http://www.studio414contest.com/index.html

http://almostfearless.com/ebooks/30-ways-in-30-days-to-redesign-your-life-and-travel-the-world

Preparation is key

Getting your gear together and in working order, choosing the right lens, having a tripod set up and then preparing to take the image. Pause and examine your subject before pressing the shutter. Some questions to ask:

• how to crop it – get in close or take a wider angle shot?
• what is the focal point/point of interest? Insect, stem, colour, texture, shape etc?
• what angle will you shoot from to get the best perspective?
• how much depth of field do you want?
• how is the subject lit?
• which flower is the best specimen for your photo?
• what distractions are there in the background and foreground?
• which is the best format to shoot in? (horizontal or vertical)

Highlighting subjects

One of the questions above is worth a little extra consideration – ‘what distractions are there in the background and foreground?’

Gardens are filled with all kinds of potential distractions. They might be the tool shed, a fence, other flowers, the clothes line etc. A decision needs to be made whether you want to include these elements or remove them from your shot. Either option is legitimate but in most cases you’ll probably want to remove them unless they in some way enhance your shot. There are a number of options open to you if you want to remove distractive elements:

• move them – some distractions can be moved pretty easily so that they’re not in your frame
• move yourself – find a new angle to shoot from that has a less distracting background
• crop them out - go for a tighter framing of the flower either by using a zoom or moving physically closer to it
• use aperture to narrow depth of field – as we highlighted in our introduction to aperture, if you choose a wider aperture (small numbers) you’ll decrease the depth of field. As you do this you make elements in the foreground and background more and more out of focus.
• move your subject - I’m not a big fan of intervening in a scene too much but some photographers will move the flower to a new location for the shot. This might include getting someone to hold the stem on a different angle or could even mean picking the flower and taking it elsewhere. If you’re going to do this make sure you are aware of the environmental impact of your photography.
  

Don’t ignore the dead, marked or dying flower

Sometimes carcasses of flowers can present you with wonderful subject matter. While the perfect flower is the one you’ll probably be drawn to first sometimes the more interesting shot is the ‘ugly duckling’ beside it.

Identify a focal point

As in all types of photography you need to think about where you want your viewers eye to be drawn. Consider setting it off centre using the rule of thirds – but do find something in your frame that will grab your viewer’s eye and carefully think about how to position it.

Go abstract

Sometimes going in extra close and focussing in on a part of the flower can create wonderful and unusual images that take on an abstract quality. Look for contrasting colors, patterns and textures.

Focus is Key

Sharp focus is important in all forms of photography but in flower Macro photography it is crucial and even a tiny adjustment can have massive implications for your shot as the depth of field is so small. In macro photography your depth of field is a game of millimetres so attention to detail in focussing is something to be worked upon.

Identify the point of interest that you want to be in focus and then work hard to ensure that it’s as sharp as possible. This can be a real challenge, especially outdoors on breezy days where you’ll probably end up taking a lot of images and relying on luck to some degree! You can improve your ‘luck’ a little by photographing in a more controlled environment (taking flowers inside for studio shots, shielding them from wind or just choosing to do your photography on a still day).

Lighting

Ideally your subject will be wonderfully lit without you needing to offer any assistance, however the world of outdoor macro photography is often far from ideal and there might be a need to intervene with either artificial light or some kind of reflector.

Using a flash is something to experiment with. Generally you’ll find that direct flash on automatic mode might wash photos out a little so consider using a flash diffuser and/or bouncing your flash off another object. I find that the more subtle and indirect the flash is the more natural your shots will look.

Reflectors can also be handy in shooting flowers as they give a nice, natural, diffused light into areas of your subject that might not be getting natural sunlight. Experiment with different colored reflectors as they can really impact the colors in your shot.

Lenses

Point and Shoot Cameras – if you’re shooting with a point and shoot camera with no interchangeable lenses you’ll obviously have less options here. You will probably have the ability to switch your camera into macro mode (which will allow you to focus a little closer and will tell the camera to use a large aperture giving you a shallow depth of field). Some point and shoot cameras do have the option of a macro lens attachment also to allow closer focussing (see your owners manual).

DSLRs – if you have a camera that allows interchangeable lenses (DSLR and some prosumer cameras) you might like to consider buying a purpose built macro lens. Most of the major camera manufacturers offer a range of them. For example offers a number including ones at focal lengths of 50mm, 60mm, 100mm (the one I own), 180mm etc. Each will have it’s own specifications and strengths (do some careful research before buying). Obviously a shorter focal length means you need to get physically closer to your subject to really hone in on your subject while longer ones allow you to shoot from further back (helpful when photographing insects).

How to Photograph….

• Wedding Photography Tips
• How to Photograph Fireworks
• How to Take Great Group Photos
• How to Photograph Waterfalls
• How to take a Photograph out of a Plane Window
• Backyard Bird Photography Tips
• Christmas Photography Tips
• Candlelight Photography Tips
• How to Photograph Mushroom, Toadstools and Fungi
• Airshow Photography Tips
• Urban Landscape Photography Tips
• How to Photograph a Spider’s Web
• Food Photography - An Introduction
• Beach Photography Tips
• How to Photograph Silhouettes
• 11 Surefire Landscape Photography Tips
• Tips for Better Candid Photography
• How to Photograph Pets
• Tips for Photographing Stunning Sunsets
• Halloween Photography Tips
• Zoo Photography
• How to Photograph in Direct Sunlight
• How to Photograph Rainbows

http://www.photoshelter.com/mkt/google-analytics-for-photographers

1. Elbows In

As often as possible pull your elbows in to your body and exhale completely before depressing the shutter. When you’re working with a wide aperture or low shutter speed (or both), even a breath can introduce shake. Pulling your elbows tight to your body can really help keep you steady. I also press my elbows firmly into my chest for even greater stability.

2. Raise Your Left Shoulder….

I am definitely a right eyed photographer, but this tip that I learned from “The Moment It Clicks” by Joe McNally, requires that I shift for a moment to my left eye. What I’m doing here is raising my left shoulder, and bracing my left elbow into my rib-cage (no arrow for this one). For further stability, you can pull your right elbow in to your chest. As always, exhale completely before depressing the shutter to avoid introducing shake.

3. Create a Tripod With Your Knee

You can create your own tripod by resting your elbow on your knee while in a seated position. Again, bring that other elbow in for greater support.

4. Lay Down

These two images illustrate perhaps the most obvious way to avoid shake without a tripod. Lie flat and let the lens sit directly on the ground. The problem with this is that you’re likely to have quite a downward tilt to the lens and unless you’re aiming to photograph the pavement, you probably won’t end up with the shot you’re hoping for. In the first image you’ll notice that I placed my hand flat against the cement and balanced the lens on top of it to give myself some height. In the second image you’ll see that I created a fist with my hand to give myself even greater height.

5. The Machine Gun Hold

This next technique is sometimes referred to as the machine gun hold. I rarely use this technique as I find it awkward and difficult to maintain for more than a second or two. Just because it doesn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t for you. . . give it a try.

6. Cradle It

In this next image you’ll see that I created a sort of cradle for the lens between my shoulder and my wrist. I also stabilized the hold by balancing my elbow on my knee.

Let’s face it, no matter how much we take our camera out, there’s only so many pictures we can take of our kids, pets, house and garden before we start itching to shoot something else… but what?

Hopefully this list of projects you can undertake will inspire you to find something creative to shoot.

1. 365 Days

The most popular of the projects on this list, there are multiple variations of the 365 project. Typically, it involves taking a self-portrait every day for a year - the only rule is that you have to hit the shutter button (or remote) and at least some part of you must be in the photo. It doesn’t sound so bad at first, but believe me, there’s only so many photos you can take holding the camera at arms length before even you get bored. Suddenly you find yourself doing things like wrapping yourself in christmas lights, jumping in piles of leaves, or taping your mouth shut. For inspiration, check out the 365 Days group on flickr.

If a photo-a-day seems like too much of a commitment, you can do one self-portrait a week for a year - a 52 Weeks project.

If the self-portrait part makes you a bit squeamish, you can either round up the kids and get pictures of them everyday for a 365 kids project, or you can just do a open-topic 365 project where you just have to take a picture of anything every day for a year.

2. 52 Photowalks

I use the term “photowalk” pretty loosely here. While photowalks often include groups of people walking through cities together, all capturing images of the same landmarks from their own point of view, I’m being slightly more liberal with the term.

Basically, I’m saying you should get out of the house once a week with your camera. I looked through all my photos from my first year with my DSLR and realized about 90% of them were in or around my house. So I got up and walked out the door once a week. I’ve been to local parks, abandoned buildings (careful with this one: it can be frowned upon or even illegal to poke around some abandoned buildings), downtown and other small towns near me.

Besides adding a bigger variety to my photo collection, I’ve noticed two other side effects from this project so far: I’ve discovered all sorts of parks and areas of downtown that I didn’t even know existed, and I’ve been able to go to places that I already knew and see them from a totally different viewpoint. For instance, the picture above is of a local amphitheater. I’ve been there a number of times and never thought much of it… but being there when the park was empty, and walking to the back of the stage looking out has given me a completely different perspective.

