Does shooting for stock change your eye?

[Betty LaRue]

Beauty, or perfection, is in the eye of the beholder. Might explain why I’ve licensed a couple of images that I considered bad, and had them up for deletion at the time.

[The Blinking Eye]

2 hours ago, Bill Brooks said:

Do not allow shooting for stock to change your eye. Forget about stock when shooting. Make the very best images possible. Then upload your very best images to a stock photo site.

 

You can overthink the sales aspect. Overthink it to the point it interferes with the quality of your photography. So stop thinking about sales. A great image will eventually find a buyer.

 

Develop an eye for great photography, the rest will look after itself.
 

 

YES. This is the approach I want to take and was taking, until I started reading the threads in this forum. There's a lot of talk about revenue, what sells etc, and I think I just need to avoid those threads. I felt a lot better before I started obsessing about sales. I actually think this is kind of fun, and I do like the research aspect.  But I don't want to change my eye or take photos I find boring.  No. No. No. Thank you, Bill!

[The Blinking Eye]

1 hour ago, geogphotos said:

 

Just to add a little without wanting to disagree with the views of others.

 

I think that shooting for stock is about utility as well as 'best images'.  Somebody has got to have a use for the image sufficiently strong for them to be willing part with money.

 

The image has to fill an actual need. This view is probably because my mind tends to think more about illustrative/editorial content rather than pure photography.

 

Basically stock is a huge area and there are no fixed answers. There is plenty of room to do your own thing, but in the end you do need  there to be somebody who actually wants to use the image that you are creating. 

 

I get that and I have learned a lot about what people buy and what editorial even means. But I think I'm okay not thinking about that because I naturally want to document protests, rallies, political and news events.  I just don't want to shoot shopping malls. 😋

[The Blinking Eye]

Love the discussion. Thanks everyone.

[Betty LaRue]

As to your question, yes, stock changed my eye. It all depends, though, on my purpose. If I’m out shooting for stock, I tend to ignore everything else.

But when I want something for Fine Art America, I shoot for beauty first, and if I see something for stock, it’s like oh, yeah.

Sometimes shooting for beauty also works for stock. But I do artistic things for FFA, but upload the straight image to Alamy. My St. Croix trip, I was there to shoot stock AND artistically beautiful things. They, to me, were intertwined. Turned out they aren’t popular for stock.

You might be happier foregoing stock and upload to POD.

 

[The Blinking Eye]

2 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

As to your question, yes, stock changed my eye. It all depends, though, on my purpose. If I’m out shooting for stock, I tend to ignore everything else.

But when I want something for Fine Art America, I shoot for beauty first, and if I see something for stock, it’s like oh, yeah.

Sometimes shooting for beauty also works for stock. But I do artistic things for FFA, but upload the straight image to Alamy. My St. Croix trip, I was there to shoot stock AND artistically beautiful things. They, to me, were intertwined. Turned out they aren’t popular for stock.

You might be happier foregoing stock and upload to POD.

 

 

POD = Print On Demand?

Been thinking about it. OK, I am seeing how there can be a switch between shooting arty stuff and stock, but I want to feel good about my stock stuff too.

[BobD]

There is no doubt that when I am shooting, I am shooting for stock, I'm often thinking keywords as I'm pressing the button. 

This has to be said is to the detriment of my own appreciation. However in reaction to the continuing falling licence fees, that mindset will more than likely change in the near future. I am giving most of my efforts to a couple of POD sites this year, not just for the returns ( there may not be any ) but to get back to more enjoyment and fulfilment of photography for photography's sake. 

[John Morrison]

28 minutes ago, The Blinking Eye said:

There's a lot of talk about revenue, what sells etc, and I think I just need to avoid those threads.

 

Erm... this is a forum on a stock pic site. You may dismiss "what sells etc", with an airy wave of the hand. Me, I enjoy the revenue (only wishing there was more of it!)...

[Colblimp]

Sadly, since I've turned pro, my love of photography has gone.  I only pick up the camera now if I'm earning or if there's a chance to earn.  I bring my cameras everywhere and always look out for stock pics, beauty doesn't come into it any more.  News and stock are permanently at the forefront of my mind.  Photography is no longer a hobby, simply a job.  That said, I love my job.

[BobD]

6 minutes ago, Colblimp said:

Sadly, since I've turned pro, my love of photography has gone.  I only pick up the camera now if I'm earning or if there's a chance to earn.  I bring my cameras everywhere and always look out for stock pics, beauty doesn't come into it any more.  News and stock are permanently at the forefront of my mind.  Photography is no longer a hobby, simply a job.  That said, I love my job.

 

I completely understand what you are saying but none the less find it a little sad that the business has deteriorated to the degree it has. Fortunately I am not doing it for a living and will do what makes me happy at the time be it stock or otherwise. 

