Weird Stock Photos That Sell!

Weird Stock Photos That Sell
I thought it might be fun to look at some really weird stock photos that actually sell reasonably well. Fairly often I come up with stock photo ideas that, after execution, actually strike me as weird, ill conceived, or just plain dumb. Yet some of these less than stellar images actually end up selling. In this blog post we will look at three such examples of weird stock photos that have sold multiple times resulting in over a thousand dollars in royalties each into my hot little hands.  I will speculate on why these images are selling, as well as delve into what made me create the image in the first place.

A super hero costumed model standing on a conference table in an office in Bangkok has actually sold quite well!

A Super Hero, A Tight Crop, And Eighteen-hundred dollars
At a photo shoot in Bangkok I somehow got the idea of having one of the models dress up in a superhero outfit. I shot the model standing on a conference table cropping at mid thigh. I shot that crop as a alternative to the full length shot of the model because the full length version just wasn't working for me. The upward angle seemed to severe and the ceiling didn't make for a great background. I hesitated to send this image in because I couldn't for the life of me figure out what anybody would use it for! Lo and behold, in the last three years the image has been licensed over ten  times for a total (to me) of over eighteen-hundred dollars. Go figure!

 

In impromptu pose results in a new perspective and a stock photo that sells well.

 

A New Perspective And Thinking Outside The Box
My friend Paula Zacharias and I were photographing models in Buenos Aires. We had completed all the usual stuff, people in meetings, at outdoor cafes, using cell phones, you get the idea. I don't recall why I asked them to undertake this pose, and to this day I can't figure out what people use it for, but it has brought in over a thousand dollars in the last three years. Perhaps it is being used to advocate a new perspective, thinking outside the box, or maybe it is advertising a product that makes business less arduous. Hey, if any of you ever see it used let me know!

Clouds form the shape of a hand point a finger in an unusual stock photo that can be used for concepts such as cloud computing or religion issues.


Cloud Computing Or A Message From God?
I think I saved the best for last. Yes, I am a little embarrassed that i created this odd image, but hey, it sells! For what? Again, I just don't know. Perhaps it points to cloud computing, or has some sort of use in the realm of religion. What ever it is used for, I just can't put my finger on. But sell it does and has also earned me over a thousand dollars in the last several years. Perhaps the message here is that it isn't a bad idea, when shooting stock photos, to stretch into the realm of the silly, the oddball or even the outright weird. In the long run a little bit of "coloring outside the lines" can really pay off!

Advice to Photographers From Industry Leaders

 Eleven photographers and industry luminaries offer advice for photographers in the upcoming year.

I hire fun people.  It has to be fun.  If it’s not fun, I can’t do it.  I do get nervous and that’s not fun.  The work usually suffers for it though, so if I feel the nerves coming on I over prepare. Then, it all works out OK. 
 Annabelle Breakey Interview  (Photographer)


The popular advice tells us to choose one thing and to do it well and to do it for the rest of your career. Come on folks. Most of you came into this business wanting to make pictures of a wide variety of subjects. Yet photographers choose to do this OR that. I believe it is time to do this AND that AND that AND…  To manifest love by encompassing and manifesting your many passions.
Ian Summers Interview (Creative Consultant)


“Doom and gloom” have been words used to describe our industry for the longest times. And every creative field echoes the same sentiment. We have been and still are a huge financial industry in all areas of photography and we will continue. I believe that photography, as an art form, will never die. As technology advances in our industry, new opportunities are being created. More people enjoy photography and more institutions display photography. As for all creative fields, it is a difficult road, but we should be optimistic that we are in such a great profession. Our artists should remain enthusiastic and optimistic because they are doing what they love, which to is the essence of life
Jerry Tavin Interview (Founder, Young Photographers Alliance)


After all these years, the most precious thing we own is the potential that at any moment something incredible might happen.  It’s the potential that drives the bus. Thomas Edison said everything he ever found he found while he was looking for something else.  Stay alert.  It’ll be fun.  You’ll see.
Walter Hodges Interview (Photographer)

There are a lot of shooters cranking out quantity and sites are increasingly seeking to get out from under this inundation of content. It is not good for customers, or agencies, to be hosed down with endless images of a high-production but low-creativity nature. And while ‘more unique images’ appeals to the creative in me, if your few gems are hard to find or positioned out-of-place then they will not sell and you will starve. So you need to know your market and get better exposure than the competition. 
Lewis Blackwell Interview (Director of Strategy, Image Source)

