These are definitely not my strong point, but several folks have been asking about them lately. I figure I better start learning.

Jim,
I saw this on Facebook and thought you did a very good job. I agree that it's a product you need to add to your portfolio. And this type of collage -- with three images showing three different apparatus -- is a really nice image. My only suggestion -- and this is truly a matter of personal taste -- would be to place the upper right image behind the tire like you did with the lower left image. It just works better for my eye.

Regardless, good effort and excellent response to a market opportunity. BTW, we've sold 12 collages from the Rottie National this year whereas last year it was only 2. So folks realize that they are getting more for their money with collages. Plus, 1/2 of them came back to us as ads for the magazine so it paid us twice. Nice!

Good job. Let us know how they sell.

Jim

Thanks Jim.

I see what you mean. I could mask out the bars and grass that come in front of the tire pretty easily.

I've yet to figure out how I'm going to price these things. Obviously more than a single image of the same size.

A design fee? Dunno, a lot to think about I guess.

Someone else asked for a collage of three of their dogs all going over a simple bar jump. I don't think I did so well on that one.

Jim,
we charge $75 for the collage plus the print price. At least that's our "listed" price for what I'd call "normal" collages. For complicated ones or ones where we have to find/create the background, the price can go as high as $150. However, the key will be what your market can bear in terms of pricing. These folks aren't used to spending a lot but a collage has more value than 3 separate prints.

Linda just did a double-truck center-spread collage of images from the ARC National for the magazine and that one must contain something like 25 images and it took her the better part of 1/2 a day to complete it. Something like that would obviously be a lot more expensive. I'll share it as soon as I get my hard drive back from her.

Jim

Thanks Jim,

I'm considering something like the price of a 5x7 multiplied by the number of images included. Assuming a final print size of 8x10.

For larger, I'll figure something else out.

Jim,
here's the collage that we did for the ARC National story in the magazine. Enjoy.



Jim

Wow! That's a LOT of work! Looks great though. I wish I were creative like that!

Gad Zooks, Jim!!

This is quite impressive - and I am sure, a lot of work.

Very well done.

James

James,
it was a lot of work but once you have the basics of layering and placing images in front of or behind other images, it's just a matter of keeping track of all those layers. We are somewhat handicapped in coverage of the National because I am not supposed to release formals to any publication until they have been published in the ARC Newsletter. The Newsletter doesn't come out for 6 months and we publish monthly so the delay is ludicrous but my contract says I can't release them so I don't.

Meanwhile, our competing magazine -- The Total Rottweiler Magazine -- is coming out this month as well and they've asked for photos. I can release photos that people have bought as long as the folks who bought the photos ask me directly. So, the long and short of it was our decision to use candids (I shot a bunch of them and there are no restrictions on how we can use them) for most of the coverage and formals only in ads purchased by the owners of those formals i.e. Best Of Breed and Best Of Opposite Sex were both owned by the same folks and they're running ads.

Once we decided to use candids, the collage gave us the opportunity to provide the widest coverage and to create the biggest bang while also showing the scope of the event.

Glad you like the effort.

Jim