[meanderingemu]

47 minutes ago, The Blinking Eye said:

 

YES. This is the approach I want to take and was taking, until I started reading the threads in this forum. There's a lot of talk about revenue, what sells etc, and I think I just need to avoid those threads. I felt a lot better before I started obsessing about sales. I actually think this is kind of fun, and I do like the research aspect.  But I don't want to change my eye or take photos I find boring.  No. No. No. Thank you, Bill!

 

 

sorry, but the ultimate goal of stock photography should be to have your images licenced. I totally agree that you should stay in things that interest you,  but taking the customer out of the equation does not make sense to me. 

[Matt Ashmore]

33 minutes ago, Colblimp said:

Sadly, since I've turned pro, my love of photography has gone. ..... That said, I love my job.

 

This would be a reason why I wouldn't want to go pro. But if you still love your job, you must love photography to some extent still. But I guess I know what you mean.. there are days when I hate my job and then days when I love it depending on what exactly I am working on and how it's going.

 

I discovered the world of stock photography just short of 5 years ago. I do still shoot (and enjoy shooting) the sort of things that I used to photograph before. In particular, I remember going Paris (for work) about 10 years ago and taking lots of photos in the evenings and enjoying looking for the scenes to photograph. Roll forward to when I discovered stock, I have subsequently put a lot of those photos on Alamy. I think for me, stock photography has improved my photography and vastly increased the quantity of photos that I take.. I photograph things that I would never think to photograph before like piles of washing up stacked next to the kitchen sink. But I still do take the same photos that I did before stock photography. Another work trip saw me go to Madrid just before Christmas just gone... and I was taking the same kinds of photos as I did on the work trip to Paris. So I don't think I have lost anything through stock photography.. I just notice more images that interest me nowadays. And stock photography has given my photography some end purpose which actually means that I find it more fulfilling.

[MizBrown]

23 hours ago, The Blinking Eye said:

A friend of mine was telling me that shooting photos for stock inherently changes your photographic eye and how you see things. Since I'm pretty new to this, I have to say I find that happening and I don't really like the feeling. I think I'm going to stop looking at the Photos Sold thread and just go back to seeking the most beautiful, well composed images I can find within my photographic interests and upload the best ones. Rather than "shooting for stock".  I think that will keep me interested in the long term, when clearly there's not much money to be made with this endeavor anyway.

 

How do you feel shooting stock photography has affected your eye and your overall approach to creating great photos?

 

Some writing teachers claim that writing journalism or genre fiction will ruin your creativity.  One of the realities of working in journalism is that if you don't lose your preciousness about people who aren't in the arts, you'll end up writing badly because of condescension to the people you're interviewing.  My year on a small country weekly was one of the best experiences I could have had as a writer and human being.

 

One of the advantages of journalism (or stock photography, or shooting baby pictures in a department store) is that it makes the writing or photography less ego-centered.   You can't be a  misunderstood weekly journalist.   There's nothing inherent in stock that requires less visual beauty or impact than an art photo, other than it has to do its job of illustrating something.  

 

I started writing poetry in my teens and had some readings and some small press book published,  but the only way to be a poet was to teach, and I'd rather not.  So, did journalism and wrote science fiction and then did technical writing.

 

Take the best pictures you can.  Look at them.  Upload the ones that stick in your mind.   The reality is that fashion and war journalism are where the money is absent becoming an successful art gallery photographer, where you sell to fewer people  but where there's a certain amount of a different kind of hustle to make it work.  I think I'd have more trouble with fashion and advertising work, and I'm too old for war journalism.

 

The preconceptions you bring to work shaped how you work. 

 

 

[Reimar]

I started photography again in 2003, mostly in a photoclub context.  My "eye" hasn't changed since.  My view of the world and how I compose is innate.  But what I shoot has expanded.  I can see the arty shot, as well as the stock shot.  I'll take both if I have the chance.  I shoot what interests or excites me.  If it does that for me, I think it has stock potential.

Edited January 26, 2020 by Reimar

[John Mitchell]

5 hours ago, Reimar said:

I started photography again in 2003, mostly in a photoclub context.  My "eye" hasn't changed since.  My view of the world and how I compose is innate.  But what I shoot has expanded.  I can see the arty shot, as well as the stock shot.  I'll take both if I have the chance.  I shoot what interests or excites me.  If it does that for me, I think it has stock potential.

 

That's right. I think we can't help but bring our "eye" to whatever we happen to be photographing.

 

That said, "shooting for stock" has given a lot of us a black eye in recent years. 😫

[The Blinking Eye]

On 25/01/2020 at 14:54, John Morrison said:

 

Erm... this is a forum on a stock pic site. You may dismiss "what sells etc", with an airy wave of the hand. Me, I enjoy the revenue (only wishing there was more of it!)...

