Creating A Compelling Stock Photo

Diversification And A Primary Focus
There is just no getting around the fact that we are drowning in images and it will only get worse.  As any of you who regularly read this stock photo blog will know, this is something I think about constantly, along with how stock photographers can continue to thrive in such an environment.  I believe in diversification, which in this context, for me, means creating royalty free and rights manage imagery and distributing those images through several agencies. But I have a primary focus. My primary focus is on rights managed images.

Focusing On Rights Managed
There are several reasons I am focusing on rights managed images. First, I believe that overall the payment for those images is more commensurate with the value a user of that imagery receives. That is, for important uses, the price point is higher. Secondly, my percentage is higher. I get twice the percentage for RM as I do for RF. Thirdly, if the pirating of images is ever curbed it will probably be primarily, if not exclusively, for rights managed images.  That reason, however, might be wishful thinking. Who knows.

Compelling Photos And Premium Prices
So, given that my priority is rights managed imagery, and given that there is a lot of resistance out in the market to using rights managed imagery, I want to create photos that are so compelling that people will want to use those images badly enough to use the rights managed system and to pay premium prices. But what makes a picture compelling? It can be a lot of things. It can be that the photograph is unique in its content, or has a style that sets it apart, or perhaps it is just that the image is perfect for a particular users need.

Information And Data Management
The idea for this image came from a topic that seems to be very much on every photographer's mind; data management. Particularly as stock photographers we have to deal with storage, retrieval, tracking, uploading, and tagging our digital assets.  We have to enter metadata, track sales and, heck, even pay attention to our social media efforts. Information, data and digital asset management takes a huge chunk of my available time, and so it is reasonable to conclude it must be something that every business is struggling to keep on top of. In my mind that means that there is a market for imagery that addresses information management and technology as a general concept.  There is opportunity here to create images that can both stand out from the crowd (hey, another great concept) and be applicable to a wide range of products and services.


Intention, Streaking Lights And Information Flow
I gave myself the intention of coming up with an image that would illustrate a futuristic sense of data management and technology that would be appropriate for a large range of applications. Then I began to go through my files (I use bridge because I am too lazy to learn Lightroom or the various other programs available) and look for something that might spark my imagination.  I came across this cool shot of streaking lights at night that seemed to me could illustrate data or information flow.  I began to "play" with the image to see if I could make it look as if it were streaking through an urban environment.  After about an hour-and-a-half of trying different combinations of images I realized that what might really make the image come together was a person.  At that point I put the half-complete image into an "ideas" folder and decided to complete it after shooting a model in an appropriate pose.

A List, A Model And Getting To Work
Two weeks later (last week) I was ready to hire a model to use for this and a number of other ideas. I like to create a list of ten to twenty ideas and then do a shoot to get the parts for them.  Last Saturday I photographed the model. Yesterday I got around to stripping her out, pasting her into the streaking light image and getting to work.  I spent about three hours noodling with the image before I felt it was complete.


Flexible Cropping, A Sense O Place And Motion
A couple of points that I feel are important.  As I referred to in an earlier stock photo blog, I created the image so that it could be cropped as a vertical or horizontal, as a spread in a magazine, or as a magazine cover. It can work as a billboard or in a newsletter. The image is a bit busy at thumbnail size, but its square crop insures a maximum footprint when viewed on a stock site, and the story can still be grasped quickly.  By having a hint of a city skyline in the background the image is given a "sense of place" which is an important plus for a stock photo. Tom Grill, a true master of stock photography, is fond of saying that "motion sells" and the streaking lights give us that sense of motion.

Headlines, Art Directors And Designers
The woman is re-directing the flow of information and apparently pleased at what she is doing. The image can adapt easily to various headlines such as "Get A Handle On Your Data Management" or "Information Distribution At Your Finger Tips". I will quit with the mock headlines before I lose too many readers! Perhaps most importantly, I haven't seen this approach done by any one else yet. I believe it to be new, fresh, attention getting and relevant to a need in the marketplace.  I just hope art directors, art buyers and designers agree with me!

