In tough times your camera-time is probably going to be as limited as your cashflow, making it just as valuable. So you actually need to make certain you only spend it shooting material with real commercial prospects.
This implies putting in the research time ahead so that every time you are faced with a photograph op, you're totally clear on what your likely markets are for the subject matter, who a couple of your potential buyers might be, and what kind of images they're going to need.
Aimlessly shooting everything for stock has not worked for a long while and in hard times it is a waste of your time and effort. Far better to treat each shoot as a mini-assignment with an end-user in mind and a clear idea of what images you need to get.
In reality the top photographers will take it a step farther and make an exhaustive shot list before they even start.
This discipline continues at the modifying stage. Consider a two-stage workflow where stage one applies basic processing and backups to every new photo set. Then stage 2 is applied selectively, only to those pictures with real commercial prospects.
Instead of spending hours uploading every image from each shoot to your stock catalog, apply the 80-20 rule and select only those photos that sell. Get them published ASAP and then get out and shoot more pictures.
If a consumer has an interest in the topic though not 100% pleased with the selection, they'll typically check to confirm if you've got any more... And you can dig them out & process them then.
It's often possible to publish further pictures later but for now focus your efforts on those pictures most likely to make you cash!
You can put this approach to work straight way. Jot down a list of the 10 subjects that you'll shoot in the following couple of months and do some basic market research for each.
Write each subject on a new page, and then make some notes on all of the possible consumers for that subject? What industry are they in? What goods or services do they supply? How will they use the photographs? Who are their customers? What type of message does your buyer need to convey to their clients?
Try and list 1 or 2 particular examples of real businesses that might use images of that subject, and then jump online and check their internet site to see what type of photographs they already use. Make notes on mood, style, lighting and composition. If they use models, make notes on ages, sex, ethnic grouping, clothes and expressions.
The idea is next time you are shooting these subjects, you may have so many categorical concepts of the shots you need, you'll not only take more desirable photographs, you'll get a ton more of them as well!
This implies putting in the research time ahead so that every time you are faced with a photograph op, you're totally clear on what your likely markets are for the subject matter, who a couple of your potential buyers might be, and what kind of images they're going to need.
Aimlessly shooting everything for stock has not worked for a long while and in hard times it is a waste of your time and effort. Far better to treat each shoot as a mini-assignment with an end-user in mind and a clear idea of what images you need to get.
In reality the top photographers will take it a step farther and make an exhaustive shot list before they even start.
This discipline continues at the modifying stage. Consider a two-stage workflow where stage one applies basic processing and backups to every new photo set. Then stage 2 is applied selectively, only to those pictures with real commercial prospects.
Instead of spending hours uploading every image from each shoot to your stock catalog, apply the 80-20 rule and select only those photos that sell. Get them published ASAP and then get out and shoot more pictures.
If a consumer has an interest in the topic though not 100% pleased with the selection, they'll typically check to confirm if you've got any more... And you can dig them out & process them then.
It's often possible to publish further pictures later but for now focus your efforts on those pictures most likely to make you cash!
You can put this approach to work straight way. Jot down a list of the 10 subjects that you'll shoot in the following couple of months and do some basic market research for each.
Write each subject on a new page, and then make some notes on all of the possible consumers for that subject? What industry are they in? What goods or services do they supply? How will they use the photographs? Who are their customers? What type of message does your buyer need to convey to their clients?
Try and list 1 or 2 particular examples of real businesses that might use images of that subject, and then jump online and check their internet site to see what type of photographs they already use. Make notes on mood, style, lighting and composition. If they use models, make notes on ages, sex, ethnic grouping, clothes and expressions.
The idea is next time you are shooting these subjects, you may have so many categorical concepts of the shots you need, you'll not only take more desirable photographs, you'll get a ton more of them as well!
About the Author:
Matt Brading is a photographer and writer with the GlobalEye Stock Photo Agency. GlobalEye offers a unique platform for photographers wanting to get started selling photographs online without the constraints (or commissions) of a traditional stock library.
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