Be relatable on your editorial Photos
Today I will be talking about how I think it is important to be relatable and keep your editorial photos on your stock photography portfolio easy to look at and familiar to as many people as you can. Because that can be what separates you from getting your image licensed or not.
Editorial photos, often times are from very popular subjects, building, landmarks, places or even events that might be happening. That means there will be a lot of offer out there.
The consumers have certain idea of the subject you are photographing already, so when someone is looking for a stock photography of that subject to use it, they want for whoever looks at the image to associate straight away with whatever the subject is.
Now, you have to find a way to make them a little bit more special than all the other photos available out there. Because there will be a lot of similar images, so you have to find what makes you as a photographer special, what is your signature touch, or that extra detail that you can add to the image that will make it jump on the screen, so people will pick yours instead of some other photographer work.
But remember, this are editorial photos, so the moment and the image must not be altered, maybe slight edits when it comes to colours and contrasts, but nothing to big. In this case, that special touch that you will bring to the photo will have to be created at the moment you are capturing it and not os pos production.
In these selection of photo you can see a lot of images from the Barbican area. These, in my opinion are nice photos. They look good and they have some potential to be licensed. But all of these are examples of actually not to do.
These photos are "simply too normal" for the majority of the people to license them for any use.
I have decided to create them and add them to my portfolio because I think that in the long term they might get licensed a couple of times for used that are more traditional and casual.
But I am mostly sure that none of these will ever be on my list of most licensed photos.
On a more recent walk, I have visited the Barbican again to create some images that potentially will be better. But that is always uncertain.
The images created are still relatable but I have captured some different perspectives that are maybe a little bit more unusual. So I have all the sides covered.
I'll have images on my portfolio that are more traditional and similar to what everyone else is doing. So if people are looking for that, I might be the lucky one to be picked.
But when they are scrolling, they will also see some images that are recognizable but have a different look to them, that will jump out in comparison with all the other photos.
So the next time you are out there photographing for your stock photography portfolio, remember to create some relatable and traditional images of what you are photographing. But then, get your extra special images with your signature touch that will make them pop up in comparison with all the other images.
If you do this, you will be maximizing the chances to have your photos licensed more often. Because you are thinking about what people might be looking for and how they will be using it.
Get yourself in the consumer's shoes when you are photographing for your stock portfolio. Remember to enjoy what you are photographing but remember that this photos are not "for you" these photos are mainly for those who need images for whatever reason is.
Take my advice with a grain of salt, I am just a beginner and every photographer and every person that are working with stock photography might have different opinions. This is just my personal advice that I think it will help you get more images licensed.
The Microstock sites I am on:
Shutterstock
Pond5
Dreamstime
Depositphotos
500px
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