pleased to say there are better options available.
We use Epson flatbeds, their top-of-range V750 and they’re great although pricey. However Epson now offer a V330 capable of scanning slides and negatives, at £83-50. Not very much more than the cheapo boxes. Plus this unit will scan several slides in one session, helping with the boredom factor.
Next up in the Epson range is their V500 at £150. That’s a big step up but you do get Digital ICE, dramatically reducing dust and scratches; and the time you’ll need to invest to get decent scans.
I’ve never used a Canon scanner but many who do sing their praises. The lowest price Canon I could see is their 5600F, at just under £100. If the F stands for FARE that’s Canon’s alternative to Kodak’s Digital ICE so you might get decent, clean, scans. Judging by user feedback you might have an issue with Windows 7 though.
There - plenty of choice. Whatever you go for, get a decent scanner, not a toy.