Intention, Interesting Images, And A Targeted Shoot
To kind of sum things up, I set my intention to come up with an information technology stock photo. I utilized a collection of interesting images I keep on hand, for possible inclusion in stock photo composites, to help come up with an idea. With an idea in mind (actually a list of approximately fifteen ideas in this case) I hired a model and did a very targeted shoot.  As I composited the image I kept in mind important criteria for a successful image. Last, but not least, before I left my studio yesterday I submitted the image to a stock agency.  Now on to the next one!

Ask And Ye Shall Receive...Why Not?

And Wonderful Idea And A Book
A number of years ago I was interviewed, as an early adopter of Photoshop, as part of a book on Adobe. When the book came out the writer sent me a copy. It was beautiful and I phoned her up to congratulate her. I then asked her what her next project was. She replied that she didn’t know yet. I suggested that she write a book on me…and she said that was a wonderful idea! A year later my book on Photoshop (Adobe Masterclass: Photoshop Compositing with John Lund) came out.

Would You Model For Me?
A few days ago I had just boarded a plan back from New York when a very attractive young woman sat down next to me. After a very brief conversation I asked her if she would model for me (I always cringe when I ask that…). She agreed and two days later we were shooting. The first image from that shoot can be seen above.

Photo Shoots of Operations And Physical Therapy
Three times I have asked surgeons if I can either have my operation photographed, or if I can use their facilities to stage a shoot in. Amazingly enough that has resulted in two actual still photo shoots of operations on me (including a video in which a mesh is installed beneath my abdominal muscles) and an extensive shoot in a physical therapy facility virtually for free (OK, the operation did cost me $10,000.00).

Tony Stone And A Career In Stock Photography
Way back before the beginning of time I once asked Tony Stone if he would loan me enough money to buy a powerful computer so that I could create cool stock photos for him (his company, Tony Stone Images, was the company purchased by Jonathan Klein and Mark Getty and turned into Getty Images).  Amazingly enough Tony said yes and my career in stock photography took off.  Of course, the answer isn’t always yes. I would like to point out I first asked the owner of another stock agency for the money to buy the computer, but he declined.  Silly man!

The Most Important Question
In yet another ancient and audacious act of asking, I approached the owner of a photo lab (remember those?) if he would loan me $5,000.00 to purchase a Beta copy of a program called Live Picture. Back then Live Picture had layers and a liquefy filter as well as “history” and Photoshop did not. He loaned me the money, I bought Live Picture and for quite a few years was able to work far more efficiently for certain tasks than I could with Photoshop. In fact, the very first job I did with Live Picture, that I could not do with Photoshop, netted me a not-too-paltry $11,000.00 profit! Of course, Live Picture lost the battle to Photoshop and there are few people left who even remember it. Oh well….
Perhaps the most important question of all, though, is one to ask your self. That question is:Why not?

Stock Photography: The Road Ahead

 About The Photo: The above photograph was shot on a trip to Mongolia. In this case "The road ahead" is a rough one filled with pot holes! While the roads ranged from rough to non existent, I used Photoshop to add twice as many potholes to this section of road as actually existed, to emphasize the concept of a "rough road ahead".

2009, The Year When Everything Changed
At the recent UGCX conference in New York Jack Hollingsworth commented that when we look back at 2009 we will see that it was the year everything changed. That may well be the case. I am hearing that the relentless growth of earnings for top micro stock shooters is abating. I have heard from several top photographers, and at least one industry pundit, that they are considering leaving the field of photography altogether. I have spoken with a number of my fellow stock shooters who report that their revenues are down fifty to seventy-five percent over what they were a year ago!


DSLRs, Video And The Stock Business
Yet there are also many who are excited at the prospect of what lies ahead. Video is generating a lot of excitement with the advent of DSLRs that can shoot superb quality video and the beginnings of a proliferation of accessories and developments that can make those cameras at least the rough equal of what has been previously the domain of pro level video cameras. And while there are numerous reports of trouble with the micro stock model, I personally know at least two photographers who have expanded their traditional stock picture business into micro and are doing well.


Getty, Flickr, And New Opportunities
Getty has apparently abandoned their efforts at producing wholly owned content and seems to be fixated on mining flickr for their new imagery. At Veer we are seeing the search for traditional stock and micro merging. There is, indeed, a lot going on in the stock photo industry! But this isn’t just indicative of stock photography…it is true of pretty much everything. Change continues at a blistering pace destroying old models and offering new opportunities. Some of us are going to suffer and some of us prosper. I am both hopeful and determined to be of the latter type. That requires doing my best to keep track of all these changes, figuring out what they mean, and then adjusting my own efforts accordingly.