3. 100 Strangers

This is a project I personally don’t have the guts to do, as I’m bit shy (that’s the whole reason why I’m behind the lens to begin with!), but I know some people doing this project and I’m loving their results so far. The idea is to approach someone you’ve never met before, ask if you can take their picture, and talk to them a bit to get some kind of backstory, and then upload the photo (and a short description of who they are and what you talked about) to flickr and add it to the 100 Strangers group. Then repeat 99 more times.

Not only will get photos of different people in your collection, but you just might make a new friend or two. You can, of course, skip the flickr part and do this project on your own, but you would gain a lot of inspiration from the group.

4. A-Z

Once again, there’s a couple ways you can go with an A-Z project. You can pick a place and try to get a picture of objects that start with or represent each letter of the alphabet (for instance, it might be easy to take a photo of the grass for G, but Q is going to be harder, maybe a picture of a kid running around could be Quick, or a picture of a completely still pond could be Quiet). You can also try this with numbers, too - take a photo of one acorn on the ground, two ducks by a pond, three trees grouped together, etc.

The other interpretation of this project is to take pictures of things that look like the letters A-Z. Take a look at the photo above, it’s actually a chain to a porch swing, but the one piece looks like a letter S. Once you start this project you’ll start looking at ordinary things - buildings, cloud formations, playground equipment, etc. - in a complete different way, giving you a new perspective on things to photograph. This project can also be done with numbers, too.

5. Pick-A-Something

Pick something and try to get a collection of photos representing it. For instance, pick a color and try to go all day photographing only red things, or try only getting pictures of things that are square when you’re on a walk. I was once at a cookout and, while I took photos of other things, I also tried to get photos of people’s shoes.

The upside of this project is that it, once again, gets you to start seeing ordinary things in different way - taking a snapshot looking down at everyone’s shoes is going to start to get boring, so it forces you to start thinking creatively. The downside of this project is that people are going to start giving you weird looks for crawling around on the ground taking pictures of shoes while everyone else is enjoying hamburgers and potato salad.

6. Go Mono

During my 365 (open-topic, not self-portraits), I decided to take one month and do all my photos in black-and-white. My goal was to get better at converting photos to black and white, which I think I did, but I noticed I was also starting to see things differently, and figure out what photos would look better in mono, and which ones wouldn’t.

There were also a few surprises, like the leaf with water drops on it that you see above. If I hadn’t been doing a month of mono, I would have edited that photo in color and loved it, and left it like that. But I converted it for my 365 project, and I loved it even more. Surprises like that made the whole month worth it.

7. Scavenger Hunt

A photo scavenger hunt is simple. You need someone to come up with a list of things to photograph (they can be actually things like “railroad tracks”, or they can be more conceptual like “fun with friends”, or even techniques like “shallow depth of field”). Then, a group of people all go out and interpret the list how they want and show them to the group. As with a lot of the other projects I mentioned, it really gets you to start looking at ordinary things in a different way. Looking for a list? Do a search in the flickr groups for “scavenger hunt” and you’ll come up with a number of groups that have hunts going on. Including a DPS Scavenger Hunt group, made up of other DPS users that posts a new list each month.

One of the most exciting aspects of photography is working with Telephoto and Super Telephoto lenses. While out of the price range for most to buy, this lens family is easily accessible through lens rental services online or through local camera stores. Telephoto and super telephoto lenses enable photographers to explore a variety of subjects in new ways. Such lenses are often used in wildlife photography, but they can be used for a variety of subjects. Here are 10 tips and ideas for great telephoto photography:

1. Use A Tripod For Sharp Photos
By and large the vast majority of subjects photographed with telephoto and super telephoto lenses need to be tack sharp. Due to the narrow field of view and magnification of telephoto lenses ever so slight movements have an amplified impact diminishing image sharpness. The first thing you can do to ensure that you’ll capture sharp images is to use a tripod and a tripod head that can support the weight of your lens & camera. While this isn’t the only step to take to ensure sharp photos it is the essential first step. Using a tripod or even a monopod will also save your back and arms from unnecessary pain and fatigue.

2. Use A Shutter Release
Any movement is amplified when looking through the view finder of a camera using a telephoto lens. The simple act of pressing the shutter on your camera will cause even a tripod mounted camera and lens to shake when photographing a distant subject. To minimize camera shake use a shutter release. Quite simply a shutter release is a shutter release button on an extension cord. Minimizing movement of your camera and lens while mounted on a tripod will reduce unintended bluring of your photo.

Bonus Tip:
If your camera has a Mirror Lock-up function this in addition to the use of a shutter release will remove much of the mechanical vibration your camera itself can create. The mirror in the camera box of your dSLR allows you to see from the viewfinder out your lens. When you trigger the shutter the mirror will flip up out of the way so that light coming through your lens hits the sensor or film in your camera body. Mirror Lock-up will prompt you to trigger the shutter twice, first to move the mirror into a ready position and second to open the shutter. After the first trigger of the shutter you should wait 2-5 seconds for the internal mechanics of your camera and resulting vibration of your camera to settle to the point of being still before you trigger the shutter a second and final time.

When you have Image Stabilization or Vibration Reduction active on your lens the internal mechanics detects movement and counter acts it producing a sharp image. When your camera and lens are mounted on a tripod movement is removed, but your lens can errantly activating its IS/VR mechanism creating an image that is less than sharp. For this reason its a best practice to turn off your lenses IS or VR functionality when it is mounted to a tripod.

4. Telephoto Effect - Bringing Far and Near Together
Telephoto lenses have a unique optical effect in that they flatten scenes with great depth. Fittingly this is referred to as a Telephoto Effect. Making use of this effect can be very useful in composing graphically striking subjects and scenes. Unlike shorter focal length lenses that can provide a great deal of depth to a scene the flattening of a scene with the use of a telephoto lens can give the illusion that multiple subjects separated by great distances are actually very close. This effect can generate a great deal of impact with viewers.

5. Tightly Frame Your Subject
The most obvious use of a telephoto lens is to magnify a subject so as to close the distance between you and what you’re photographing. This can be of extremely valueable if you’re photographing wildlife and would like to get closer with out putting your life at risk. Beyond wildlife using a telephoto lens give you creative license to get extremely close to your subject in some instances. This is particularly useful in highlighting details that would otherwise be lost with shorter focal length lenses.

6. Isolate Your Subject
Telephoto lenses are great to more distinctly isolate your subject. While this can be done with shorter focal length lenses telephotos enable you to have greater reach to subjects that might be too far off otherwise. This is a middle ground use of telephoto lenses where you’re not looking to crop in too tightly or close the gap between subjects that are far apart.

7. Make Use of Ultra Shallow Depth of Field
Telephoto and Super-Telephoto lenses share an optical characteristic that can produce very shallow planes of focus. As a result an often discussed secondary characteristic of long lenses, Bokeh, is the optical signature of out of focus portions of a photograph. Use of shallow depth of field can provide a non-distracting background to your subject enhancing perceived focus and its isolation from competing background elements. Understanding how Bokeh will look from one lens to another will enhance your ability to produce the highest quality image.

8. Think Macro Photography
If you’re not into photo yoga an alternate way to shoot macro photography is to use a telephoto lens. Extension tubes in combination with super telephoto lenses shorten the closest focusing distance of a lens. Working with a larger lens will not give you every vantage point that a smaller lens can provide, but it will enable you to obtain other unique perspectives all while saving you from getting your pants dirty.

9. Panning for Action
Panning with a telephoto lens can provide high impact photos of almost any moving subject. Maintaining a sharp subject can be tricky requiring some practice. The added dimension of motion blur bring telephoto and super telephoto lens photos to life. This is a perfect technique for wildlife and action subjects alike.

10. Experiment with Astrophotography
With a big enough lens your camera can become a low power telescope. Photographs likely won’t be in the exact same class as a true astrophotography taken with a telescope, but you’ll certainly get eye catching photos none-the-less. The key to successfully using telephoto lenses for astrophotography is:

1. Setting up in an area where there is little light pollution
2. Use of a tripod
3. use of a cable release.

The slightest vibration will be enough to blur a photo with a long lens so special care should be applied to avoid this. For greater drama in post-production with a high enough resolution sensor you can crop down your image while maintaining mouth dropping detail.

–

Jim Goldstein’s landscape, nature, travel and photojournalism photography is featured on his web site JMG-Galleries.com, and blog. In addition Jim’s podcast “EXIF and Beyond” features photographer interviews and chronicles the creation of some of his images. In addition Jim can be followed on Twitter and FriendFeed. Also be sure to check out his workshops.

How to Buy the Right Camera

"The truth is, you can take great photos with lousy cameras and lousy photos with great cameras. Your decision rides mostly, then, on what you plan to do with the camera and where you plan to sell the pictures it produces.” – Rich Wagner

Photography is truly a field that has something for everyone. Whether you love gadgets and want the latest high-tech tools or you are always on-the-go and need something lightweight and easy, you can be sure there are cameras and gear out there to match your needs.

But with so many choices on the shelf today, how do you decide which is best for you?

This report lays out everything you need to know about different types of cameras and the pros and cons that go along with each. It also answers frequent questions we get from our readers like…

“What does SLR stand for?”

"How many megapixels do I need?”

“Nikon, Canon… or what about this camera that’s on sale?”

