Shooting for Stock Photography

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A great way to earn money and learn a lot in the internet is participating in stock photography. Stock photography has been around for a while. And there are a lot of great stock sites that sell photographs for a reasonable price.

Just how and what should you shoot to be able to participate in stock photography?

Photographers say you should start with the concept. But the very first thing you should do is to know your equipment. I literally spent ten times more time trying to know how my camera works than thinking of something to shoot.

Stock photography is a very demanding industry. It's as close as you'll get to professional photography. It requires you to be able to produce images of the highest quality. That is because this industry is very competitive.

Try shooting the same subject with different settings. You should know how your camera reacts with different kinds of light. You should also know how it responds to different levels of illumination. Note the differences you see and keep them in mind.

Next you need a concept. Your images should present an idea, a thought or an expression. Consider a photograph of a man typing on a computer. What is he doing? Why is he typing? Is he working? Is he Blogging? Or just playing?

Designers buy stock images because of the concept they present - not because they look good. Stock photos are used in web sites, brochures, magazines, publications, advertisements, and almost anything that has a print.

So you need to have an image that has a concept that satisfies the needs of the would-be buyers of your pictures.

Then, you need a lot of light. Stock photos require that images have the right level of illumination and contrast. They need to be clear. If you can't afford a big set-up, you can always use desk lamps or even the sun.

You'll also need a computer and two kinds of programs: noise reduction tool and a photo editing application. Most stock photographs go through a noise reduction process. They also get a little tweaking in color, contrast and brightness.

Stock photographs need to be as close to perfect as possible. It's like what they say in the computer graphics industry: "it does not matter how you do it as long as you get the job done." Don't think that editing a photo in your pc is cheating. That only goes for journalism.

The next is pretty simple. You need a stock agency to upload your images to. Or you can showcase your work in your own site. Uploading in stock agencies is better. That is because you can find out where and how to improve. Use their powerful community to find out your weakness and strengths as a photographer.

Then when you have all this, what you need to do next is to be consistent and improve and improve and improve. You need to keep up with the ever demanding industries. If you don't, you'll get left behind.