 

I LOVE revenue. Was absolutely elated at my first sales. But most of the conversations are saying there isn't much revenue to be had anymore, especially for newbies with a small port.

[The Blinking Eye]

On 25/01/2020 at 15:39, Matt Ashmore said:

 

This would be a reason why I wouldn't want to go pro. But if you still love your job, you must love photography to some extent still. But I guess I know what you mean.. there are days when I hate my job and then days when I love it depending on what exactly I am working on and how it's going.

 

I discovered the world of stock photography just short of 5 years ago. I do still shoot (and enjoy shooting) the sort of things that I used to photograph before. In particular, I remember going Paris (for work) about 10 years ago and taking lots of photos in the evenings and enjoying looking for the scenes to photograph. Roll forward to when I discovered stock, I have subsequently put a lot of those photos on Alamy. I think for me, stock photography has improved my photography and vastly increased the quantity of photos that I take.. I photograph things that I would never think to photograph before like piles of washing up stacked next to the kitchen sink. But I still do take the same photos that I did before stock photography. Another work trip saw me go to Madrid just before Christmas just gone... and I was taking the same kinds of photos as I did on the work trip to Paris. So I don't think I have lost anything through stock photography.. I just notice more images that interest me nowadays. And stock photography has given my photography some end purpose which actually means that I find it more fulfilling.

 

I actually agree with all of this and have the same experience. I'm glad you articulated it.

[The Blinking Eye]

Yesterday, I took a three hour walk through suburban and city neighborhoods and just meandered with my camera. I decided that I COULD shoot for stock, but would only do so if I thought the shot was beautiful. I found a bikeshare dock with lots of brightly colored bikes parked there.  It's obviously a commercial or editorial-type shot, but in terms of beauty, it was my favorite shot of the day. This thread has helped me a lot to define my approach. Thank you! And I did not mean to belittle anyone's work or the stock photography field itself in my somewhat snobby sounding comments.

 

Revenue is still welcome, but more than anything, this gives my photography a purpose it didn't have before and I like having a more professional intention.

[The Blinking Eye]

On 25/01/2020 at 14:55, Colblimp said:

Sadly, since I've turned pro, my love of photography has gone.  I only pick up the camera now if I'm earning or if there's a chance to earn.  I bring my cameras everywhere and always look out for stock pics, beauty doesn't come into it any more.  News and stock are permanently at the forefront of my mind.  Photography is no longer a hobby, simply a job.  That said, I love my job.

 

I would have mixed feelings about this, but I love your clarity. Your photos seem to fit exactly in the zone of what you are trying to do and I admire that.

[Marianne]

If you think your images are losing their distinct style, then go out and look for a way to marry that yearning for beauty and emotion with a hunt for keywords, and you will find that stock makes you a better photographer, because those photos will have intention. 

 

Your recognition that shooting for stock gives your photography a purpose is an important insight. Keep that in mind when you shoot, think of how your photos of protests can help get those messages across, something that wouldn't happen if you just took photos of protests for yourself letting them sit on your hard drive. Editorial  images have value - possibly greater value than you might realize - as do beautiful photos, and simply useful photos. 

 

Personally, when I take a photograph of a sign, or some other boring thing, and it sells, I get a kick out of knowing that I was right - that something most people wouldn't even click with their iPhone actually had the potential to make me $$. Now, if that's all I shot I'd go slowly mad - but throwing in the occasional boring but salable subject is a great way to increase your stock photo portfolio, and make some extra $$. 

 

And, if you feel that stock isn't for you, there are always POD sites. Your protest pix may be less likely to sell there - but great for your landscapes and scenics. 

 

No one spends hours researching and keywording images for fun. The point of stock photography is to make money. If you just want likes, stick with Instagram.  I"m not being facetious. Honestly, if you don't get anything out of it, then chalk it up to experience and take your work in another direction. Join a camera club in your area, a great way to get feedback on your work. 

 

 I get where your head is at. I was that way once too. I was always involved in journalism in college - edited 2 college newspapers and a magazine - but as much as I loved photography, I never wanted to shoot for the paper, preferring to simply write. I didn't like something I loved - taking photos - to have the pressure of deadlines and to know I had just one chance to get it right. It took the fun out of it for me. I wanted to shoot artsy stuff, not journalism. 