Let’s first start by talking about the difference between a point-and-shoot camera and a SLR and what kind of camera belongs in your ideal kit…

The Difference between a Point-and-shoot Camera and a SLR

Cameras are generally divided into two main categories: Point-and-shoot and Single Lens Reflex (also known as “SLR”).

A Point-and-shoot Camera is any camera — digital or film — that does not have a removable lens.

For the most part, point-and-shoots are compact, lightweight, and easy to travel with. They almost always have zoom capabilities (both optical and digital). And, if you’re just starting out, the camera you most likely already own, or the camera you’ll probably buy first, will fall into this category.

SLRs, on the other hand, have lenses that are removable and interchangeable. In addition, they usually offer many more options for controlling the camera, including the ability to change your aperture and shutter speed settings as well as shoot in “full manual.”

The biggest (and probably most important) difference that distinguishes a digital point-and-shoot from a digital SLR lies in the quality of the pictures each is capable of making.

While point-and-shoot cameras have their own advantages (they’re compact, easy to travel with, usually cheaper, and they auto-adjust almost everything to help you get the best picture possible), they cannot compete with SLRs in terms of image quality.

That is because digital SLRs have much larger image sensors. This larger sensor size produces a much higher quality image and, therefore, the pictures you produce with an SLR will be saleable in many more markets than those taken with a point-and-shoot.

How to Choose the Camera That’s Best for You: The Ideal Kit

There’s actually no such thing as the “Ideal Kit,” no more than there is an ideal mate, or an ideal car. It’s all subjective, and it all depends on what your photography goals are.

While it’s always best to have at least one camera on you at all times, it’s likely you’ll want a different setup for each of the different kinds of shooting you’ll do.

Here’s a quick glimpse of some of the equipment most photographers carry...

A Digital Point-and-shoot

Most professional photographers own a compact point-and-shoot camera they can easily slip into their bag or carry in their pocket.

Some will tell you they never leave home without it. All agree that a lower quality picture taken with a point-and-shoot is better than no picture at all. And sometimes, it’s just not prudent to carry your bigger equipment around.

This is the first level of equipment you should have in your kit. At times, it’ll be the only equipment you carry.

When you’re buying a compact point-and-shoot, try to get one that has at least five megapixels.

Megapixels aren’t all you should be thinking about though, because not all megapixels are created equal. Five megapixels on a point-and-shoot camera isn’t the same as five megapixels in a SLR.

It’s a start, though. So let that be one of your buying guides.

In total, you’ll want to consider the following when you’re buying a digital point-and-shoot...

• Megapixels. These days, you shouldn’t consider anything less than 5 megapixels.
• Optical zoom. If your camera comes with “digital” zoom, turn it off. When you set your camera to use digital zoom, it’s only enlarging a very small part of an already small sensor. While it may look OK on the computer, it will not print well. Most cameras allow you to turn off the digital zoom setting. You should do that and ignore anything the salesman tells you about digital zoom. A good camera will have more than 3 x “optical” zoom. The best have closer to 6 x optical.
• The size of your fingers. When you’re shopping for a point and shoot, it’s best to start at a store where you can try out several makes and models. In most cases, the smaller the camera, the smaller the buttons. Shop around for one that feels comfortable.
• Battery type. Some cameras take AA batteries. Others have brand-specific rechargeables. It’s nice to be able to pick up batteries in a store if you run out on a shoot, but it can get expensive and your battery life won’t typically last as long. Rechargeables are great if you can pack an extra set.
• The size of the LCD screen. If you have bad eyes, the LCD screen quality and size are of prime importance.
• Brand. Nikon and Canon make great point-and-shoot cameras. They’re usually at the top of the line. Sony has great point-and-shoots, too, but all their equipment is proprietary – it doesn’t mix well with equipment and accessories of other brands.

Canon also has a “hybrid” of sorts, the high-end, compact,

Power Shot G9. While it can fit in your pocket and the lens is not removable (you can get wide angle and telephoto attachments), the camera does have many SLR capabilities when it comes to shooting modes, including “full manual."

A Digital SLR

Most professional photographers will tell you that their preferences in camera brands are largely dependent on how the camera feels and handles, not just on how many pixels or “scene” choices it has.

All professional grade cameras are ruggedly built and many have a fair amount of water resistance. With those in the water resistant group, you can shoot in the rain, sleet, and snow and never have a problem.

This doesn’t come without a downside, though. Better protected cameras are generally heavier. What’s more, they scream “I’m going to take your picture!!!” and they make candid shooting nearly impossible.

It’s very important to physically handle multiple cameras before you buy. It isn’t enough to Google all the reviews and make your decision based on Internet statistics. A camera is like a pair of jeans. You’ve got to try it on before you buy and make sure it fits. Is it too heavy? Are the most common functions — changing your aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and exposure compensation — easily manipulated on the body of the camera without having to search through the menus on the LCD screen?

The major players in digital SLR photography today are Canon, Nikon, and Olympus, with Canon and Nikon in the lead.

The major advantage to sticking with these brands is that they’ve been at this for a long time. They’re not likely to go out of business (leaving you with a bunch of equipment you can’t sell off, upgrade, or repair). And if you stick with Canon or Nikon, you’ll have a large selection of accessories to choose from.

The rest comes down to price. Typically, more expensive cameras buy you more durability and larger sensor sizes. More expensive cameras also tend to take better pictures at night with less “noise” in your shadows and faster ISO speeds.

SLRs for Beginners

The Canon Rebel XT is a great starter SLR camera for beginners. You can find it online for about $380 without the lens or for $430 with a standard, normal lens (at the time of this writing).

The Canon Rebel XTi is nice, too, but you’ll pay an extra $200 to $300 for the extra megapixels, even though the image sensor is the same size as the Rebel XT. Two extra megapixels on the same size image sensor isn’t going to make or break the saleability of your photos.

You’re better off going with the cheaper model and saving your money for a nicer camera two to three years down the road.

The Nikon D40 has a similar story. The D40 will cost you around $440 without a lens and $460 with one. And, while the D60 has more megapixels, it’s hardly worth the extra $200 to $300 because it’s got the same image sensor size as the D40.

Note: There’s an exception to this rule if you plan to sell your photos for stock. The two megapixel leap from the Canon Rebel XT to the XTi won’t get you far. But Canon also has a Canon XSi with 12 megapixels. The jump from eight megapixels with the XT to 12 with the XSi should be enough to move your images up a notch on the online stock photography scale. Instead of limiting yourself to “Large” files, you could qualify for the “X-Large” file size and earn more money. (Currently only the Rebel XSi makes this size leap.)

SLRs for the More Advanced

Everything more expensive than the Canon Rebel XT and the Nikon D40 is best purchased by considering the price you’re willing to pay and what that price buys you – faster ISO speeds, more durability, a larger sensor size, and potentially newer technology.

Your best bet is to figure out how much you’re willing to spend and then go into a store to look at your options. Price alone will narrow your search dramatically. And brand will help you narrow them even further.

Again, Nikon and Canon are the biggest players. Both make really great cameras. And both will be easy to resell when you’re ready to upgrade.

And beware of Sony. Sony cameras need special adapters when you want to use anything that’s not made by the Sony brand -- studio lights, external flashes, etc. It’s generally not worth the hassle to start down that road.

Lenses

When you’re buying a camera in the store, your salesman will more or less tell you what you’re getting. But when you buy online, make sure you double-check to see whether or not your camera comes with a lens. Usually, the description will tell you. Or it’ll say “camera kit” which implies you’ll get both the camera body and a lens.

Most starter cameras come with an 18-55mm lens. This will serve you well on the street and at family picnics.

Most photographers, however, want something with a little more range for photographing things farther away and/or a faster lens for photographing things in low light.

Most likely, you’ll expand your kit to include:

1. a “normal” zoom lens from around 28-70mm
2. a wide angle lens from 15-35mm, and
3. a telephoto lens covering 100-200mm

Sports photographers need telephotos in the 200-400mm range. Landscape photographers use telephotos and wide angles, sometimes as short as 17mm or so. And food photographers likely want a “fast” lens (more on that in a minute).

How to Buy a Lens

Quality lenses make a noticeable improvement in your pictures, so it’s far better to buy a quality used lens than a cheap knock-off of a no-name brand. KEH Camera (www.keh.com) and Adorama (www.adorama.com) are reputable sites for buying and selling used camera equipment.

If you don’t know what you want, start with the lens that comes with your camera and work your way through the ones listed above.

Lenses are generally classified by their focal length and their maximum aperture.

A 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 zoom lens has a lens focal length between 28 and 135mm and a maximum aperture of f.3.5 - f5.6, depending on how far you extend the telephoto (zoom).

Aperture is like the iris of your eye. The more you open up your aperture, the more light you let into your camera. And, conversely, the more you close it, the less light you let in.

And aperture is measured in f-stops. F-1.0 is the widest aperture setting you can get -- the most light your lens can let in. And f-22 is the smallest -- the least amount of light you can let in.

So, with a 28-135mm f3.5- f5.6 lens, you can't open it up all the way. You can only open it to f3.5. That's the maximum aperture for that lens.

Why is that important?

Well, think of it this way...

If your camera needs more light to hit the digital sensor in order to make a correctly exposed image, and it can’t open up your lens to get the light it needs, it has no choice but to adjust your shutter speed.

