stockpert.com

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!

During the course of my never ending quest to find and illustrate every applicable cliché for my stock photo business it occurred to me that shooting a baboon might be more fun than a barrel of monkeys!  Seriously, I decided a great image would be a monkey on a businessman’s back.  I could create a cool concept image and then round out the shoot with assorted funny monkey pictures.

Jack, the Baboon, and a Cubicle

Step one was to call my favorite animal trainer, Stephanie Taunton, of Bow Wow Productions to arrange to photograph her baboon.  We set a date.  Next step; I needed a model.  More precisely, I needed a middle-aged guy that could be Joe average businessman.  He also needed to be comfortable having a rather large baboon perched on his back.  I had the perfect candidate, Jack Babbitt, a fellow Aikidoist and sometime sensei (martial arts instructor).  Luckily he agreed to the project.

Next I would need a business environment.  I decided to set up such an environment in my studio. My assistant located a place that would rent us a cubicle at a very reasonable price.  Add to the cubicle a carpet remnant, various props from my own office, and the ability of Photoshop to add further background, and the environment I needed was in place.

Baboon Rules

The day of the shoot we started by getting a thorough briefing by Stephanie.  Among her instructions to us, no interaction with my assistant.  What?  Apparently the baboon would view my assistant, a woman, as part of his harem.  If I interacted with her directly he might deem it necessary to defend her (his harem) against me.  OK, no interaction.

Further, no smiling on the set.  Smiling would be showing our weapons.  Oh yeah, no looking into his eyes as that would be a challenge.  Figuring that he could probably tear my arm off and beat me with it, I decided to avert my eyes in his presence.  One more little tidbit, don’t be surprised if he peed on Jack, the business man model.  Well heck, that would just be a wardrobe change…no problem!

We had Jack stand in place while we worked out the lighting.  It was time for our exalted guest to make his appearance.  We set up a ladder next to Jack.  Stephanie had the “old world monkey” (a baboon is an old world monkey, one from Africa as opposed to Asia) climb up on the ladder, and from there, onto Jack’s shoulders.  We went through a series of poses and expressions. They both performed admirably. And neither one peed, though I might have if I were the one with a baboon on my back!

Once we were finished with the pictures involving Jack we switched to some baboon only images.  I had the monkey sitting at the desk using the computer and holding the phone.  We finished up with some portraits and miscellaneous poses, some cute, some silly and some, well, intense.

Photographing Animals for Stock

We got some excellent pictures.  My two favorites didn’t even involve Jack though.  The first one is simply a shot of the baboon staring into the camera.  No funny monkey picture here.  This is one of the intense ones, and really brings out the sense of intelligence of the baboon.  My second favorite is a shot of the baboon in Rodin’s “thinker” pose.  I used Photoshop to replace the apple crate he was sitting on with a pile of books.  The stock agency turned it down, so I re-submitted it under the Photographer’s Choice program…where it sells quite well.

Photographing animals for stock, whether it is cute monkeys, fierce tigers or majestic elephants, adds an element of interest and excitement not just to the shoots, but to the stock images as well.