Sunday 24 April 2011
Saturday 23 April 2011
Stock photo tips
Tips for stock photography (out of my experience)
Quality – even if is a shitty photo the quality is important, must be a quality shit not a regular shit.
Composition / Idea – if your photo is more art than “buy me” is not good, they don’t accept images that don’t have potential to sell.
Noise – noise is a big NO, well it should be a big no for any wannabe photographer … if it has noise is trash.
JPEG artifacts – also a big NO.
Light - overexposure, lens flare or too much brightness is not acceptable also shadows that are not part of composition are a good reason to be rejected.
Ok, maybe the above are rules of common sense if you are a wannabe photographer and your photo will have good chances to be accepted. Next filter is what I like to call a commercial filter. Even if your friends are impressed by that particular photo and maybe you received some positive feedback from other photographers it doesn’t really matter. Your photo could win some photo contests and still not be good for stock photography. Why? Simple! It will not sell!!! Your photo is not what you can find on a flyer or website! Yeah, is true, art doesn’t sell! You must think commercial!
Some advices:
- Your photo must have a story behind, not just a snapshot, so that the web designer / print designer could find it useful.
- Can be used on multiple projects
- No logo or identifiable trademark
- Nudity is accepted with some rules regarding what is seen or not (no genitals, erotic pictures etc.)
- Pictures like autumn / winter landscapes or sunsets / sunrises are submitted in large numbers so your photo must stand out in order to be accepted.
- No recognizable faces unless you have written permission from those persons (even if is a big crowd and you can see clearly 20 faces you have to obtain permission from all 20 … yeah it is crap, I know).
- Landmarks only if they are different and not tourist-like photo (everybody has a picture with Eiffel tower that looks nice).
- Minimum 3MP at highest quality
- Minor Photoshop touch-ups can be accepted
- Good keywords and description.
Happy shooting everybody!
Keep you posted ;)
Quality – even if is a shitty photo the quality is important, must be a quality shit not a regular shit.
Composition / Idea – if your photo is more art than “buy me” is not good, they don’t accept images that don’t have potential to sell.
Noise – noise is a big NO, well it should be a big no for any wannabe photographer … if it has noise is trash.
JPEG artifacts – also a big NO.
Light - overexposure, lens flare or too much brightness is not acceptable also shadows that are not part of composition are a good reason to be rejected.
Ok, maybe the above are rules of common sense if you are a wannabe photographer and your photo will have good chances to be accepted. Next filter is what I like to call a commercial filter. Even if your friends are impressed by that particular photo and maybe you received some positive feedback from other photographers it doesn’t really matter. Your photo could win some photo contests and still not be good for stock photography. Why? Simple! It will not sell!!! Your photo is not what you can find on a flyer or website! Yeah, is true, art doesn’t sell! You must think commercial!
Some advices:
- Your photo must have a story behind, not just a snapshot, so that the web designer / print designer could find it useful.
- Can be used on multiple projects
- No logo or identifiable trademark
- Nudity is accepted with some rules regarding what is seen or not (no genitals, erotic pictures etc.)
- Pictures like autumn / winter landscapes or sunsets / sunrises are submitted in large numbers so your photo must stand out in order to be accepted.
- No recognizable faces unless you have written permission from those persons (even if is a big crowd and you can see clearly 20 faces you have to obtain permission from all 20 … yeah it is crap, I know).
- Landmarks only if they are different and not tourist-like photo (everybody has a picture with Eiffel tower that looks nice).
- Minimum 3MP at highest quality
- Minor Photoshop touch-ups can be accepted
- Good keywords and description.
Happy shooting everybody!
Keep you posted ;)
Earn money with your hobby
How to make money out of your hobby, out of photography … can be a reality or a dream?
How to earn money with photography? Well is a question I still ask but seems that there is room for everyone. Of course I am not rich and I don’t earn money out of my photography because I was quite ignorant and I am not really enjoying making photos that businessman will love … all that corporate bullshit we all see in bank, real estate, big companies, insurance, legal advice or other leaflet / flyer / promo material … all those fake smiles, business look, business related objects and so on.
BUT … because there is a big but (and maybe a big butt that will make big money on your back) … fortunately there is stock photography. Like its name suggests if you have a big stock (pile) of pictures you can make some money with no effort.