If it does that – adjusts your shutter speed – you run the risk of getting a blurry image if you’re in a low-light situation. (Remember, the longer your shutter stays open, the more chance you have of getting camera shake.)

So, that’s why food photographers often want a “fast” lens. That is, a lens that’ll let you open the aperture as close to 1.0 as you can get, so that your shutter speed can stay fast in dimly lit restaurants.

Do you need a fast lens?

Probably not. Travel photographers might not care about speed as much as they do telephoto length. But it’s something to consider when you’re adding lenses to your toolkit.

Most likely, the first lens you buy will be a 28-70mm f2.4 lens. It’s still considered fast, and it also has a nice telephoto.

So which is right for you: Point-and-shoot or SLR?

Truth is, point-and-shoots are great cameras to start learning on because they don’t typically have all the bells and whistles an SLR camera has. That means you can master basic photography techniques without getting bogged down in the technical specifics of your camera. (They’re also great on trips where a bulkier camera might be more of a hindrance than a help.)

Besides that, almost all of the techniques in our e-letter archives and our Turn Your Pictures into Cash Program can be practiced on a point-and-shoot. Selective focus will be an exception. Other than that, their main drawback is when it comes to selling your work. They don’t produce images of a high enough quality for most publications.

If you’re technically savvy enough to jump straight into an SLR camera, and you want to sell your photos (not just take great pictures for your scrapbook), then you might be better off starting right out of the gate with an SLR.

Of course, having said that, no matter which camera you have, you will come across buyers and editors who would like you to use something else: a different format, a different film, a different pixel count, you name it.

When that happens, don’t worry about it. Remember — the reverse is also true. There are buyers and editors out there who prefer to work with your type of camera, too. And, there are a lot of different markets out there. Each has its own requirements. You just have to learn to focus on the markets best suited for the equipment you’ve got.

In general, point-and-shoot markets include:

• Online stock agencies (though you’ll have a lot more images turned down for image quality and size than you will with an SLR)...
• Supporting photos to go with a travel article on the web...
• Most newspapers...
• The family scrapbook...
• Fine art for pieces 8 x 10 and smaller.

SLR markets have no limits. You can sell to:

• <STOCK agencies (both print and online)...
• Travel magazines...
• Newspapers...
• Text books...
• Fine art...
• Galleries...
• Web markets...
• Portraits...
• Etc.

One last thing...

PPI and DPI

Why do some pictures look great on your computer but blurry and pixilated when you print them out? The answer lies in PPI and DPI. Both are used to measure image resolution.

DPI (or dots per inch) refers to the number of individual dots of ink a printer or toner can produce within one inch of paper space. PPI (or pixels per inch) refers to the number of digital pixels per inch your computer screen and/or camera need to display a picture of the same resolution.

Technically, they’re different (resolution in print vs. in digital) but a lot of people confuse the two.

What you need to know, as a photographer who wants to publish his/her pictures both on the web and in print, is that your computer screen displays everything at 72 ppi, while prints on paper generally require 300 dpi to make a quality reproduction. That means an image measuring 1050 x 1500 ppi will display on your computer screen as 15 inches x 21 inches (1050/72 = 15 by 1500/72 = 21). But that same image printed on paper at 300 dpi will only print to 3.5 x 5 (1050/300 = 3.5 by 1500/300 = 5). If you try to print it at 15 x 21, like it appears on your computer screen, you’ll stretch the image and it’ll appear blurry and pixelated.

Your Most Important Asset

While there is a plethora of different camera equipment available on the market, hopefully this report has broken things down in a way that makes it easy for you to discern the main advantages and disadvantages of each option.

Ultimately, what you plan to do with your pictures and where you plan to sell them will be the deciding factor for which particular brand and model of camera you buy.

Remember, too, though that your most important tool as a photographer isn’t your camera. It’s your eyes. As you become more advanced in your photography, you’ll learn to see things differently from the average person: the details/angles/lighting/etc.

The key isn’t just purchasing the right equipment; it’s being able to develop a photographer’s eye. Practice with your new equipment and you’ll improve your overall sense of the craft, how well you see things, and the quality of your photos.

What goes through your mind in the moments as you raise your digital camera up to take a shot and before you press the shutter? If you’re like many digital photographers you’re not thinking about too much - you just want to capture the moment and then move on.

However getting in the habit of asking some simple questions can help take your images to the next level. Here’s 10 questions to get in the habit of asking while framing your shots. I’ve included links in each one to further reading on the topics. I hope you find them helpful:

Photo by Tim Gruber

1. What story am I telling?

This is an important question and one that should help you to make any number of decisions in terms of composition, framing, exposure etc. In essence what you’re asking is ‘why am I taking this shot? What is it’s purpose and what am I trying to convey?’ Is it purely a way to keep a record of a moment, are you trying to capture the emotion of a moment, is it possibly a shot to give to someone, is it part of a larger series of shots or will it be the only shot to commemorate the moment etc. Read more on telling stories with photos

Photo by H@Ru

2. What is the visual focal point of this shot?

What will viewers of this picture naturally have their eye drawn to in this scene? Once you’ve identified this focal point you can think about where to place it in the frame (consider the rule of thirds for example).

There are a variety of ways that you can enhance a focal point - some of which we explore here.

Image by MoonGirlNYC

3. What competing focal points are there?

Once you’ve identified what you do want your viewers eyes to be drawn towards and have placed it in the frame - scan your eyes over the shot and see if there are any competing focal points and ask yourself whether they add to or take away from the image? Secondary focal points can add depth to shots but they can also be very distracting and so you might need to reposition yourself or adjust your focal length and/or depth of field to accommodate or remove them from your shots (read more on removing clutter from photography). Also keep in mind that if your shot has more than one focal point that it might be worth taking two shots, one of each focal point, in order to keep things simple.

Photo by Keith Morris

4. What is in the background and foreground?

One of most common places for distractions in digital photography is the background of your shots. Run your eyes over the space behind your subject to see what else is in the image (do the same for the foreground). Consider whether you want the background in focus or nice and blurry.

Read more on getting backgrounds right.

Photo by Johnny Blood

5. Am I close enough?

Another common mistake in digital photography is taking shots where your subject is too small in the frame. Shots that fill the frame with your subject tend to be much more dynamic and show a lot more detail of your subject. To get this effect you have the option of moving yourself closer, moving your subject closer or using a longer focal length to give the effect of closeness.

Read more on filling your frame.

Photo by Peter Bowers

6. What is the main source of light?

Always give consideration to how your subject is lit. Without light you’ll lose detail and clarity in your image and your camera will have to compensate by doing things like increasing ISO and lengthening shutter speeds (which could lead to noisy and blurred images). What is the main source of light, where is it coming from, is there enough light, do you need artificial light sources (flash etc), do you need to stabilize your camera on a tripod to stop camera shake due to low light etc. Read more on using artificial light here and here as well as photographing moving subjects in low light conditions.

Image by Darren Rowse

7. Is my Framing Straight?

It’s amazing how many otherwise good photos are spoiled by framing that is slightly offline. Sloping horizons and slightly leaning people or buildings should always be in the back of your mind to check. Read more on getting horizons horizontal and getting other lines straight.

Also related to this question is that of ‘Am I holding my Camera correctly?‘ Many people don’t and as a result suffer from camera shake and framing mistakes.

Photo by Andrew Morrell

8. What other perspectives could I capture this subject from?

Put 10 digital camera owners in front of a scene and most of them will take exactly the same shot from the same position. Make your images stand out from the crowd by challenging yourself to not only take the standard shots that everyone else will get but to find creative and fresh angles and perspectives to shoot from.

Read more on adding variety to your Digital Photography.

Image by Darren Rowse

9. How would holding the camera in the other format change this shot?

Many photographers get into the habit of always holding their camera the same way (horizontally/landscape or vertically/portrait). While it’s OK to have a preference one way or the other it’s also worth remembering that changing the format can drastically change the impact of the shot. Don’t forget you can also hold your camera at an angle for an effective result too.

Photo by A is for Angie

10. How will the eye travel through this image?

This is related to asking about focal points but gets in touch with the fact that while you’re photographing a still image your viewers eyes don’t remain still as they look at an image. People tend to follow lines and are attracted to shapes and colors so considering all of these different visual elements and cues can help improve your shots considerably. Read more on horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines and how they impact a shot.

Of course you probably won’t remember all the questions and you’re unlikely to go through each of them with every shot you take - however next time you head out with your digital camera concentrate on asking yourself at least one or two of them as you take your shots. As you do you’ll find that they become more automatic and in time you’ll naturally take digital photography shots that take into account all of these elements.

Today Joe Decker shares some tips on wide angle photography.

One of the first lens purchases aspiring landscape photographers typically made is a wide or super-wide lens, anything (in full-frame 35mm terms) from 24mm on down, and with good reason, wides offer photographers the ability to capture the sweeping vistas of the natural landscape. But they can also be a challenge to use effectively, it’s all to easy to end up with a wide-angle shot that lacks the power and grandeur we felt when we were shooting. In this article, I’ll explain why that’s so often the case, and provide a few tips for working around those challenges, showing you how to use wide-angle lenses to create dramatic, effective images.

