Simple things to note when shooting for Stock Photos.

[admin]

Are you embarking on this route to stock photography? Are you lure by the payout stories as well as the chance to see your work appearing around the world?

Stock Photography can be a tough game, especially with no guidance and if you ever been rejected a few things, you swear that you will never try again. New Photographers are often turned off by the demands of stock websites and few succeed in the Stock Photography dream.

However if you follow a few simple rules, you should be off in a jiffy and seeing your first dollar rolled in. More information would be added to this thread and make sure you book mark this page to return on another date.

1) Have a theme in mind before you shoot

Don't shoot and submit because you think you think you have a great picture. Sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't. Don't opened your pictures files two christmas ago because they looked good to you. They probably contain lots of sentimental value but to a third party, it doesnt.

2) Let a third party filter and select your photographs

Same as point 1. You need to be very objective when you submit your pictures. By Objective, we mean, ruthless. Dont submit every 1 degree angle of the model, pictures of beautiful sunrise/ sunset, a cup of coffee with a nice bokeh effect. Ask your friends for their opinion. If they say 'No', its probably a NO! If the admin says No, dont take it personal. You should act as your fellow stock photographer's filter as well. In this way, you will understand this point better. You probably have heard it more than once, put yourself in your client's shoes. In this case, imagine your client (the designer) who is doing a brochure for his client's property launch. Would he be looking for a picture of your last model shoot, a picture of a bokeh coffee cup or a sunset?

3) Technically correct

Pictures must be technically correct: COMPOSITION, White Balance, Exposure, lighting (balanced), subject matter, dust free, accompanying model releases, and logos free etc. *Photographers must digitally remove all trademarks and logos and make sure that they email the model releases (MR) and property releases (PR) when submitting a picture.

If you submit a 0.21 MB file size, be prepared to be paid in 0.21 cents as well. Do not submit pictures with your own copyright. The program has an automatic watermark. The client has no time to contact you to beg you for your picture. He/she probably will use another picture and you loose an opportunity to fund your camera purchase!

4) Keywording

If its a picture of an apple, dont write a whole story about how Newton discovered gravity. Describe the things in the picture, not what is about to happen.

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If you have read through these four points and is not discouraged by it, congratulations! You are ready to go!

[admin]

For new STOCK Contributors, after overcoming the technical difficulties and adjusting to the styles of STOCK photography, the next stage to learn is followings:

5) What Sells?

While you have great pictures of your girlfriend/ boyfriend of a walk in the park you did last week and they are all free of technical errors, these pictures do not neccessary help you sell on STOCK websites. Dont get me wrong, i love to shoot pictures of skys, siloutte and i am absolutely sure that at one point of time, someone would definitely need these pictures, what i am trying to say is that they are not pictures that would sell everyday.

For pictures that sells, they are usually commercial pictures like setting up a new office, smiles on people in corporate attires, pictures of people on the beaches. When you think more like a designer who is laying out artwork on the brochure of the clients, you would get a better picture (punt intended).

One thing that i always do: Look at your past records and see what sells. I would always open up my earnings page and see, what the clients have bought and what keywords they use. Look at other's work. What sells? This gives me an ideas of what to shoot next.



6) Less is More; Variety is Important

Another major mistake new STOCK photographers make is to submit endless pictures of the same expression. While you may think that the clients may want this over that, pictures that were taken 0.1 seconds apart, in reality, its not the case. If you upload 20 pictures of a same subject taken only a few minutes apart, you would realise that despite the efforts, only one would sell. If you want to upload 20 pictures, make sure they communicate different things, i.e 20 different types of expressions from Angry to Sad, rather than 20 pictures of varying degrees of Angry. Remember to only select 20% of your shoot each time and then submit only 20% of what you previously selected (20% or 20%).

You would realise that Less is More in the world of STOCK Photography. By being selective, you

7) Do not post process your pictures!

When i looked at fellow new STOCK Photographer's submission, i realised that they are taking their usual approach as a Guy with Cam (GWC) - Sharpening, correcting, enhancing... These are serious mistakes! In addition, do not post process your picture!!! (Do not add dodging, vignetting, halo, etc). Check your pictures by tuning the images to the 'brightest' under Photoshop and inspect at 200% (400% if possible).

Over enhancing your pictures introduces noise artifacts into what could have been a potential picture sale. If there is any enhancing done, your client would do it themselves (most of them are Designers).

This is one benefit of being a STOCK photographer. It pushes u to become a better photographer.

[admin]

Part III - Submitting for STOCK IMAGES Professionally

If you are not detered by the amount of hard work required and want to sell yr pictures to the world, you should know that the leading STOCK website is GETTY IMAGES.

On their website, Getty Images provides a variety of advices to photographers who wants to submit their images for the world. Mind you, these guidelines and policies are tough!

1) The Big Six Image Guidelines - http://contributors.gettyimages.com/workwithus/img/articles/The_Big_Six_Image_Guidelines.pdf

2) Suggested Conceptual Themes - http://contributors.gettyimages.com/workwithus/article.asp?article_id=1249

3) Dedicated Model Releases - http://contributors.gettyimages.com/img/articles/downloads/SAMPLE_Model_Release_-_English_-_Dec_2008.pdf

and... the most potent of all...

4) Submission Requirements - http://contributors.gettyimages.com/workwithus/img/submission_requirements.pdf