Stock photography (Oh NO!)

Hi, 

Just to let you know about my stock photography experience and what I have learned.

I have started shooting stock photography in June 2008 for a Stock agency.

At the beginning, I had no clue what was required to make a good stock image or a sell. I was fortunate enough to learn from various people like Yuri Arcurs, Lise Gagné, Chase Jarvis, Elena Elisseeva, Andres rodriguez and more...

When I speak with amateur photographers about stock photography, the same debate is always coming up. I will not be debating this here.

You can take the decision to be against stock or making a revenue from stock photography.

I have chosen to make a revenue from it. Beware since Stock photography is not for everyone since it takes time, passion, hard work and good knowledge of every aspects of photography.

Here are my top five tips:

- Think of a concept and exploit it from all angle and think in marketability terms.

- Only shoot good looking people and take your time.

- Keep it simple.

- Take alot of photographs and keep only the best 100% sharp images.

- Do not confuse quantity with quality.

I have read numerous sites, blogs, books about stock photography. I have even attended some seminars about it.

I have switched my equipment around to insure that I have sufficient resolution for the high stock demand. I am reading and still learning about lighting, retouching and the biggest hurdle of them all, KEYWORDING.

If you have a stock photography experience or question, feel free to share it!

Have a good day, 

Sébastien D'Amour