Nordenskjöld Lake, Torres Del Paine National Park, Chile. Image Copyright Joe Decker

1. Get Close!

Because wide-angle lenses take in a bigger angle-of-view than other lenses, using a wide-angle lens at the same distance from your subject will render that subject smaller than it would otherwise. To compensate for this, you’ll have to move closer to your subject. Don’t be bashful about getting close, particularly with super-wides&mash;it’s almost impossible to get “too close” to your subject with a 14mm lens. This emphasis in size that wide-angle lenses give nearby objects means that …

2. It’s All about the Foreground

Contrary to what you might expect, this means that the most important element of your wide-angle landscapes is the foreground. While wide-angle lenses do capture the wider landscape, they also (almost inevitably, because of their wide field-of-view) capture quite a bit of foreground as well, and this foreground is emphasized by the wide-angle perspective. As a result, if your foreground isn’t interesting, your photograph won’t be interesting. This leads us naturally to the Josef Muench idea of the near-far composition, an image which uses a wide-angle lens to not only show a broad vista, but also to show one detail of that landscape in an up-close, intimate way. When you’re photographing wide, be sure to spend some time looking for the most interesting foreground available to combine with your grand vista. (If there isn’t an interesting foreground, you might want to consider using a longer lens to leave out that less interesting foreground.)

Fallen Redwoods, Stout Grove, Jedediah Smith State Park, California. Image Copyright Joe Decker

3. Watch those Verticals!

Wide-angle lenses tend to bend and distort verticals, as you can see in the tree trunks near the top of Fallen Redwoods. Now, you might decide you like that effect, or that you hate it, but it’s important to be aware of it and to make a conscious decision about it. For some images it’s fun to embrace, but more often I find myself having to work to avoid it or correct it later. Avoiding it can be as simple a matter as composing so that there’s only a single obvious vertical (and that that’s vertical), alternatively, using shift movements with a tilt-shift lens can correct some of this distortion in-camera. Post-exposure, Photoshop’s “Lens Distort” filter can also save the day.

4. Leading Lines

Compositionally, lines (such as streams or railway tracks) leading from the bottom corners of an image towards the center often have a particular magic for guiding the viewers eye through the picture, making for strong images, and this is particularly the case for wide-angle images. Hot Stream is a great example of this, the viewers eye tends to wander from the corner back through the image along the stream. As the stream moves back into the image, the stream gets smaller (in terms of inches on the printed page) quickly due the wide perspective. This quick fade (in width) into the distance creates a real sense of depth in the image.

Hot Stream, Húsavík, Iceland. Image Copyright Joe Decker

5. Filter Woes

Shooting wide creates two problems for those of us who use filters. Polarizers are a specific problem, the effect of a polarizer on a blue sky varies across the sky so greatly that wide-angle images including the sky are left horribly unnatural, so leave off the polarizer unless you know there’s no blue sky in your scene. Screw-in filters are a separate problem, it’s all too easy for the filter edges, particularly if you’re stacking more than one filter on the same lens. Filter systems, such Cokin’s P-series filters (with the wide-angle filter holder), can help you avoid these problems if you must use filters.

Dwarf Arctic Birch, C. Hofmann Peninusla, Greenland. Image Copyright Joe Decker

6. Focusing

One of the things I enjoy most about working with wide-angle lenses is the ease of focusing them. As you move to wider and wider focal lengths, the depth-of-field at a particular aperture gets deeper and deeper. This allows you to make great use of the concept of hyperfocal distance, that is, the nearest distance you can focus a particular lens at a particular aperture and get “good focus”. At 24mm, by focusing about six feet out from the camera you’ll capture everything from about three feet to infinity in focus—even at f/11. At 17mm, focusing at the right point at f/11 will get you everything from infinity down to 17 inches away. Find (using a web site like this or any of a number of other sites, software tools or printed tables) and write down the hyperfocal distance for a couple of your widest lenses at a couple of your favorite apertures, and you’ll have an easy way of bringing the entire scene of near-far compositions into critical focus.

Using wide-angle lenses can certainly be tricky, but I love them all the same. Used well they can allow the photographer to create images that immerse us in a world with both small, intimate details and bold, dramatic vistas.

Joe Decker is a professional nature photographer and writer for Photocrati’s Photography Blog He also offers nature photography workshops and coaching around the western United States.

Being one of the most unpredictable forces of nature, lightning storms present a unique challenge for most photographers. We’ve all seen powerful photos of lightning in action and you may be wondering how you can capture the majesty of a storm the next time you’re fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to witness one. While a lot matters on what Mother Nature decides to do with all that electricity, the tips below should help in capturing a great shot of lightning.

1. Use a steady surface - While a tripod typically works best, in reality any steady surface will work. Some people use a beanbag or other malleable item, like a pillow. This will be import as #2 is….
2. Long Shutter Times - While lightning is unpredictable, it’s extremely hard to make a decent capture by tripping the shutter when you see a flash. There are some fancy remote controls that have the ability to trip when the flash is sensed, but I’m guessing you don’t want to invest in these types of gadgets. Depending on your cameras ability to manage noise on slow shutter speeds, using a timing of 30 seconds can work well. The bulb setting can also be handy if you have a way to keep the shutter open.

Copyright Elsie esq.

• Horizon Up - It’s safe to say most of the lightning action you will see will in the sky. I know it’s obvious, but it needs to be stated that your field of view will be skewed toward the sky then. Depending on how close the lightning is, you’ll be including more blank looking sky than normal. But fear not; that sky becomes far more exciting when the lightning starts
• But Include Something Interesting - While the action will be in the sky, don’t forget to keep something in the frame to give relevance and perspective to the shot. Buildings are a favorite, but really, anything that can give an idea of the size of the storm works well.
• Manual Focus - It’s best to use manual focus when shooting in lightning situations. Mainly because the view will probably be at night (but not always) with a fair amount of darkness. Rather than allow your camera to hunt around for something to focus on with each new shot, get a good manual focus on the sky and leave it there.
• Manual Shutter/Aperture Too - As mentioned in #2, if your camera has the ability to set the shutter speed, pick a long shutter time and a fairly wide aperture. The action will be far from you so a wide aperture and shallow depth of field won’t be a problem (unless you have some very near objects you’d like to include).

Copyright akeg

• Stack ‘em - If you can keep your camera in a steady spot, shot after shot, you can use stacking software to combine multiple strikes into one image. You’ll often have many unexciting shots with maybe just a single strike or faint action between clouds. These can all be combined to make a spectacular image.
• Be Patient - This is a big one and a key to success. Get familiar with your gear and settings so when there is a lightning storm you can set up the camera and then let it do its thing while you enjoy the show. You’re going to have a number of times when you miss “the shot” for one reason or another. Don’t sweat it.

Shooting lightning storms can be a very enjoyable experience but it takes a little practice to get it just right. Follow the steps above and you’ll be well on your way to creating electrifying photos (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun!).

VISION | Develop the art of 'seeing' images . . . awareness, anticipation and imagination are a few of the 'tools' needed to 'manipulate' our photographic equipment, and produce images that fall into the 'out of the ordinary' category. For example, you're on a hillside looking down on a winding road. What you visualize is a red vehicle at a given spot in the road. Now all that is needed is some 'waiting' patience, and the appropriate camera settings . . . then voila!

LIGHT | Utilize the best light of the day. Texture enhances any image, be it a close-up or landscape. Sometimes, just by changing our camera angle we'll improve the lighting on a given subject. Get yourself to your chosen spot early or late, and then hurry up and wait!

SIMPLICITY | 'Clutter' is fine and necessary with some subjects such landscapes with foreground interest, but as a general rule keep things simple. Also, keep an eye out for distractions in the background which might be something like a branch, or a patch of unwanted light.

CREATIVITY | Experiment with techniques . . . could this subject be recorded best with a slower shutter speed; by selective focus; or a ‘ton’ of depth of field and so on? Make the ordinary look extraordinary.

COMPOSITION | Can the composition be improved with a different camera angle, or tighter framing? Zoom in and out, walk around and consider the angle of light on your subject and would-be distractions, then go ahead and shoot in the knowledge that you are giving the subject 'your best shot'.

IMPACT | Fill the frame whenever possible. Try a different camera angle, especially closer, lower or higher. Maybe use the widest angle lens you have, then get in close. Experiment with panning techniques. Try different flash/daylight exposure combinations.

QUALITY | Use a tripod, and slow film whenever practical. The same applies to digital, as the 100/200 ISO will be superior to 400 ISO and above. Choose 'quality subjects' too.

DETAILS, DETAILS | Explore your viewfinder and remove those elements that will bother the life out of you later! This will usually be something akin to a splash of sunlight on a rock, or misplaced blade of grass when doing a macro [close-up] shot

GUIDELINES | Follow those photo guidelines such as the ‘rule of thirds’ and so on, BUT, also break those ‘rules’ whenever you see fit. Rule 1, take note of the rules, and rule 2, break the rules!

BE PREPARED | Especially when traveling. Closer to home, have a camera on hand for those special moments and so on. Make sure your not at the end of a roll or a full memory card, and pre-set a manual camera to around 125th @ f.8, or on Program. I also like to set my camera to Auto Expose Bracket [AEB], turn on wind/drive feature, and shoot freely in the knowledge that I'm covering all bases. This is a particularly good technique for difficult exposure situations, and for wildlife and sports etcetera.

