New Years Resolutions

Raise your hand if your goal 2010 is to improve your photography skills? Join the club! I've enjoyed doing this blog over the last two months since it's given me a lot of opportunities to go over the basics and remember things I had forgotten I knew. At a certain point all of these things become automatic, which is good for those applying it and difficult for those of us trying to strain our brains back to the Fall of 1999 and my first quarter in college.

The keys to any good resolution is the mini goals that establish progress and making yourself accountable to someone (besides yourself). So I'm issuing a challenge to help you get there. Simply post in the comments for this blog (not the facebook notes or in a email) stating what you want to work on specifically that will make you a better photographer. I will then create posts designed around the comments you leave. Additionally I'm going to start giving out homework which I'd love for you to post on this blog with your results. Good or bad, doesn't matter, experience is the best teacher!

In the mean time, here are a few suggestions of steps you can take that will lead to a completed resolution and a happy new year.

1. Photograph often, every day if possible.
2. Have a purpose for picking up your camera. Ask, "What do I want this photo to say?"
3. Try new things. If at first you don't succeed? Reshoot! 
4. Draw diagrams for your lighting, and framing. This will help you shoot with purpose instead of by accident.

Can't wait to hear what you have to say!

Stock Photography: How To Sell Your Photos

I feel like yesterday's post may have been a little disappointing. To anyone that started reading with great hope and then had their dreams come crashing down when they added up the total for all of the equipment I suggested, don't give up. Here is a beacon of hope! It is completely possible to support your equipment buying habit with selling your photos. The answer is stock photography.

Nearly all the ad images you see on the internet, magazines, any sort of print media come from stock. Why? It's more affordable for companies and ad agencies to use stock then hire a photographer for every image they need. Anything can be a stock image, landscapes, people (especially people), food, etc. It just has to be marketable. Before you ask, your dog is rarely going to be a marketable subject matter. That is unless your target audience is a dog food company!

To shoot stock you'll need to do a few things:

1. Come up with a concept for a photo that people will be willing to buy (ie think in terms of who will buy your image and what they might need).
   
2. Shoot that image and every possible variation of it. Make sure it's sharp, well exposed and high resolution.
3. Submit it to stock agencies keeping in mind that rejection rates are high.
4. Wait, probably a long time, and hope for the best.
5. Repeat thousands of times over! I'm not kidding, you'll need a lot of winning images if you plan to retire early and live off of royalties. The key to making money here is simply to have a lot of different photos that are specifically targeted to a particular audience. The more images you have the better rate of return you'll get.  

I've done some research and here are some sites that will help you decide if stock photography is right for you and how to break into the market. Happy research!

Selling Stock Photography
How to Sell Stock Photos
Micro Stock: How to Sell your Photos
Microstock Forum