 

A year after college, I was working for a small suburban newspaper and I had to shoot photos to go with my articles - and that meant shooting every day. I didn't have the luxury of worrying about the perfect shot and was it artistic enough - I shot photos and wrote stories on deadline every day and my work improved tremendously. I then went into law and didn't start working as a stock photographer until I was in my 40's. After changing careers,  I did some writing again for local magazines and newspapers, and I often had to shoot images to illustrate my work. It was fun because I wasn't afraid.  That work, together with commercial assignments, and shooting stock, all made me a better photographer. Sometimes my subject is inspiring, and sometimes it's boring (I've spent more time than anyone would like to shooting bathrooms for builders and contractors), but I know my job is to craft the best image that I can in the time I have. It's a job, but one I love. If I didn't, I'd go back to law. It pays much better. 

Edited January 28, 2020 by Marianne

[John Morrison]

8 hours ago, The Blinking Eye said:

But most of the conversations are saying there isn't much revenue to be had anymore, especially for newbies with a small port.

 

Yes, this is not a good time to be starting with stock... and the good times may be gone for ever. As you appreciate, the returns on a collection of 300 pix will be negligible. Apart from the £££, what a bigger port gives you is a working knowledge of what sells. I'm gratified when my hunches pay off...

 

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by John Morrison

[William Caram]

Yes after many years of squinting through the viewfinder of a camera i have become so one eyed! ......

 

I see what i want to see and disregard the rest ( I pinched that from a song ) I see with a ruthless mindset...will it make me money or is it all in vain...do i smell the gravy,or have i missed the train.....Do i buy that exotic lens and shoot my way to fame....I then realise shooting stock can be fun, and you're in the game, take a stroll don't run or you'll end up lame....Skip the years of learning to become a name.....just be a nobody and play the game...and in the end the stock you take is equal to the stock you make...sorry Beatles!

 

So it's a long and winding road....be brave and go for a stroll as you never know where you will end up...

 

PS...sorry folks needed a break from processing...now where are my meds!   and motivation!

 

[The Blinking Eye]

3 hours ago, Marianne said:

If you think your images are losing their distinct style, then go out and look for a way to marry that yearning for beauty and emotion with a hunt for keywords, and you will find that stock makes you a better photographer, because those photos will have intention. 

 

Your recognition that shooting for stock gives your photography a purpose is an important insight. Keep that in mind when you shoot, think of how your photos of protests can help get those messages across, something that wouldn't happen if you just took photos of protests for yourself letting them sit on your hard drive. Editorial  images have value - possibly greater value than you might realize - as do beautiful photos, and simply useful photos. 

 

Personally, when I take a photograph of a sign, or some other boring thing, and it sells, I get a kick out of knowing that I was right - that something most people wouldn't even click with their iPhone actually had the potential to make me $$. Now, if that's all I shot I'd go slowly mad - but throwing in the occasional boring but salable subject is a great way to increase your stock photo portfolio, and make some extra $$. 

 

And, if you feel that stock isn't for you, there are always POD sites. Your protest pix may be less likely to sell there - but great for your landscapes and scenics. 

 

No one spends hours researching and keywording images for fun. The point of stock photography is to make money. If you just want likes, stick with Instagram.  I"m not being facetious. Honestly, if you don't get anything out of it, then chalk it up to experience and take your work in another direction. Join a camera club in your area, a great way to get feedback on your work. 

 

 I get where your head is at. I was that way once too. I was always involved in journalism in college - edited 2 college newspapers and a magazine - but as much as I loved photography, I never wanted to shoot for the paper, preferring to simply write. I didn't like something I loved - taking photos - to have the pressure of deadlines and to know I had just one chance to get it right. It took the fun out of it for me. I wanted to shoot artsy stuff, not journalism. 

 

A year after college, I was working for a small suburban newspaper and I had to shoot photos to go with my articles - and that meant shooting every day. I didn't have the luxury of worrying about the perfect shot and was it artistic enough - I shot photos and wrote stories on deadline every day and my work improved tremendously. I then went into law and didn't start working as a stock photographer until I was in my 40's. After changing careers,  I did some writing again for local magazines and newspapers, and I often had to shoot images to illustrate my work. It was fun because I wasn't afraid.  That work, together with commercial assignments, and shooting stock, all made me a better photographer. Sometimes my subject is inspiring, and sometimes it's boring (I've spent more time than anyone would like to shooting bathrooms for builders and contractors), but I know my job is to craft the best image that I can in the time I have. It's a job, but one I love. If I didn't, I'd go back to law. It pays much better. 

 

Inspiring to hear how the work improves, no matter what the intended audience. I think that's part of what I'm grappling with. What is a good photo? And how to make it an even better photo?

[Colblimp]

22 hours ago, The Blinking Eye said:

 

I would have mixed feelings about this, but I love your clarity. Your photos seem to fit exactly in the zone of what you are trying to do and I admire that.

Thanks - I work very hard at my job.

[Colblimp]

7 hours ago, LawrensonPhoto said:

He says whilst sipping a cocktail from his garden

If that was my garden I'd tarmac it you plonker! 🤣