To me, there is no better way to get ideas on style, body language and trends than to sit at the mall and people watch. Authenticity is king at your local mall! You can observe the body language of people using their hand held devices, what people are wearing and how they are wearing it.  Are you doing a shoot involving teens? - hang out by the food court. Are you having trouble picking wardrobe? - hang out by the banana republic. Are you doing a baby boomer fitness shoot? - go early and check out the mall walkers. Are you doing a mother / child shoot?- hang out by baby gap. 
Jim Doherty Interview, (Senior Art Director, Blend Images)


The thing that makes the best stock photos in my mind is a connection between the subject and viewer, easy read, and clear concept. People aren’t just smiling in front of the camera but they are living in front of the camera and the photographer is just documenting that. It is not as easy as it sounds though. A stock photographer needs to be able to look at the scene they are shooting and ask themselves “What is the point? What is the Moment to capture in this set up?”
Siri Berting Interview  (Photographer)

Keep your photos fresh, if you don’t have assignment work, work on personal projects.
Jessica Mirolla Interview (Freelance Art Buyer)


I had burned out of managing disinterested parties on photo shoots for production outlays that were taking longer than I felt was wise to break even.  I found that I could not cut costs further and still forecast an adequate income; nor could I maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle as I squeezed the expenses whilst raising my crews’ stress to unnecessary levels. I chose to stop, take profit on my royalties, and change what I was doing.
Shannof Fagan Interview (Photographer)


It is very hard to speculate where tomorrows stock industry will be showing it's strongest returns so staying involved and on top of our research for all the models of stock is a daily investment of our time.
Jonathan Ross Interview  (Photographer, Founder of Spaces Images)

I believe we, in the future, will see buyers getting bored by the microstock look. And this will probably make personal branding more important, if not necessary, if you want to succeed in the industry.
Yuri Arcurs Interview (Photographer)

What Has Social Media Done For Me?

 A woman pauses to examine her world of social media, a sphere of portraits ranging from friends and family to business associates.

Checking My Facebook Page

This morning I began checking my Facebook page to see what was new and I realized that at least 80% of the posts were by people who I didn’t even know. I have the habit of saying yes to whomever sends a friend request. Now I have posts in Russian, Dutch, Thai, Spanish and languages that I can’t even guess at. Posts from close friends, people I barely know, and people that I don’t know at all.

Feeling A Little Left Out

I have mentioned before that when I peruse Facebook I sometimes start feeling a little left out…though oddly enough the things I feel left out of are things I am not really very interested in anyway. What does that say about me?

Keeping Up On Cool Images

For me Facebook seems to be primarily a way to keep up to date on the cool images that Colin Anderson makes…which of course makes me wonder why I don’t come up with cool images (okay…I do come up with some cool images…but certainly not with the style and romance of Colin’s work). My friend Shalom Ormsby shares his benevolent perspectives on life, Shannon Fagan shares his humorous adventures in China, David Sanger (and many others) share their cool iPhone pix (hey, how come my iPhone pix don’t look cool?), and everyday is somebody’s birthday…which since I only check every couple of days I am usually just finding out I missed someone’s birthday.

Two Thousand Followers And Irrelevant Tweets

Then there is twitter.  I have over 2,600 followers, hardly any of which I suspect ever see the once-a-week tweets that I make. I follow over two thousand twitterers (is that what they are called?), and how can you possibly stay on top of all those tweets? I sure can’t…and most of the tweets are totally irrelevant to me.  Once-in-a-while I do hang in there, scrolling down all those tweets till I find one that looks like it may lead to something interesting…though most the time what they lead to turns out to be something written by someone for whom English is their second, or third, language.

Goolge +, Klout and Linked In

I have a Google + account too. I visit that religiously…ever few weeks. I have no idea what do with it except make circles…but I already go round and round enough already! Klout sends me emails to let me know how influential I am…but I have no idea what the scores mean. I get requests everyday to link to people on Linked In, though mostly they are people I don’t know. I think I read somewhere that you actually are supposed to know the people you link to…of course, I say yes anyway because it seems like the polite thing to do.