More Photographs At More Price Points
One thing that cannot be argued is the over supply of images. That over supply is being fed at a tremendous pace…and I don’t believe that will end. An over supply of imagery is part of the new landscape. I believe that there will continue to be a demand for the highest-end photography and some degree of exclusivity, but that the need for such imagery will diminish somewhat as more advertising turns to internet, to motion, and to segmented marketing (targeting fewer but more specific prospects). I believe that micro prices will include more and more of what some call “mid-stock” such as with iStock’s “Vetta” collection. The lowest of micro prices simply will not support a full range of the kind and quality of images needed. That being said, I fore see more and more free images designed to pull in more market share by various agencies. Ultimately there will be more photographs at more price points.


A More Targeted Selection And A Better Search Experience
The challenge for image buyers and sellers alike will be in efficient searching. Can buyers find the right images for their needs without spending too much time sorting through the chaff? Can sellers provide an optimum experience for the buyers by providing relevant images quickly and efficiently? Twenty years ago Tony Stone revolutionized the stock photo business by offering a smaller number of higher quality images and making a hundred dupes of each image so that he could get the images in front of buyers more efficiently. We may well be coming right back to that premise. Collections that offer a more targeted selection and a better search experience will be able to charge a premium for that service.

The Road Ahead
I do believe that the road ahead for photography does offer some of us increased opportunities, but that overall, making a living from stock photography will never be as easy as it once was. The first step to future success in this new paradigm is letting go of the concept of whether these changes are right or wrong. The next step is to see the market objectively, determine where your own strengths coincide with the changes in the market, and to move in the direction of those strengths.


More Quality And Less Quantity
For me, the path is one towards less quantity and more quality and towards getting my images in front of as many potential buyers as possible. To increase my quality I am doing more careful research, increasing my communication with the editors I do have, and being more discriminating in which images I undertake. To get my pictures in front of more buyers I am expanding the number of stock agencies I work with, developing my web site and SEO, and beginning to utilize social media. Whatever the outcome of my efforts, at least one thing is for certain…this is an exciting time to be in the photography business!

Maximize Your Stock Photo Income: Making Your Photos Flexible

The Challenges That Art Directors And Designers Face
One way to help maximize your income from stock photos is to remember the challenges that art directors and designers face when using your images. In short, make your images as flexible as possible. Things to keep in mind are cropping, room for copy space, and readability at thumbnail size.

Billboards, Transit Posters And Campaigns
In the process of creating my concept stock shots I do my best to create them in such a way that they can be cropped both vertically and horizontally, which of course usually means every other crop can be achieved as well. This can be particularly important if the image needs to be used in a variety of media and formats, such as billboards, transit posters and brochure covers. Providing this cropping versatility means less chance of having your picture eliminated from those high-paying (at least in RM) campaigns.

Thumbnails, Square Crops and The Ideal Image
Another similar concern is to create images that read well in thumbnail size. That insures the image can also be used extensively for web uses. The “thumbnail test”, whether the image reads easily and quickly at thumbnail size, is important for anther reason as well. Virtually all images are now found on the web, and they have to be readable at thumbnail size, or even stand out at thumbnail size, in order to be selected in the first place. There is something to be said, as well, for square crops, which are even more visible as thumbnails since they fill up more “real estate”. I actually think the ideal image is a square image that is easily and effectively used as either a horizontal or vertical.

Headlines, Body Copy And A Balancing Act
Another plus to incorporate into your stock pictures is copy space; areas for putting headlines and body copy. All of this attention to cropping, to readability and to copy space, becomes a balancing act with cropping for impact. When I was shooting assignment work I would often have art directors remind me that cropping was their job, and that I should give them more room to work with. It took me a while to learn that lesson, and it is a lesson we should all keep in mind when making stock images. You want your image to have impact, but flexibility as well. I recall seeing a complaint from an art director on twitter complaining “so many stock shots have the heads cropped off”. Something to think about as we make our images!

