Let's talk money, earned money, stock images, is your creative work selling? Lets phrase it differently how do you get your images to stand out among millions, are prospective buyers clicking on your images?
Successful stock images must communicate intent. Art directors and other buyers of stock images look for the intent to communicate.
As a photographer, you perceive, see and feel your subject, however your camera does not capture this emotions. Art Directors buy images that show authentic emotions. Emotions are brought back into your image during post processing.
Successful microstockers have perfected the art of post processing, they have perfected photo editing skills, creating composite images that communicate the world they perceive, feel and want to share with everybody.
In this article we will explore simple ideas that successful microstockers use to create images that sell. As a passionate photographer and creative artist, you would like to see this passion turn into money. Let's discover how.
First know your customers; images that communicate lifestyle, business, education, adventure, intrigue fascination etc sell. capture an image, present it creatively, package it beautifully and boom! you are in business. Ok not so fast; first of all you must…..
Think like a Designer
Create unique Concepts
Thinking like a Designer
Advertiser and web designers make a big niche, an important niche of image buyers.Serious microstockers have discovered how wiggle into the minds of art directors.
Designers look for images that draw attention, have character, tell a story while defining the character of its subject. Art images should be, cleanly composed, clear, sharp, lack noise, have sharp edges, are in high resolution, and have clean backgrounds.
Illustrations must grab attention, while imparting information, illustrations that express complex ideas while bringing stories to life stand a better chance. Persons and animals should be secondary in Landscape photos.
Art directors are constantly on the lookout for unique mixed composition ideas, working with every day images in nature, while splashing a dose of creativity will help you come up with unique mixed compositions that sell.
The difference between Photo editing and Photo manipulation
Raw images rarely meet expected design standards. They have to be edited. Editing cleans the image, it removes unwanted elements, noise, corrects aberrations, sharpens, softens, enhances color and adds special effects to the image. Photo editing fixes problems in the image, drawing out the character of your subject.
Photo manipulation on the other hand is a form of artwork. Using image manipulation software like photoshop, you are free to unleash the power of your imagination. You can combine a photo with drawings, sketches, water colour, add new elements, merge several subjects and create a new subject, juxtapose two or more images into one and create a stunning image.
You can transform an image using various tools in photoshop, create subjects and objects, add special effects, and much more. Photoshop allows you to turn your fantasy into reality by combining two or more incompatible elements and objects into one.
In this article we share image manipulation ideas that successful microstockers use to get inspiration for out of the box creativity.
Look at the universe and Create
Nature is the best teacher, nature replicates itself in our imagination, nature gives us unique ideas. When this ideas are released and superimposed with creativity, we get unique works of genius.
Landscapes - Mythical fantasy and magical landscapes
Landscapes never cease to inspire, every form of landscape can be manipulated. Stark winter landscape can be transformed into mythical Christmas scenes that evoke magical moments capturing the joy of Christmas spirit.
Space - visit the cosmos, create a star filled galaxy, your very own universe
Looking into a clear star filled night sky connects your spirit to the cosmos you realize how insignificant you are as compared to the universe, this awesomeness can inspire you to create a galaxy that warms up viewers spirits.
Perspective - Turn your perspective on its head, stretch your view.
Perspective communicates one dimension of your subject, Images shot directly in front of the camera show frontal perspective of the scene.
Going under or above the same subject gives a different perspective to the image, provides more depth to the image, gets your subject to the foreground and makes it look larger.
Strive to get a unique perspective that will dazzle the viewer.
Create unique Concepts
To create unique mixed media concepts, learn basic photoshop skills. Here are few ideas to use when manipulating your photos in photoshop.
Prepare your images, cut them up, get the right proportions for your creative work, make the images clearer by adjusting the shadows,stress out the details with sharp colours, Make your shot vibrant, blend colors, draw the viewer’s focus on the element you want them to see,add depth to your images, use dark or light texture depending on what you desire to produce.
Combining images when manipulating photos, is like creating a jigsaw puzzle, pick images that match work with different perspectives, pick one that is most pleasing to the eye.
Stereographic projections and Silhouettes
Stereographic projections, or polar panoramas, can be created using Landscapes, skylines, and horizons, you can manipulate them to create miniature planets of your image, long panoramic images look better, spice them up by placing a person in the elements.
Silhouettes add mystery and fascination to your photos, place your subject in front of a source of light, capture the silhouette image on the foreground, reduce the exposure and shadows to create a silhouette, you can add a contrast of clouds and trees to add drama to your photo.
Sense of Scale and Point of Reference
An ordinary landscape or a city skyline scene, can be radically transformed and made more interesting by contrasting the size of the scene with a person, animal or bird.
The camera captures the world in two dimensions, our eyes view the world in three dimensions, adding a person to your landscape or a city scene puts back that third dimension. This gives a sense of scale to the image.
The person or animal in the image creates a familiar point of reference that helps define the scale of your subject..
Creative Abstracts and Distortions
Nature brims with abstract images, lines, shapes, textures, patterns and colours, that combine to form colorful patterns, for example agates have ripples and marbles have swirls, your creative mind can play with this patterns colors and shapes to create beautiful works of art.
Capturing this patterns evokes a sense of fantasy, filling your frame with warmth and beauty. When manipulated this images become extraordinary.
Distorting your image; purposely ruining your sense of scale will make your subjects appear dynamically spectacular.
Original works of art will always sell, as photographer you are an artist, unleash your unique creativity, you won’t have to look for buyers, they will come looking for you.