Spam, YouTube and Vimeo

The first thing I do every morning is throw away the fifty-odd spam emails I get during the night, the ones my spam filter doesn’t catch. I have three email accounts two of which I haven’t looked at in months. YouTube comments on my video channel of mostly slow motion videos go to one of those accounts…last time I looked at it I just felt overwhelmed…and haven’t gone back since.  That reminds me…I started to put some stuff up on Vimeo, but never followed up with a second submission. Oh Well.

What Has Social Media Done For Me?

What has social media done for me? Well, if nothing else, it gives me something to do while I eat breakfast, something to do every few minutes at work, something to do while I watch TV in the evenings, and something to blog about!

The Equation For Success In Stock Photography

The secret ingredients in the formula for success are copius amounts of hard work and an appropriate gestation period (i.e. a lot of time!).

Exploring The Work of Photographers

Earlier this week I spent some time exploring the work of other photographers. Man, there are a lot of great shooters out there! I also spent time looking at work in stock agencies. Again, some of the photography that is being produced is amazing. Sure, there is a ton of bad photography, and mountains of mediocre imagery, but there is also a copious amount of fantastic work flooding into the market…work that is adding to the already staggering glut of stock photography.

The Equation For Success In Stock Photography

Every once-in-a-while, when I do that kind of searching, I am amazed that I am still successful in stock photography. I mean, with all of that truly great work out there, how does anyone ever find my work let alone choose to license it? I don’t have an answer to that question. But it is a question that continues to concern me, and that leads to the question of what I can do to make sure that I can continue to do well in stock photography.  I believe that there is an equation for success in stock photography:

Quality Images + visibility = Success x Quantity + Variety

Of course, this doesn't include the necessity of a ton of hard work and a huge investment of time!

No Magic Bullet

There is no one answer, no magic bullet. The formula for success lies in having great images with high visibility. Of course, the more of those images the greater the success as well, though the quantity requires variety to avoid cannibalization. So on the one hand it is simple: create great images and get them seen. On the other hand, it isn’t easy. It is a ton of work, and one that requires tremendous passion for success. You need the passion or you’ll never get the work done.

Great Work And Visibility

That begs the questions of how to create great work, how do get visibility for your images, and how to be able to produce the quantity of work needed to meet your financial goals. But it can be done and a lot of people are doing it. Some are doing it by themselves, some with plenty of staff, some using video and some using stills. Again, to succeed you need to find the combination that works for you, the combination that works with the passion you have.

Making The Numbers Work And Work Flow Interruption

Actually, it gets even more complicated. You have to make the numbers work as well. You need to be sure that you are paying attention to your expenses, being realistic in your accounting and planning, and dealing, effectively, with all the pain-in-the-neck details that running a successful business takes.  For example, I spent most of the day today getting a new server up and running. Who among us budgets accurately for such work flow interruptions? That is just one example of too many for me to even think about right now.

Images Online And Building Traffic

I will say that one thing I am certain is a good move in relation to insuring that my stock photo career flourishes in the long term is in getting my images online and building the traffic of my site to increase the visibility of my images. I began the process three years ago. What I have come to believe through these efforts is that the strategy is a sound one, but that the process is almost unbelievably time-intensive and an insanely long-term undertaking. I do believe that someday I will wake up and say “Man, I am glad I did that work!” which is what I have also said many times about my efforts to build my stock photography business in the first place.

A Transitioning Stock Photo Market

A transitioning industry such as stock photography business results in a wild roller-coaster ride!

Stock Photographers, Agencies, And Clients Are Missing Out

Both stock photographers and stock agencies everywhere are missing out. Traditional stock photographers are missing out on the huge audiences of the microstock agencies. Microstockers are missing out on the higher prices of traditional stock. Clients are missing out by not having access to a full range of visual solutions. While a lot of “solutions” have been offered up, the real solution, the only viable solution, is happening slowly but inevitably.

Higher Priced Content On Microstock Sites

Microstock agencies are slowly bringing higher priced content onto their sites whether through the addition of content from traditional agencies, or through the addition of higher priced content. In the case of iStockphoto.com, their higher-priced content offering, Vetta, has also been migrated onto the Getty site.

The Difference Is Price

As far as I can figure out, at this point, the biggest difference between high-priced stock photos and low-priced stock photography is the price. It may be that traditional and microstock agencies can successfully create different price brands that hold up…time will tell. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the lower prices climb a bit and the higher prices continue to fall…though I hope not.