The Integrity Of The Image
Now I am not saying I always succeed at these efforts, but I try my best to incorporate them. Ultimately the integrity of the image is the most important thing, but if you can massage it in these directions you are maximizing your income potential from stock photography.

Connecting The Dots: Writing A Photo Estimate That Gets You The Job

Invest In Yourself
An estimate offers you a unique opportunity to secure an assignment. Many photographers try to get the job by focusing on saving the client money, and yet that should never be your focus. Look at the estimate as an investment in yourself and your photography business. Prepare your estimate as a thorough plan that gives you the resources to do the best possible work. Your job is not to save the client money; your job is to provide the best possible photography.

What Label Do You Want?
Keep in mind that the photography you produce will reflect directly on the art director or art buyer who hires you. Their job could even be at stake. The job you produce will label you and possibly them as well. Do you want the label as “will work cheap” or “delivers great work”? Your long-term career depends on a reputation for delivering quality work. To do quality work you need the resources and time to do the job well. You also need clients that understand that. You are better off letting go of the jobs in which the resources you need are not available. Besides, low ball jobs take up your valuable time and in the long run will cost you money.

An Estimate That Gets You The Job
To create an estimate that gets you the job, and the resources to do that job well, requires detailing out how you will approach the job. It means thinking through each step and understanding the real costs involved. Include visuals and detailed written descriptions to insure that you and the client are on the same page.

A Detailed Plan And Twice The Money
I once bid on a job that required showing a businessman listening in on a conversation as he clung to the outside of a skyscraper using suction cups. I don’t recall the exact figures, but my estimate came in at about $30,000.00. That seemed like a very healthy amount and I was a little concerned that it might be too much for the client. I wasn’t all that surprised when I didn’t get the job. It turns out I knew the photographer who did get the job. I gave him a call and asked what he was getting for the job. He was getting more than twice the money I had estimated! Turned out his detailed plan was less risky than mine. Mine required shooting an actual building. It was in the winter and the weather could be a problem. His approach required a model maker to create the building…more expensive but less risk. He also provided for a set for the interior as opposed to my shooting in an existing office. Again, he would have more control with his approach.

The Clients You Want, Want the Best Job
My point here is that the clients you want are the ones that want the best job, not the lowest cost. I have had many experiences over the years that reinforce the wisdom of this approach. In your estimate, spell out exactly how you plan to do the job and your reasoning for that approach. Be as detailed as possible. Be specific about your expenses. It is hard to argue over costs when they are spelled out. Even your presentation is important. Your estimate gives the potential client a look at how you operate. Think back to an estimate that you have been given that impressed you. What worked for you? What was it about that estimate that influenced you to give someone the job? Use your estimate to build confidence with the client, confidence that you have thought the job through, have a good creative plan with necessary contingencies, and have spelled out all the terms and conditions. Unless it is a birthday party, in business, nobody likes surprises.

Make Your Estimate A Work Of Art
Your estimate speaks volumes about you and how you do business. It offers a great opportunity to instill confidence in a potential client and to help insure that you have quality clients and produce quality work. You are in the business of commercial art, make your estimate a work of art, and in the long run, you can’t lose.

Odds, Ends And The Long Haul

An Interview, Imagekind and CafePess.
Had a nice interview by Marc Silber Marc Silber Interview go online.
Sold a print on Imagekind this week.  That makes about one print a month since I started this concerted Internet effort, which while is still paltry, it’s a whole lot more than the zero prints I sold before I started the effort. I have doubled my Cafepress.com sales.  OK, doubling isn’t all that impressive when I tell you it has gone from an average of one sale a week, a coffee mug, calendar, or piece of apparel, to two sales a week. I have made a smattering of sales (licensing) of various images and have confirmed that people are going from my site to the agencies that handle my work (Blend Images, Getty, Corbis and Kimball Stock).

Quality Content And A Long Term Project
One thing is for sure, this SEO (search engine optimization) process is a lengthy one. Getting visitors to your site is a long-term project! It is a lot of work too. My twin brother is my web master and very adept at this. He says if you want Google to see your site as an important one, make your site important. That means quality content and lots of it. I now have over 2000 images uploaded, but at the rate I am going it will take several more years to get all of my stock photos online. One possible way to speed the process up is to hire a developer to create a robot that will harvest my Getty, Corbis and Blend images, and put them on my site.  I have a friend who has gone that route and I have to admit there is a certain appeal to it!  But for now I will just continue my snails pace of uploading.

