I had lunch yesterday with an old friend of mine who remarked that "Things change when you can see the end". He was referring to the fact that he wants to work less and enjoy his life more. He, like me, is 57 years old. It is true. Even at, say 49, life looked different to me. Increasingly, every minute is important. More and more I look at my stock photo career and ask myself how I can use it to not just make money, but to enjoy my life. A good example can be seen in a stock shoot I did in Buenos Aires.
Photographers today with the help of the internet can diversify their income in a number of ways. They can market images directly from a website, sell stock images through a number of agencies, or even open an online store where they can sell merchandise such as T shirts, and coffee mugs with their images imprinted on the items.
This article is an interview with world class stock photographer Inti St. Clair. The interview delves into how she came about being a stock photographer and many current stock photo topics like marketing, shooting stock, and the future of the industry.
The number of stock photos, free and otherwise, is burgeoning and is only going to increase. Flicker has, for example, at the time of this writing, over 2 billion images. Stock photographers need to think carefully about how best to market their images.
Just thought I would share the production details about how I created a new “concept” stock photo. As with so many of my images it has taken two years from the inception of my idea to the final execution. Why so long? I wish I knew! I think I have this belief that an idea is going to be really difficult to create and so I procrastinate. As it turns out, this image was easy to do.
It took me a long time to first delve into the creation of funny pictures. Almost fifteen years into my career, to be exact. A big part of that evolution was the advent of the digital world and Photoshop. As a matter of fact, Photoshop came along at a perfect time for me and opened up a whole new world.
I’ve heard it said that if you believe you will succeed, or if you believe you will fail, you are right. There is a lot of truth in that. I have also heard it said, that as photographers, it is our responsibility to lead society. As I write this we are in what is described as the worst recession since the great depression. It feels as if all the news is doom and gloom. I find myself being more careful in my spending, pulling back and even taking on a bit of a siege mentality.
Expert Author: John M. Lund | Category: Marketing “Strategic alliances are becoming increasingly important”. Can’t remember where I saw that quote, but it struck at the time, several years ago, as being an important one. With every passing month it seems to me the truth in those words increases.
Small business is anything but small in our economy. Small businesses represent over 99 percent of firms with employees. They generate almost half of the total private payroll in the United States and have generated sixty to eighty percent of all new jobs per year for the last ten years. It is also interesting to note that fifty-three percent of small businesses in the U. S. are home based.
I firmly believe that now is the most exciting time ever to be a photographer, and to be shooting stock. There are more tools and more opportunities than ever before. The playing field has been leveled. The demand for images, and consequently stock photography, is exploding.
The tiger’s name is Safari. He is beautiful. Not yet fully grown, he still weighs over 400 lbs. I had recently asked an animal trainer who I knew worked with him if she had worked with him lately. She answered that some people found the possibility of death exciting, but she didn’t.
During the course of my never ending quest to find and illustrate every applicable cliché for my stock photo business it occurred to me that shooting a baboon might be more fun than a barrel of monkeys! Seriously, I decided a great image would be a monkey on a businessman’s back. I could create a cool concept image and then round out the shoot with assorted funny monkey pictures.
A little over seven years ago I approached a greeting card company about starting a line of greeting cards. The planets must have been aligned right because the company agreed to give it a try...and it worked! We sell hundreds of thousands of cards a year through out the world. The images have also been used in gift books, printed on checks, used on calendars, posters, journals and even coffee mugs. Through this experience I have learned a few things, which I now hope to pass on to you.
The author describes how he is always on the look-out for interesting shots he can transform into stock photos. He describes one such endeavor using a picture of a sailboat he happened on laying on its side on the beach. With Photoshop it became a badly listing boat in a violent storm.
I've photographed a ton of money over the last thirty years. I have photographed money coming out of faucets, being thrown in the air, squeezing through an hourglass, covering a planet, as jigsaw puzzles and serving as a flying carpet. I have PhotoShoped money trees and coins exploding out of piggy banks. I have made pictures of money being stretched, filling shopping carts and being raked into piles. I have pictures of money on trees, pictures of piles of money and pictures of stacks of money.
Those who want to enter this field will find that in some respects it is easier than ever (distribution channels with little or no editing and open to everyone and/or self distribution via Internet). Digital cameras offer accelerated learning, much more efficient work-flow, and greatly reduced costs.
Let’s say you have made the commitment to join the world of stock photography, you have an excuse, and a valid one, to go out and buy some photography gear. What I will share with you here is not necessarily the perfect answer as what to get, but what does work for me. I can give you some guidelines, and tips, but in every case you will need to take into consideration your own situation, what and how you will be shooting, what your budget constraints are and a host of other personal considerations.
The cobra swayed ever so slightly as he twisted his head from side to side eyeing us cautiously. Camera glued to my eye, I edged a bit closer, snapping off frames, playing with the composition. The snake struck the side of my face before I even knew what was happening. I fell backward, away from the blow, my heart pounding. Even though I knew that the de-fanged snake was harmless, adrenaline was coursing through my veins!
With the huge influx of amateur stock photographers, and the ease-of-use of the newer digital cameras and software, can the professional stock photographer survive, and even prosper? The author provides his insights and opinions on this hot topic.
The author describes how after being a professional photographer for 27 years he decides to get into human body art photography. Oddly enough it began when photographing city night lights in Vietnam using long exposure times while moving the camera.
