How to Create Digital Stock Photographs that Sell

Any old Joe Blow can take a digital picture, but it takes an artist's eye to create digital stock photographs that will sell. Why is this? Because stock photography is almost an art form. Put yourself in the buyer's shoes for a moment. You own a website, perhaps for a professional company or simply an informative site you are interested in monetizing (because when you get right down to it, the sites that fare the best are well monetized!) Let's say that as webmaster of your lovely domain, you decide that the look of the site needs a little spring cleaning. You have recently built a few new pages and, while the content is superb, it just doesn't have that professional feel yet. You decide to find some stock photography. Since you already have the content of the pages, you are looking for pictures that can abstractly support the ideas and themes of your content. What types of pictures appeal to you when you go "shopping" for your web art? You want beautiful, crisp, artistic quality images captured under just the right light exposure that perfectly fits the feel of the site you are hoping to spruce up with your recently purchased artwork. So what does this mean for you as a creator of stock photography? It means that artistic intention and quality of the picture means the difference between a nice regular paycheck and getting your work rejected and overlooked.

Be Intentional
If you seriously want to consider making money in stock photography, you must take it seriously. I suggest envisioning a concept, or a group of related concepts for several days. Allow images to dance in your head. Literally try to imagine the most beautiful photograph you could capture given your environment. Consider not only the object of focus, but the background as well. Keep a pad of paper and pen with you at all times so you can jot down a few notes, or draw a quick picture of what your image will look like and how it will convey the theme of the piece. If you just take a bunch of interesting pictures you think are cool, they might or might not sell. Intentionality, however, can greatly increase your chance of a sale.

Prepare for Greatness
After the images have bounced around in your head for a little while, plan exactly what you need to pull of a fantastic picture! Prepare the background, position the subject, adjust the lighting and take a quick test shot to see how you are doing so far. With more time, you will develop a more critical eye, but for now do your best to see if there is anything that you could do to make this shot any better. If you would like, try taking several shots at different angles or a few variations of the same general object. Consider this like a photo shoot even if you are not snapping pictures of a live model. After a few minutes, take a minute to step back and analyze your work. This may seem excessive, but if you produce quality work, you will be paid accordingly. Preparing and putting this much energy into creating the photograph might end up paying off more than you imagined.

It is quite likely that you will have problems at first. Just like you learned to ride a bike, you might fall down a few times, but keep trying and you will soon fall into a rhythm of creation and it will become a habit you will never forget. For more information, I highly suggest reviewing the Stock Photographer Training Manual at iStockphoto because it is one of the most thorough I have come across on the subject.