Why?!? Thanks god that are lazy people who prefer to buy than to make.
Who? Usually small businesses because is cheaper to buy stock photos than to pay a photographer (1$ for a photo versus more $)
Where? Internet, low budget printouts, local ads and the list can go on.
How much you can earn? Well, it depends can be almost near 0 or some internet sources like to brag that they earn 3 to 4 figures per month. May be, I’m not making their financial reports to see if it is true or not.
My own experience …. Using several stock photography providers and a shitty (yeah, it is crap) photo I manage in 5 years to gain the impressive amount of …. $1.98. If I think that if only one picture in the big ocean of pictures can perform like this ... Ok you can do the math ... 1 picture in 5 years results 1.98 … think now how many pictures having the same “success” like this one you should have in order to buy a meal. On the other hand I have done nothing and I have earned $1.98.
What is the catch? It is one big catch … because you receive around 25% of the real amount. If you think about it … it is outrageous … they earn 75% just for displaying your picture. At a second look you can think at the costs of maintaining a website as a beginner in this branch are quite high and maybe nobody will land on your page and even if they will and they will buy your photo it is quite hard to get that money out of one photo after 5 years. I don’t say that I like them very much but I still think that for a beginner it is a good start.
I really think about going to research more this opportunity as my camera is really old and I cannot afford to buy a new one so … I must try the sea with my toe in order to see if it is as advertised or not.
Below you can find two good websites for starters.
I will keep you posted with my research.
How to earn money with photography? Well is a question I still ask but seems that there is room for everyone. Of course I am not rich and I don’t earn money out of my photography because I was quite ignorant and I am not really enjoying making photos that businessman will love … all that corporate bullshit we all see in bank, real estate, big companies, insurance, legal advice or other leaflet / flyer / promo material … all those fake smiles, business look, business related objects and so on.
BUT … because there is a big but (and maybe a big butt that will make big money on your back) … fortunately there is stock photography. Like its name suggests if you have a big stock (pile) of pictures you can make some money with no effort.
Why?!? Thanks god that are lazy people who prefer to buy than to make.
Who? Usually small businesses because is cheaper to buy stock photos than to pay a photographer (1$ for a photo versus more $)
Where? Internet, low budget printouts, local ads and the list can go on.
How much you can earn? Well, it depends can be almost near 0 or some internet sources like to brag that they earn 3 to 4 figures per month. May be, I’m not making their financial reports to see if it is true or not.
My own experience …. Using several stock photography providers and a shitty (yeah, it is crap) photo I manage in 5 years to gain the impressive amount of …. $1.98. If I think that if only one picture in the big ocean of pictures can perform like this ... Ok you can do the math ... 1 picture in 5 years results 1.98 … think now how many pictures having the same “success” like this one you should have in order to buy a meal. On the other hand I have done nothing and I have earned $1.98.
What is the catch? It is one big catch … because you receive around 25% of the real amount. If you think about it … it is outrageous … they earn 75% just for displaying your picture. At a second look you can think at the costs of maintaining a website as a beginner in this branch are quite high and maybe nobody will land on your page and even if they will and they will buy your photo it is quite hard to get that money out of one photo after 5 years. I don’t say that I like them very much but I still think that for a beginner it is a good start.
I really think about going to research more this opportunity as my camera is really old and I cannot afford to buy a new one so … I must try the sea with my toe in order to see if it is as advertised or not.
Below you can find two good websites for starters.
I will keep you posted with my research.
Thursday 21 April 2011
Sunday 17 April 2011
Saturday 16 April 2011
Soap Bubble
Our entire life is like a soap bubble – fragile and short but hopefully it brings smiles and nice memories.
Thursday 14 April 2011
New logo
So, I made myself a new "logo" .... as my new visual identity, below is the color version
... and in Black&White
... and in negative
A new approach
Today I changed the name of this blog, I got bored with the old name :D .... not such a big change although.
Sometimes we all need a small change and a new approach. In this case is a small change in name, because I cannot change its haircut.
More to come ....
Sometimes we all need a small change and a new approach. In this case is a small change in name, because I cannot change its haircut.
More to come ....
Wednesday 13 April 2011
Sunday 10 April 2011
Thursday 7 April 2011
Tuesday 5 April 2011
Sunday 3 April 2011
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