From Surf Photography To Fine Art Prints, with James Katsipis

Surf photography in New York sounds like a punchline until you see the winter swells and the work they produce. Gary Pageau of The Dead Pixels Society sits down with Montauk-based professional photographer James Katsipis, who built his career by specializing, first as a surf shooter, then by turning the landscapes and “in-between” moments into collectible fine art photography that ends up on the walls of serious buyers.

Katsipis walks us through the real transition from shooting for magazines to selling through galleries, including how presentation decisions shape what collectors buy. We get specific about large format acrylic prints, why anti-glare matters at oversized dimensions, and what happens when interior designers and contractors plan lighting and walls around a single artwork. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to sell photography prints for high-end homes, this is the practical side most people skip.

Then we go deep on the business systems: running a Shopify store tied to a physical gallery, the headaches of manual order entry, and the customer-service spiral that comes from lost or damaged shipments. Katsipis explains why he partnered with WhiteWall, how the Shopify integration automates fulfillment and drop shipping, and how faster checkout options like Apple Pay help reduce abandoned carts for high-ticket wall art. We also talk about protecting the artist’s intent through cropping and format control, plus the surprising effect of easier European fulfillment on global sales.

If you care about fine art print sales, photography ecommerce, and building a workflow that keeps your time focused on making images, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a photographer friend, and leave a review with your biggest print-selling challenge.