People And Teamwork Are Key: A Concept Stock Photo
One of the best selling concepts in stock photography, maybe THE best selling concept, is teamwork. But how do you com up with a new way of showing those tried and true concepts…all of which have been done to death? What inspired me to come up with a teamwork image in the first place? I had been looking at my Blend Images sales report and my best selling image for the previous quarter was a teamwork image. Time to do another one!
Skeleton Keys, People and Success
I had been reading a blog about how people are key to success when it struck me that I could create a key, one of those old fashioned “skeleton” keys, out of men and women in business attire resulting in a stock photo about teamwork, human resources being “key” to success, and how it takes people to unlock the answers to so many challenges.
Casting Is Key
Casting the image was important because in an image that might be used by large corporations to represent their human resources would need to have a wide range of diversity in ethnicities, genders and ages. I ended up with five women, four men, ages from early twenties to mid sixties, and a very thorough mix of ethnicities. As is my habit these days, I came up with a variety of ideas for this shoot so that I could make the most of each model. I hired each model for two hours, one at a time, and shot them in my studio using a shot list to make sure I got what I needed. I had each model pose in each position needed for the key so that when I went to do the compositing I would be sure to have some options in putting it together.
Photography Is Key
It was surprising how easy the image was to put together. It reminded me again of the importance of the photography when it comes to Photoshop. I have always felt that photography is much more challenging than digital imaging. If you have the right raw materials, the photography, then the Photoshop work becomes relatively simple. You might say that great photography is “key” to great Photoshop work.
A Teamwork Picture…And The Next Image
While I believe I have come up with a winner with this teamwork image, you just never know. Because it seems to me like the type of image that won’t be used endlessly, and requires a bit more work and investment than most shooters would be willing to do (I hope), I chose to put this image into the Rights Managed category. Someday I hope to be walking through an airport and see this image on the wall as a poster advertising a Fortune 500 company…but to succeed in stock these days you can’t hold your breath, you have to move on to the next image.
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