KEEP AN OPEN MIND | Quality images ARE to be found with the sun at it’s highest point of the day, and polarization does work at other than right-angles to the sun. In other words you don't have to align yourself with the common clichés.

GO A STEP HIGHER | Don’t settle for ‘second-best’ . . . consider all the elements that could improve your picture before you release the shutter. This might be something distracting in the picture such as rubbish or a branch. Also, does the subject merge with something in the background that can be cured simply by moving to the right or left?

PLANNING AND PATIENCE | Get to know your subject's behavior patterns be it Elk during the rut, a bird approaching a nest, or when the sun will hit a mountain peak at dawn. It's all very rewarding and satisfying.

THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT | To improve your pictures consider your lenses and accessories. Will a filter help? Will a longer lens be useful for landscapes? Will auto-focus alleviate your focusing problems? These are decisions you have to make for yourself, so practice them until they become second nature to you.

WHICH CAMERA SYSTEM? | None in particular in my opinion. It's really all down to how you see and compose pictures, so it's not the equipment, it's you!

BE ADAPTABLE | Change camera positions to leave out those power poles or 'stray' people. Perhaps the shade of a tree can serve as your lens shade? Have you lost or broken your cable release? . . . use the self-timer.

TELL A STORY | Include the 'environment'. What does the image say about the time, place or person? I personally like to fill the frame with my subject, but once in a while I will include more of the background, such as in character shots to create an 'environmental portrait'.

TAKE THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARISE | Take the opportunities afforded by zoos, wildlife farms, and events such as historic re-creations to capture those rare and otherwise unobtainable images. Obviously you'll want to get in tight on your subject, so use longer lenses to eliminate society's distractions.

MAKE THE EFFORT | An image you have in mind may require some elaborate setting up. If the image is worth the effort, then go ahead and manipulate and coerce! Also, don't leave that tripod in the car or think, "the right lens is in my bag, but . . . ". When you take the time to get it right you won't be disappointed.

ENJOY YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY | Take pictures for your own pleasure first of all. Please don’t do it to please others or a club judge, though that will certainly follow.

PHOTOGRAPHY IS AN ART | . . . and just as with the many other arts out there in the big world, you will naturally develop your own style. Yes, even with a camera. I've been in Camera Clubs and at exhibitions and hear comments such as "That's a 'Joe Bloggs' shot", and we all have that potential.

© John Baker Photographer LLC and Travel Images

1. Use a Tripod

Photo by Piero Sierra

Perhaps the most important tip is to secure your digital camera to something that will ensure it doesn’t move during the taking of your shots. This is especially important in photographing fireworks simply because you’ll be using longer shutter speeds which will not only capture the movement of the fireworks but any movement of the camera itself. The best way to keep your camera still is with a tripod (read our series on tripods and how to use and buy them). Alternatively - keep in mind that there are other non Tripod options for beating camera shake.

2. Remote Release

One way to ensure your camera is completely still during fireworks shots is to invest in a remote release device. These will vary from camera to camera but most have some sort of accessory made for them. The other way of taking shots without touching your camera is to use the self timer. This can work but you really need to be able to anticipate shots well and its very very hit and miss (read more on remote shutter releases).

3. Framing Your Shot

One of the most difficult parts of photographing fireworks is working out where to aim your camera. The challenge you’ll face in doing this is that you generally need to aim your camera before the fireworks that you’ll be photographing goes off - anticipation is key. Here are a few points on getting your framing right.

Photo by Stuck in Customs

• Scope out the location early - Planning is important with fireworks and getting to the location early in order to get a good, unobstructed position is important. Think about what is in the foreground and background of your shots and make sure you won’t have people’s heads bobbing up into your shots (also consider what impact you’ll have on others around you also). Take note of where fireworks are being set up and what parts of the sky they are likely to be shot into - you might also want to try to ask some of those setting up the display for a little information on what they are planning. Also consider what focal lengths you might want to use and choose appropriate lenses at this time (rather than in the middle of the show).
• Watch your Horizons - One thing that you should always consider when lining up fireworks shots is whether your camera is even or straight in it’s framing. This is especially important if you’re going to shooting with a wide focal length and will get other background elements in your shots (ie a cityscape). Keeping horizons straight is something we covered previously on this site and is important in fireworks shots also. As you get your camera on your tripod make sure it’s level right from the time you set up.
• Vertical or Horizontal? - There are two main ways of framing shots in all types of photography, vertically (portrait) or horizontally (landscape). Both can work in fireworks photography but I personally find a vertical perspective is better - particularly as there is a lot of vertical motion in fireworks. Horizontal shots can work if you’re going for more of a landscape shot with a wider focal length of if you’re wanting to capture multiple bursts of fireworks in the one shot - but I don’t tend to go there that often.
• Remember your framing - I find that when I photograph fireworks that I spend less time looking in my viewfinder and more looking at the sky directly. As a result it’s important to remember what framing you have and to watch that segment of the sky. Doing this will also help you to anticipate the right time for a shot as you’ll see the light trails of unexploded rockets shooting into the sky.

4. Focal Length?

Photo by asmundur

One of the hardest parts of photographing fireworks is having your camera trained on the right part of the sky at the right time. This is especially difficult if you’re shooting with a longer focal length and are trying to take more tightly cropped shots. I generally shoot at a wider focal length than a tight one but during a show will try a few tighter shots (I usually use a zoom lens to give me this option) to see if I can get lucky with them. Of course zoomed in shots like the one to the left can be quite effective also. They enable you to really fill the frame with great color. Keep in mind however that cropping of your wider angle fireworks shots can always be done later to get a similar impact in your photography.

5. Aperture

A common question around photographing fireworks displays is what aperture to use. Many people think you need a fast lens to get them but in reality it’s quite the opposite as the light that the fireworks emit is quite bright. I find that apertures in the mid to small range tend to work reasonably well and would usually shoot somewhere between f/8 to f/16.

6. Shutter Speed

Photo by *vlad*

Probably more important to get right than aperture is shutter speed. Fireworks move and as a result the best photographs of them capture this movement meaning you need a nice long exposure. The technique that I developed when I first photographed fireworks was to shoot in ‘bulb’ mode. This is a mode that allows you to keep the shutter open for as long as you hold down the shutter (preferably using a remote shutter release of some type). Using this technique you hit the shutter as the firework is about to explode and hold it down until it’s finished exploding (generally a few seconds).

You can also experiment with set shutter speeds to see what impact it will have but I find that unless you’re holding the shutter open for very long exposures that the bulb technique works pretty well.

Don’t keep your shutter open too long. The temptation is to think that because it’s dark that you can leave it open as long as you like. The problem with this is that fireworks are bright and it doesn’t take too much to over expose them, especially if your shutter is open for multiple bursts in the one area of the sky. By all means experiment with multiple burst shots - but most people end up finding that the simpler one burst shots can be best.

7. ISO

Photo by Mr Magoo ICU

Shooting at a low ISO is preferable to ensure the cleanest shots possible. Stick to ISO 100 and you should be fine.

8. Switch off your Flash

Shooting with a flash will have no impact upon your shots except to trick your camera into thinking it needs a short exposure time. Keep in mind that your camera’s flash will only have a reach of a few meters and in the case of fireworks even if they were this close a flash wouldn’t really have anything to light except for some smoke which would distract from the real action (the flashing lights).Switch your flash off.

9. Shoot in Manual Mode

I find I get the best results when shooting in manual exposure and manual focus modes. Auto focusing in low light can be very difficult for many cameras and you’ll end up missing a lot of shots. Once your focusing is set you’ll find you don’t really need to change it during the fireworks display - especially if you’re using a small aperture which increases depth of field. Keep in mind that changing focal lengths will mean you need to need to adjust your focusing on most lenses.

10. Experiment and Track Results

Photo by y entonces

Throughout the fireworks display periodically check your results. I generally will take a few shots at the start and do a quick check to see that they are OK before shooting any more. Don’t check after every shot once you’ve got things set up OK (or you’ll miss the action) but do monitor yours shots occasionally to ensure you’re not taking a completely bad batch.

Also experiment with taking shots that include a wider perspective, silhouettes and people around you watching the display. Having your camera pointed at the sky can get you some wonderful shots but sometimes if you look for different perspectives you can get a few shots that are a little less cliche and just as spectacular. Most of the best shots that I’ve seen in the researching of this article have included some other element than the fireworks themselves - whether it be people, buildings, landmarks or wider cityscape perspectives.

More Tips from DPS Readers

• “Find Out the Direction of the Wind - You want to shoot up wind, so it goes Camera, Fireworks, Smoke. Otherwise they’ll come out REALLY hazy.”
• “Also, I find that if you shoot from a little further back and with a little more lens, you can set the lens to manual focus, focus it at infinity and not have to worry about it after that.”
• “Remember to take advantage of a zero processing costs and take as many pictures as possible (more than you’d normally think necessary). That way, you’ll up your chances of getting that “perfect” shot.”
• “Make sure you are ready to take pictures of the first fireworks. If there isn’t much wind, you are going to end up with a lot of smoke in your shot. The first explosions are usually the sharpest one.”
• “Get some black foam core and set your camera to bulb. Start the exposure when the fireworks start with the piece of foam core in front of the lens. Every time a burst happens move the foam core out of the way. You will get multiple firework bursts in one exposure”
• “Another tip I would add to this is pre-focus if possible (need to be able to manually focus or lock down focus for good) before the show starts so other elements in the frame are sharp They did mention that you only need to focus once but its a lot easier to take a few shots before the show starts and check them carefully rather than wait until the show has begun and you are fiddling with focus instead of watching fireworks!”