Cleaning Up Rights Managed Collections

It also seems that traditional agencies are starting to clean out material that hasn’t sold well, or at all, and are moving that work either into lower priced collections. Getty is culling out material from its RM collections that hasn’t sold in three years and moving it into RF collections. Getty is also running a campaign pointing out the value of RM material by the work and resources that go into the images. I do think that RM will continue to exist, but primarily for high-end advertising use.

Volume Sales, Or Higher Priced Sales

Someday, probably sooner rather than later, all the different collections will be available to all audiences at various price points. Hopefully photographers will see the wisdom of putting better images into the higher priced collections, though it is inevitable that the lines will remain blurred as photographers struggle with the decision to go for the volume sales or to go for fewer but higher priced sales. My own strategy is to go for both while avoiding the very lowest price points.

Higher Priced Collections Are Where The Money Is

Right now I would advise all photographers contributing to stock photography to do their best to get images into higher priced collections. From what I have heard from the photographers I know who participate in microstock (hearsay only…), the higher price collections are where the real money is. I also know from my own experience that the images I have in TAC (The Agency Collection) that are on both the Getty site and the iStockphoto.com site, are earning extremely well. I can’t say yet whether images will earn more than similar images in RF or RM, but it does look promising. Keep in mind though, that those TAC images are being licensed at traditional RF prices, not microstock prices.

Traditional Stock Agencies And Non Commercial Use

There is another area in which we are missing out as well. I get contacted several times a week by individuals wanting to use one of my images on their blogs or for some other personal and non-commercial use. Unfortunately there is no provision for such uses by the traditional stock agencies…at least not at rates that make sense for those individuals.

Production, Improvement And Distribution

It is my belief that the market is in transition to sorting itself out. The bummer is that we don’t know what it will eventually look like…or how long it will take. In the meantime we just have to keep producing, improving our work, and doing our best to get the work distributed as effectively as possible.

Cloud Computing And Images The Market Needs

 

Cloud computing, online storage,internet searches and teamwork are the concepts illustrated with this stock photo.

Creating Images The Market Needs

To insure a healthy career in stock photography it is vital to create images that the market needs, and it is even better if you create images that do not yet have a lot of competition. It is with that in mind that I recently created a new image about cloud computing.

The Cloud

The idea came about because of the current buzz about the Internet “cloud”. Online computing, and storage, has been touted for years, but I definitely get the sense it has finally arrived and is poised for tremendous growth. It seems obvious that the need for imagery dealing with the Internet cloud is going to be significant. The question then becomes, for me, how can I shot that concept in a clear and versatile way?

Medicine, Music, Travel And The Cloud

The obvious visual is in the use of actual clouds. The challenge then becomes to use an actual cloud in a way that isn’t too corny, and that makes sense. As I mulled that over in my mind I pictured a eye-level cloud image filled with the things that one might look for on the internet, and that can be symbolic of the kinds of things that are both stored on the net and that can involve online computing…things related to medicine, music, travel, business and so forth.

Clouds, Fog And Archived Images

I started by combing two different images of clouds and one image of fog that looks like eye-level clouds. Once I had the background composited together I looked through my archives for images that could symbolize music, business, travel and so forth. I stripped out the various objects in Photoshop and pasted them into the cloud image. When I came across the image of the man and woman on a ladder and searching the horizon with binoculars, it occurred to me that the inclusion of that picture would add the element of the “search”…online searching…to the image. That would broaden the appeal of the stock photo to a much wider audience. The image then becomes about using the cloud and/or searching the cloud (Internet) and even teamwork. The couple standing on the ladder also added a nice “action” element to the image.

Stock Photos That Are Flexible

I crafted the photo so that it can be easily cropped to a vertical, say for a magazine cover, as well as a horizontal or square. I believe in creating stock photos that can be as flexible as possible for as many potential users as I can. The biggest drawback to that approach is that the image might not always have as much “cropping” impact as otherwise, so it can be a bit of a balancing act.

Socializing Teens, Business People And The Cloud

A group of three teens socializing can represent social media, business people shaking hands adds a solid business angle, an operating room says “medical”, and a cello contributes to the music aspect. A conductor adds to the teamwork meaning, a variety of age groups are included and a pair of hands about to touch adds the element of “connection”. In this stock image I had to decide when to stop adding elements in order to not create too much clutter.

