TLF helps bring artists and buyers together

The Lens Flare is a wonderful place to share art and photos with the world, and there are a lot of talented people among its members. People from all over the world view the pictures in the galleries for a variety of reasons, and some of TLF's visitors are looking to purchase pictures for commercial & marketing campaigns.

The Security Company (http://www.thesecurityco.com) is a company based out of Huntingdon, United Kingdom, which is about 100 miles north of London. They are dedicated to making the workplace a more secure environment in regards to technology such as using hard to guess passwords, not writing down passwords on post-it notes, virus protection, etc.

Recently, they had an event to bring IT security professionals together to discuss the best ways to teach employees at blue-chip companies about security awareness. The event was hosted by Reuters in Canary Wharf, London. To advertise the event, they created a postcard and mailed it to about 1000 companies in the UK.

They used Alandra's hummingbird (http://www.thelensflare.com/gallery/p_hummingbirdgazingball_25765.php) image to add visual appeal to their postcard. They removed the background around the hummingbird and reflective ball and replaced it with information about the event. For this, they paid Alandra a fair amount for the use of her picture on 1000 postcards.

Pete Smith, the representative of The Security Company, chose Alandra's image because "it was so striking - it's so difficult to come up with a mailshot concept that busy people won't just bin and forget about, and we think this one is going to be a winner."

For an amateur photographer, that first sale can be very intimidating. Tons of questions arise such as how much to charge, copyright issues, how to receive payment, fear of the unknown, and other considerations. The Lens Flare truly is a community devoted to helping each other, and I was happy to help answer all of Alandra's questions. In the end, everybody won. Alandra was paid a fair price for her excellent photograph, The Security Company was able to send out a striking post card advertising their event, and I have the privilege of writing this article for you to read.

About the Author

Brian Broderick (http://www.brianbroderick.com) is a semi-pro nature photographer and the creator of The Lens Flare. His hobbies include hiking, skiing, and computer graphics, and is currently a web programmer.

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