If your camera, cell phone, or other device accidentally gets wet when
you’re traveling (or at home), try the following tricks to save wet
electronics:

** 1. Do NOT turn it on if it’s wet. Remove the battery and memory
card and leave all the doors and covers on the device open so it can
dry.

** 2. Vacuum it out. If you try drying the device with a fan or a blow
dryer, you risk pushing moisture deeper onto the circuitry. This could
cause a short. Instead, pull moisture away from the device with a
vacuum.

** 3. Bury it in dry rice. Rice absorbs moisture from nearby objects.
If your camera gets wet, drop it into a container of rice and let it
sit for a day. The rice will help pull the moisture out.

** 4. Power it back up. After your camera or phone spends a full day
submerged in rice, reinsert the battery and cards, and turn it on. If
it doesn’t work, call the manufacturer. Don’t try to hide the fact
that it got wet. There are internal indicators in most devices that
show water damage.

Perhaps I should re-title this as fast start in 15 evenings, they are pretty intense hours! you're probably not going to be able to do it all in 2 x 7.5 hour days, I think your brain would melt! You also have to wait several days for your account to be reviewed after you apply to each site. I've written this for the amateur photographer who is interested in getting a fast track start into microstocki and earning some cash from their photos, but this is still a valuable workflow for a professional who has little experience with microstock.

A couple of assumptions:

You already have a good collection of images that can be used as stock photos (even if that is just 15 or 20 images). They are well organised on your hard drive so you have access to them, either digital or ready scanned from slide film. Scans of prints or consumer print film will probably not be accepted due to the poor quality of images on these formats. Read more about the kind of image subjects that sell well as microstock.

I have not included upload waiting time, which will depend on the upload speed of your internet connection, but that is time you can spend doing something else...

I will also add the caveat that I really do recommend upload to more than the 4 sites I have listed here (6 or 8 would be typical), but you will soon realise that just 4 sites is still a lot of work to upload to, so for the 15 hour startup we will work with just the top 4 sites and see how things grow from there.

Hour 1

Select 5 of your very very very (yes very) best images, and I mean that; these images will be used by the editors at the microstock site to judge the quality of your work and decide if the subjects you are shooting are suitable for stock images. Every photo should be from a different shoot or subject and each should showcase the best of your photography talents. Each image must be crystal sharp, blur free, correctly exposed, good composition, perfect in fact in every aspect - go for conventional stock or editorial shots not arty, grainy or abstract shots, high or low key that might appear to be just badly exposed. It's fine to try those styles of photo later but not for the initial signup phase.

Write a few sentences to describe the type of photos you create, the equipment you use, and something about what makes you special as a photographer; perhaps a combination of your hobby, love of the outdoors, love of music and event photography or food etc. These few words will distinguish you from someone who is just uploading an image of their cat and hoping to make a few dollars from it. You act professionally and this is how people are going to know it. You will be able to add this info to your profile once you have signed up to a microstock site.

Hour 2

If you already have a paypal account this is a very easy hour... just a couple of minutes reading!

Getting paid. I strongly recommend paypal as the option to receive your microstock earnings. It is most convenient, and as a microstock photographer you will get a stream of relatively small (at first) payments either monthly or for the less popular sites perhaps each few months when your have earned enough to receive a pay out. As you will see you have to wait untill your have earned 50 or 100 USD to request a payout or have it sent automatically. The larger sites allow payment by cheque or perhaps bank transfer in come countries, this is fine but it's harder to keep track of, and you will be spending more time on administration that is earning you nothing.

You can sign up for a paypal in most countries at paypal.com. The email address you provide to paypal is the address that the microstock sites will use to send you money, so use this address where requested by each site you apply to in their account payment options.

Hour 3

Signing Up.

Prepare a small avatar image of yourself to include in your profile, this again adds professionalism and makes you look more credible (it should be a picture of your face). Needless to say you should fill out all the profile details with your location and as much information as you can, you do not want to look lazy while the spotlight is on you.

When applying to become a photographer most microstock sites ask for some sample photos, perhaps not all five of the ones you have preprepared. Alternatively they will review the first images you upload as samples. So upload as many of the 5 as you can. Some sites ask you to pass questionnaire, the requirements change from time to time. It might take quite some time to approve your application to become a photographer. If you can't answer the questions then it's time to go back to photography school and do some more reading. If they reject you because of the quality of your photos then don't become disheartened (especially if it is just one site that has rejected you) you probably have a few things to learn. I'd suggest seeing how your work is reviewed in the smaller sites (the big sites are very critical of the photos they accept). I frequently get photos rejected, it's just part of the process each site has to maintain quality and image style in the microstock marketplace.

Start by signing up to istockphoto, once you are signed up as a photographer and have uploaded your initial review photos familiarise yourself with the site and how it works.

Hours 4 & 5

Using the same process as step 3 for istockphoto, signup and upload your first review/application images the following three agencies.

Fotolia

Dreamstime

Shutterstock

Once you are signed up for each site and have confirmed your email address as needed, you will need to complete all the details you can in your profile, upload your avatar and upload your initial review photos. Then familiarise yourself with each of the sites and how it works, it takes a little time as each site has a unique style, also check each site to see if there is an option for ftpi upload, if so turn it on or apply for an account (remember this is all free, I'm not trying to peddle something here).

You will perhaps have to wait a week once you have signed up to become a photographer for your application to be reviewed.

If you are wondering why we chose these agencies read our post about recommended agencies and also see our list of all the microstock sites we have reviewed, where we also provide an indepth review of each site.

Hour 6

Now it's review time, assuming all the sites have accepted you (not necessarily all your photos, but you as a photographer) then we can jump right ahead to the next hour and start key wording.

But I was rejected?

If you were rejected completely by all the sites then we have a problem, it looks like your work was not at all acceptable. As you signed up to several sites you should have a good idea of what is wrong, it will probably be technical, perhaps it's the quality of the images from your camera. You could use the rest of this hour to signup for some of the sites lower down the list of all microstock sites so that you have four sites that you are able to submit to, but I recommend you should go away and select better sample images and try again for a second time. Many starting photographers try more than once to get accepted by the big micro-stock agencies. We have some advice on the most common technical reasons for photo rejection.

The top 4 sites I have recommended here have at least 4 million images each, and their acceptance levels are very high, don't let this put you off trying to sell your work. The smaller microstock sites might still be a place to start. Sites like the ones I've listed below will accept your images more readily as they are still growing their image collections, BUT be aware that in some respects these sites might be a gamble (with your time) and at present they certainly do not generate the same income per photo that the top sites do.

cutcaster, growing their library

mostphotos accept all images (be careful with trademarks etc) limited sales.

snapvillage lower income but big backing (but in the process of moving to veer.com)

123rf been around for years, 'slow income'

bigstockphoto, 'steady and sure'

Do read the reviews first, some of these sites I would not generally recommend to contributors if they are accepted at the bigger sites.

Hour 7

Keywording, first up we need some software to apply our title, description and keywords to each image we will be selling. You can do this manually on each site you upload to but you will soon see that it is better to embed the keywords into each image so I will explain. I use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Bridge (which comes with Photoshop) it's the tool of choice for professional photography, but NOT a requirement. I recommend Photoshop, you will save a lot of time using Photoshop instead of learning a free software tool, then relearning another software tool when you outgrow it, there is always a price to pay with free software be it advertising, nag screens or lack of features. Google picassa is one option which might work. There are lots of other free tools available but don't worry, I am going to suggest one to use in the next hour.

You will probably never have set IPTC XMP keywords/title inside a .JPG image so use the rest of this hour to review how it's done and what it's all about in our guide to Image Keywording Software. Even if you don't have Photoshop in the next step I will show some free software that allows you to edit your files details, and even if you have Photoshop to keyword with we will use this software to upload our images in batches to our selected microstock agencies.

Hour 8

By now you should have some idea about how to apply IPTC keyword metadata to your images.

Even if you already know how to keyword your images, we are going to use a free piece of software called prostockmaster to keyword and upload in the next step so read on.

Alternative: You can skip the prostockmaster keywording and use your own software for that part if you like. As an option you can skip prostockmaster all together if you want to upload manually to each site or use FTP software to upload batches of images. In this case you will have to work your way through the remaining hours making appropriate changes to the process along the way.

For the rest of us prostockmaster is a free application for Apple and PC platforms (and also linux for the brave) which allows you to keyword and title your images ready for upload to the major microstock sites. We have a prostockmaster review where you can read more about it, It's not perfect, but it does the job for this introduction.

For this hour, read the above article and download pro stock master and install it. No need to pay for the commercial license the evaluation version is fine. Copy (not move) 5 images you want to upload into a new directory perhaps titled 'imagesforpsm' or something like that, open the software and have a little play around to see how it works.

Select the sites option and insert the usernames and password that you setup for the agencies in hours 3 and 4. Do make sure that you enter the correct password and username as prostockmaster will not warn you if it they are wrong!

Hour 9

Do the keywording, start by reading Titles and Descriptions that Sell and Keywording Nirvana.