Large Sales, Diversity And Rights Managed Imagery

Having just had a client license three images for 4,200 Euros each, and non-exclusive at that, and in the interest of diversity (I already have several cloud computing images in RF collections), I am placing this image into a Rights Managed collection.  It is always a challenge to figure out where to put images. To you go for the most eyeballs, or the larger sales? Even though a lot of my RM fees end up actually lower than RF fees, my individual Blend RM sales are averaging close to three times the size of the RF sales. So with no clear knowledge of the best way to go…I do my best and diversify. I do believe that with the right images well distributed, you can’t really go wrong.

A Photographer's Vision

Seven different captures were combined in Photoshop to composite this image of the dynamic and vibrant life on the urban streets of India.

A Photographer’s Unique Vision

The most important thing you, as a photographer, have to offer the world is your unique vision…and that is also the most important tool you have for marketing yourself. If you are a stock shooter as I am, then a unique vision is also one of the keys to having a long and successful career. While most people don’t think of having a “vision” as being that important for a stock shooter, in today’s market and going forward I believe it is not only important, but will continue to grow in importance.

Images That Stand Out From The Crowd

Your personal vision is what can make your images stand of from the crowd, and whether you shoot assignments, stock, fine art or weddings, your unique vision is key to financial success and personal fulfillment. As such it is important to continually be perfecting and growing that vision. But how does one achieve a vision, or continue to grow it?

Developing Your Vision With Intention

The most important factor for developing your vision is intention. If you have the intent to develop, or continue developing your vision, then it is much more likely that you will take the steps to do so. For me it helps to ask myself what it is that I want to communicate from a given scene, or even from a stock concept. Once I distill my purpose into a clear form I can start to work that purpose over in my mind with the variables of visual imagery that are available to me. What composition will add impact to the visual? What viewpoint will best get my message across? What can I do to share my emotion in the image? With my mind still churning away I can begin to experiment with the camera and/or with Photoshop.

The Streets Of Delhi And Varanasi

For example, on my recent trip to India I found myself enjoying the hustle, bustle and bedlam of life on the streets of Delhi and Varanasi. Whether zipping through a throng of people on a “Tuk Tuk” (one of those lawnmower-powered tricycles called and “auto” in India), being carried along in the current of humanity in a crowded market, or just watching the flow of life go by, I was filled with a sense of wonder and appreciation. I wanted to communicate that energy, along with the color and vibrancy of the street scenes, in a stock photo. Because I also wanted to create an image that could be used in advertising, I had to take into consideration the problem of model releases. I reasoned that by using long shutter speeds I could render the people unidentifiable as well as capture the frenetic pace of the movement in front of me.

The Bedlam Of India And Long Shutter Speeds

Every time I found myself in the presence of what I call the bedlam of India I used the opportunity to shoot those long shutter speed images. Pretty quickly I recognized that my chance of capturing the feeling of the scene I was after probably wouldn’t happen with a singe exposure, but I theorized that if I could combine two or more of my images using Photoshop I could create a picture that conveyed the color, excitement and energy of the Indian streets that I experienced. 

Signed Model Releases And Sales Potential

Yesterday I finally got the time to peruse my images and attempt to create that new stock image. As the composite began to come together I reasoned that even though the people in the scene were not recognizable, the image would still have a better chance of selling if I could provide some model releases. With that in mind I pulled three faces from the images I shot that I did have signed releases for, and worked them into the scene. Ultimately I used a total of seven different captures to create the final composite photo.

If You Love The Image, Others Will Too

Will this image sell? I don’t know. I think it should…but one never knows. But whether it sells or not, achieving the goal I have in mind, and in a way I haven’t seen done before, offers me concrete benefits. It fulfills me, something vital for me to stay productive in a career that is largely solitary and certainly totally self-motivated. This is also an image that stands out from the other images I have seen of India.  I have come to realize over the years that if I love the image, then others will too…the trick now is to get the image in front of an appropriate audience. While that is in large part up to the stock agency that handles the image, I can enhance my chances by getting the photo up on my own site, well captioned, titled, alt-texted and linked…and yes, blogged about as well!

Communicating The Emotions And Messages Within

Whether this individual image turns out to be a great or even a good-selling stock photo isn’t really the point. Your career as a photographer doesn’t depend on any one image, but rather on a body of work that is the result of consistent effort. The best, and the most successful photographers, have the intent and the drive to continually push their images, to try new approaches and to always strive to communicate the emotions and messages that lie within themselves.