Stock Photo Ideas

Everybody eventually has one or two lenses that are their favorite lenses. But sometimes it makes sense to upgrade to a better or newer lens.  Recently I had the opportunity to upgrade from the 80-200 to a new 70-200 with image stabilization, and I am glad I finally made the move.  There comes a time as you progress as a photographer that your equipment’s limits are hindering your abilities to create images that push the boundaries of your abilities. At that time sometimes it takes a new piece of gear to get the creative juices running again.  The other main reason people often want a new lens is there is a problem with the lens they are currently using.

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In case you haven’t read our post on why to use a tripod for stock photos, you may want to head over there and read that before continuing on with this post.

One of the hardest things about picking the right tripod, is determining what your needs are and how it will be used.  A stock photographer that does mainly macro work will probably have different ideas about what the ideal tripod is than an outdoor photographer who packs his gear for miles.  The macro photographer will be looking for something sturdy with tiny adjustments available, where the outdoor photographer wants something light and sturdy.  Once you have determined how you want to use the tripod then this guide will help you pick the correct tripod.

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One of the first things I was taught when I started to learn photography was that if my focal length was shorter than my shutter speed I needed to rest the camera on something, or adjust my settings to achieve a higher shutter speed.  Let me give an example, if my focal length is 75mm my shutter speed should not be below 1/80th of a second to achieve acceptable sharpness.  Ideally my shutter speed should be at least twice my focal length if I am hand holding the camera.  Now this was based on using a 35mm film camera, so using most new DSLRs I have to figure in the crop factor which increases the effective focal length. So a 50mm lens on a camera with a crop factor of 1.5 (a popular crop factor) gives me an effective focal length of 75mm.  Hopefully I haven’t lost you yet, and there are ways around that rule such as using your flash to freeze motion.  But anyway, if you are going to be using a slow shutter speed you should be using a tripod.

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When you are first starting out, sometimes it is hard to find models for your ideas.  Family is one source, but they may not be around, or you may be like me and do most of your stock photography late at night when everybody is asleep.  What ever the case, self portraits may be the answer for your lack of willing models.

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Model releases are one of those inconvenient things that have to be done in order to sell photographs of people.  The model release pretty much says it is ok for you to take the subjects picture, and use it however you would like.

Unless you strictly photograph editorial subjects, whenever you are photographing people a model release is required.  Most agencies offer there own model release for you to use.  The downside to this method is that you would need a separate release for each agency you upload the photos to.  The solution to this is to use what is known as a universal model release, meaning all stock photo agencies will accept it.  While there are plenty of places to purchase one, the best free option is to visit Yuri Accur’s website, where he was kind enough to share a universal release for free.

Some important points to remember are recognizable property may require releases as well.  So if you will be selling stock photos of the inside of somebody’s house, be sure to get a property release signed by the owner.  A property release is very similar to a model release with the differance being it is for property instead of people.

Another thing to remember is if you plan on doing video as well as still photography, be sure to include that in your release.  This way you have one release that covers video and stills instead of two seperate releases.

And finally, if you are taking self portraits you still need a release.  Have somebody else witness it, and list yourself as both the photographer and model.  We will cover more about self portraits in the next post.

One great thing about stock photography that the buyers will tell you what they want currently.  I’m not talking about the forum most of the agencies have for individual buyers to go in and say I need a picture of a girl fishing with her dad.  Then a bunch of photographers will  respond with “Look at my portfolio.”

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You know all those Christmas photos you see on websites, emails, and promotional flyers?  All those photos have to come from somewhere, and the answer for many people and businesses is stock photography. Some companies have the need for specific photos, or the budget to hire a commercial photographer. If you represent one of these companies, contact me and I would be happy to do that for you, especially if it includes somewhere warm and exotic.  Most business and individuals use stock photos to save money, and they are not going to stop any time soon.

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If you are really interested in making money in stock photography, you will probably want to use some version of this method.  There are many different ways of searching for ideas about what to photograph.  Some sites such as shutterstock, fotolia, and dreamstime have a place where you can see what the most popular image searches are, or what the agency would like.  The method I tend to do is more inclined to what I feel like shooting.  So say I am going for a hike, and want to know what type of hiking images will hopefully sell well.  The first thing i do is head over to dreamstime and search hiking images, sorted by most downloads first.  Then i get some ideas and narrow down from there.  I use dreamstime because they allow me to search by most downloaded images and I can see how many times the image has been downloaded without going into the image. Using the hiking idea, by looking through the first couple pages I can see that the top sellers seem to be pictures of people hiking on a trail, and people hiking through the snow.  I am not a fan of the cold so the snow thing is not going to happen, so I do more research on the hikers on a trail. My research shows me people walking away from the camera towards something seems to sell best.  I know there are things that will sell better, but this is a hiking trip with the idea of taking some stock photos to pay for the trip, not a photo trip with the benefit of doing a little hiking maybe.  I like to have fun while taking photos, sometimes at the price of fewer sales.  This may not be the best business model, but I like it.

I know, the title is not the best or most encouraging.  But it is one way to make money with stock photography.  Just go out, take pictures of everything, then spend all night editing and uploading.  Lets face it, this is how I started doing stock photography and is how many other people started, and some still do it.

This method does have some benefits.  You learn a lot about photography under a variety of conditions, will probably have fun, and will make some money.  You also will not get bored with shooting the same things, or similar things all the time. If you are doing stock photography just for fun and to earn a few extra dollars so you can shop Adorama’s Used Items and buy a couple new toys, this might be a good method.

This method does have a few downsides however.  The earnings may not be as consistently high as they might be if you specialize or research your subjects before you shoot.  It also may mean a lot more time at a computer editing and submitting photos.

Check back in a couple days for the next part in Shooting What Sells.

One method of earning money with stock photography is to specialize in a certain field of stock photography.  I am going to pick on food photographers for this example, but you can specialize in just about anything.  Some people focus on travel and related images, others tend to focus on macros, and some tend to focus on food photography.  The benefit of specializing or focusing on a certain area is you will learn the tricks and techniques behind the photo that make your photos great.  In the case of food photography, you will probably learn about the methods of preparing the food for photography versus preparing the food to eat.  You will also learn about hard light/soft light and how to produce it, shape it, and direct it.  I will give you a hint, most of the food photographers I know use broken mirrors.

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