STG Studios

Three Habits That Make a Photographer a True Professional

Through our stock agency, I sometimes look at about 25-30 new photographer applications every month. I've been doing that for 10 years now so that is about 3000 photographers and 40,000 photographs. I also spend a lot of time every month watching the new photos being submitted to both our photo stock agencies. Again this adds up to many more thousand images every year.

I'm able to tell you, in all those photographs there have been thousands of images that would have been great stock images with real sales potential, if the photographer had only done their job right. The frustrating part is, in all those cases, the damage was done by a few reasonably straightforward mistakes that might have been easily avoided.

Now I should freely admit that I'm no master cameraman ... In truth I've barely touched my cameras since we started building OzImages back in 1998 ... But I know what separates an OK photo from a stock image with real sales potential. So in this two-part article I'm going to look at 3 main differences I see between the part-timers and the pros.

Lighting

If I could only make one suggestion, this would be it. Most amateurs only think about lighting after sunset. An even then, all they usually do is pop up the flash. Some 'outdoor ' photographers might time their work for early morning or late afternoon light, but even then they still tend to look at lighting as a separate element of from the image.

The pros on the other hand, consider the lighting of their subject, and they do it with every single shot.

Their focus is not just on the light, but how the light is affecting their subject and whether that can work for the message they're trying to capture. The pros will consider additional lighting, or shading, on every single shot. It is just as much a part of their routine as removing the lens cap.

So make it part of your pre-shot routine to stop and ask yourself how your subject is lit.

Are the key features properly lit? Is there anything you can do in order to make it better? Flash could be an option, but so might a reflector, a different camera position, turning on a light ... Coming back in a couple of hours time.

Remember, nothing kills the commercial prospects for an image as swiftly as uneven lighting ... Photo Buyers take one look as deep shadows and/or washed out highlights and walk away without a backward glance.

Make the lighting of your subject your main concern and your photos will improve significantly in both quality and sales potential.

Patience

If all you do is capture a visual representation of what's there at the time, you are taking pictures, and they're a dime a dozen. If you want to capture stock photo images that are going to stand out in the crowd -- and sell -- you've got to convey a message or a story about that subject to your viewers.

So make it a custom to study your subject in detail before you even look thru the view-finder. Work out what it is that you need to convey to your audience? Conversely, what might your viewer not already know about the subject? What can you capture and convey the viewer may not know?

Once you're clear on the main elements of your subject, you can start thinking about the effect different viewpoints may have on the final image. Then you'll find you're starting to create new and unique stock images with real potential.

Too many of amateur photos come across as indecisive. You realise the photographer 'knew ' there was a photo op there, but, rather than dig around a bit and find it, they just kept pressing the shutter expecting to get something. Occasionally they might get something, but more often than not, the final result is vague photographs with a subject lost in the middle-ground, lots of clutter in the background and no clear point of interest in the foreground ... And zero sales potential.

Work out PRECISELY what it is you are attempting to say before starting. Then think about your lighting. Then use your technical abilities and creativity to say it.

That's what we'll look at in part 2 ... Talk soon!

Matt Brading is a writer & photographer with GlobalEye Photo Stock Agency and reccommends the Direct Contact approach for selling photographs online.

Photography Lighting & Equipment Tips : How to Use Light Reflectors in Photography

600W Pro Studio Continuous Daylight Lamp 4 x Bulb Light for Photographic or Video Lighting Pro Studio Continuous Daylight Lamp with four bulbs. Highly efficient and energy saving, this lamp with its four spiral 26W daylight bulbs gives out a pure daylight illumination equivalent to 600W. The lamp unit is fitted with a 15" mirror face reflector to maximise the reflection of light onto the subject being lit. A removable front diffuser is included to diffuse a soft bright light....

Ex-Pro - [Combination Pack] Professional Photography Light Reflector Stand for Photo reflectors (Holder) (Stand - Max Height 800cm / Min Height 1800cm) (Arm Length max 120cm / Min Length 98cm) plus Ex-Pro 5 -in- 1 Photographic Light Reflector - 42 Silver, Gold, Black, White & Translucent, Collapsible. £51.97 Combination package :- Ex-Pro - Professional Photography Light Reflector Stand for Photo stand (Holder). Allows Ex-Pro (or other brand) light reflectors to be used in studio without human holding ! - Stand allows the photo reflective disc to be clamped into place and angled to required reflection direction using adjustable height and arm. You don't always have to use the reflector as a flat disk. ...

Ex-Pro - Professional Photography Light Reflector Stand for Photo refelctors (Holder) (Stand - Max Height 180cm / Min Height 80cm) (Arm Length max 120cm / Min Length 98cm) £36.97 Ex-Pro - Professional Photography Light Reflector Stand for Photo stand (Holder). Allows Ex-Pro (or other brand) light reflectors to be used in studio without human holding ! - Stand allows the photo reflective disc to be clamped into place and angled to required reflection direction using adjustable height and arm. You don't always have to use the reflector as a flat disk. Once you place it in th...

Ex-Pro 5 -in- 1 Photographic Light Reflector - 42 (110cm) Silver, Gold, Black, White & Translucent, Collapsible. £15.97 Whatever your needs, the reflector will add vibrant colour a clarity to your subject with the Ex-Pro 5 - in - 1 Package including 5 different side reflectors, Silver, Gold, Black, White & Translucent plus a pouch for storage, the unit collapses away to less than 50% of the diameter for easy storage or portability. Silver increases the spectacular highlights and yields a high-contrast image. It's p...

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