Climbing Traffic And Click Through Ads
Traffic is slowly climbing.  Last week, according to Google Analytics, I averaged over 500 unique visitors a day. That is up from a one visit per week average ten months ago. My click through ad revenue ranges from $20.00 per day to about 32 cents a day (last Thursday). My average seems to have edged up to about $6.00 a day.  Hey, it pays for my coffee habit!

A Balancing Act And Making Images
One thing I constantly wrestle with is where to put my time. Making images and getting them up online is the fastest way to increase my income. On the other hand, I remain convinced that it is extremely important for long term success to increase my ranking with Google, and other search engines, through SEO and online content. It is a constant balancing act. Luckily I find myself enjoying this SEO process (other than the repetitive and sleep inducing meta data entry).

A Photography Blog And Building Community
A key part of my web efforts include writing this photography blog. It has actually turned out to be a fun challenge. I used to be a columnist for Digital Imaging magazine and for Picture magazine.  I would make myself crazy trying to come up with article ideas.  But with the Blog, it is more like sharing things and less like work. My goal and hope is that the blog is entertaining and informative. It is a key component of providing quality content and, I hope, of building community within both the creators and users of stock photography.

The Blue Angels And A funny Animal Stock Photo

The Blue Angels And Stock Photography
From my Sausalito studio I can catch glimpses of the Blue Angels as they make their practice runs for Fleet Week.  Whenever they fly overhead I have this vague sense of guilt that I am not out there photographing them. Last year at this time I decided that I would figure out something I could do with them for stock images. I even went as far as to pull out my longest lens (Canon 100-400 zoom) and shoot a few frames. I downloaded the images and pulled them up on my screen, then sat there puzzling?  Speed was the obvious concept with this image, but how could I take this further? What could I do to create an image that went beyond the obvious and the doubtless hundreds, maybe thousands, of flickr images of the blue angels?

Focus, Fire and Duck!
I began to go through a folder I keep of interesting photos that I think have potential, but pictures that I haven't figured out what to do with yet.  I came across an image of a duck in flight.  I had been on that little tourist train at the San Diego Zoo, with that same zoom lens at the ready, when two ducks came flying alongside.  I frantically tried to focus and fire and managed to squeeze off three shots before they were gone. To my utter amazement two of the tree images were actually sharp! That never seems to happen for me in those kinds of moments.

A Duck, A Jet Fighter, And Photoshop
At any rate, here is this duck image, which just jumps out at me.  I can put the duck in the formation of jets. If nothing else it will be a pretty funny picture.  This poor duck working like hell to keep up! But the shots I had of the jets were just too far away and they just weren't working.  Then I remembered that in my studio I had, packed away, a realistic model of a jet fighter.  It was left over from some project that I know longer remember. Luckily the box was labeled and in sight.  I pulled the model out and had a friend hold it up while I photographed it.  I used a clipping path in Photoshop to silhouette the plane and strip it into a sky background.  I did the same with the duck. I duplicated the plane image several times, positioned the elements into a formation that seemed to work, and then applied some motion blur to disguise some less-than realistic detail.

Believable Isn’t One Of My Criteria
This whole process took about two hours to go through. Isn't digital great? I uploaded the image to the Getty portal. Three weeks later they informed me that the image wasn't believable and rejected it.  Wasn't believable? Duh! “Believable” however, isn’t one of my criteria.  One test I have for my stock photos is, can I put a headline to it.  In this case it might be “Having A Hard Time Keeping Up?” or “Feeling The Need For Speed?”.  OK, marginal.  But another test I have is do people smile when they see it? And the answer with this image has been yes.

Funny Animal Pictures And Photographer’s Choice
I could have followed-up my Getty effort with their Photographer’s Choice program, in which case as long as the technical criteria are met they will take the image (and I pay a small fee).  However, in this case, because the image is pretty much a “funny animal” picture, and I was feeling a little miffed at Getty, I submitted the image to Kimball Stock, an agency specializing in, of all things, animals and cars. Maybe I should have had the duck driving a race car! Oh well….