Now use prostockmaster (or your chosen tool) to keyword, title and describe each of your 5 images you think will sell well from the previous hour. Include at least ten keywords and a description of at least seven, some images will easily have many more keywords, some you will struggle just to find ten.

Hours 10 & 11

Do the upload thing. The great thing about having software to assist your upload is that you don't have to visit to each site to upload images. You do still have to visit the sites to set categories but the software takes the tedious repetitive steps out of the process.

In prostockmaster select each image in turn and tick the upload box for all sites (this might be different in more recent versions but either way you want to upload all 5 images to all 4 of your current microstock sites). Click upload images and sit back. We will use the rest of the hour once the upload has completed.

... it might take more than an hour to upload.... time you can spend doing something else....

Once the uploads have completed log into each of your 4 microstock sites and find the 'pending uploads', 'process ftp uploads', or 'submit for review'. Each site is different and changes from time to time, but somewhere you will see your 5 images and be able to add categories and choose license options. The first time round this will take you quite a bit of time, you will not understand some of the license options and will want to go and read more about it on each site. I have left the remainder of hour 10 and the whole of hour 11 for this. Depending on how you go it might take longer or it might take much less time if you are already familiar with some of the Stock photo terminology.

Once uploaded your 5 images will enter the review queue, these can be a week long, in the next hour we will upload 5 more and then wait to see what happens....

Hour 12

Second time around it should take you about and hour or less to select 5 more images, keyword, upload them with prostockmaster (excluding the upload time) and login to categorise and submit. Remember the limitation of prostock master free version is that you can only upload 5 images per 24 hours, so this will have to be a day later unless you want to buy a commercial version.

Now wait for all your images to be reviewed so that you can see how you are doing. Many of the sites have an estimate of the time it will take to review a picture, often a week or so, but it depends on the number of images you have uploaded. Some sites send you an email when they have reviewed images or rejected them.

Hour 13

So how did you get on? hopefully some of your images were accepted? 50% is not an unreasonable acceptance rate for a beginner in my opinion, specially if most of your images were accepted at one agency or another.

Review any images that were not accepted anywhere, and if the rejection reasons were consistent then you should be able to work out where you went wrong. If the images were rejected for completely different reasons on different sites then personally I just ignore it and move on. It's likely that the image is just not a 'usable stock image'. It's difficult to reason when told the image is underexposed at one site, badly composed at another and 'not suitable as stock' at a third. However, if many or all sites say your images are for example "noisy" then look into the reasons why, likewise for any other rejection reasons.

At this point it's very easy to loose faith, in fact when I signed up for istock in 2003 I uploaded 20 or so images, and after some weeks I could see I had made some earnings but not very much. I lost interest and left the site for many months (I forget exactly but I'm sure it was almost a year), when I went back there was about 80 US dollars in earnings and I started to see that there might be something in this! Especially interesting for me was how 50% of it was from just one image. I worked onwards and joined more sites realising that the earnings, while small, would become significant with enough images and enough sites paying me.

Hour 14

Use this hour to upload another batch of five images. By now you should be getting faster at this, perhaps you will be able to complete two batches of five.

At this point you'll want to review how you are uploading, and how you will work in the future, perhaps you set aside an evening to keyword as many images as you can, upload them overnight, then submit for review next evening. Remember if it's more than five then you need to pay for prostockmaster or find an alternative. Perhaps visiting each site to upload the images in batches separately using the normal web interface works best for you. Perhaps you prefer to work in batches of five regularly as we have been here. The choice is yours, and as a microstock contributor you will be constantly reviewing your workflow to see how you can save time and make life easier.

Many full time contributors use tools like prostockmaster to aid their workflow, others use FTP clients and browser plugins to upload. You can read more on this in our photographer guides related to workflow optimisation.

Hour 15

Devote the final hour to reviewing the lists of images that the stock sites want, and more important the images that they do not want - these are almost guaranteed rejections if you upload them. Most of the major sites publish and update these lists. Think about which of these images you can shoot easily with the best results.Then plan your next photo session. You might still have a huge catalogue of existing images on your computer to go through so that might be an alternative to shooting new images for a while.

Again, read our post on the types of photos that sell the best. Also review the sales you have had and see what is selling for you. Experience and ultimately success in microstock comes through continual evaluation of results and improvement in your photography skills. With microstock you can work and learn at your own pace, and having a microstock community supporting you means you can rely in fellow photographers for help and advice provided that you don't ask questions that have already been answered many times before on sites like microstockinsider.

Review

Congratulations! You have signed up to 4 stock agencies, uploaded 15 or 20 images to each and seen the results. For the future you can either sign up to more of the top 10 microstock sites, or concentrate on the four listed here. Either way you will need 50 or 100 images on each site to make reasonable earnings, and start looking towards getting 250 to have some more serious income. Microstock is not money for nothing, by now you have understood that a lot of time is spent in getting your images online. It is a quite reasonable expectation for microstock to pay for your camera equipment, but only if you work full time or a significant number of hours a week will you be able to earn enough to live on, like any employment if you don't keep working at it you will fail. More about this in how much can I earn from microstock.

Microstock is somewhat like a lottery, you will likely see great results from one of your images compared to all the rest, and you never know which image is going to shoot to the top of your sales list. Look at the popular images on istockphoto and see how many sales they have made then work things out, you likely won't be able to achieve that, but even if you get 1/10th of it you will be going very nicely.

One of the best things about microstock is the flexibility it offers, you can work random hours, work a lot or work a little. Unlike get-rich-quick schemes and scams which usually involve something like signing and folding letters for long hours you will learning new skills and be working at building a valuable image portfolio that you own and will always have a value. Microstock is allowing you to monetize that image portfolio.

1) Think 'Designer', how will the end user make use of this image? How can I emote some feeling or an idea? Is there space on this photo for me to place some text (known as good 'copyspace'). a list of the top searches on a major microstock site makes some interesting reading. One thing I can't teach on this site is 'gaining an eye for a photo', something that comes through experience, through browing magazines, looking at other photographers work and sales stats.

2) Remove the clutter from all your photos, preferably before you shoot, but if you can't then do it afterwards in photoshop. Microstock is a place for bright, clean, amost 'too perfect' looking subjects.

3) Tripods, Tripods, Tripods
(three times, get it?... ahem, sorry) I know they feel like they obstruct creativity, you don't want to carry it around with you, you feel like people are looking... get over it and use the tripod unless you have sufficient light to work hand held, or progress on to mastering strobes (off camera flashes). More beginners tips on tripods.

4) Get in close on the subject, and don't be afraid to crop some of it out. Designers traditionaly love lots of copy space but microstock best sellers seem to be images that have a simple uncluttered subject often central to the frame.

5) You can't just photograph everything you see. There are lots of things like well known products / designs, people in t-shirts with logos, protected architecture and artworks which are virtually off limits to stock photography because a property release is not available or very difficult/expensive to obtain - more about trademarked subjects.

6) If you are photographing landmarks/locations or often photographed subjects then try going for a non conventional image, photograph when it's raining or foggy, use a wider angle and make things distorted. More on travel photography and microstock holidays.

7) Photo what's around you! Stop musing at all those exotic locations and expensive model set-ups. Since I moved to Australia, Paris has become and exotic location, when I lived in Manchester it was a weekend euro break! The things you own and locations on your doorstep can be just as evocative to someone from overseas as those overseas images are to you. Shoot local landmarks in new ways and capture local community life in your home town.

8) Good keywords are probably more important than you think... and also probably the most un-enjoyable aspect of stock photography read more here also make sure you embed your keywords in the IPTC fields.

9) Take more images than you think you could ever possibly need, one from each angle, some landscape some portrait format, some close-up, some with the 'whole picture', some with different exposure settings (bracketing) some with different aperture settings, some with a different point of focus. but don't upload them all and....

10)....don't go 'madly snapping', take some time over each photo or you will end up spending way to much time sorting through rubbish images afterwards; only 'snap' if you have only a limited time at a location or with a model etc. or while the light is fading and there is no choice but to work fast or you will miss it. Practice will allow you to work faster with your camera and mean that you can get great shots even when pressured by time.

11) Don't try to upload to every site, focus your efforts on the best performing sites that you are accepted by. If your photography and subjects are good, then there should be no problem being accepted by any microsock agency. If you are still learning the art then part of your microstock journey and personal goals might be getting accepted by each of the top 5 agencies.

12) Don't get upset if a photo is rejected, and don't hours trying to prove 'I'm right, you are wrong'. Many years ago I had what I thought was a nice image of some fox gloves (flowers) and I noticed that one of the major agencies had no portrait format images of fox gloves so I submitted mine, it was rejected on grounds of 'we have enough of this type of image already' (I assume they just reject all images of flowers for that reason!) so I sent emails and resubmitted and it was all basically a waste of time. Take good photos, keyword them and submit. Read and act upon any technical rejections and don't get into a 'if they accepted this image then why not mine'. More on common rejection reasons and how to deal with them

13) Use your cameras lowest isoi setting (or 100 ISO) to guarantee low noise images. read more about noise and ISO.

14) If your images are getting rejected because they are not 'in sharp focus' then read everything you can about photography technique. If you shoot in program mode then the camera will help you by selecting an F stop in the lens's sweet spot for best sharpness unless it's too dark, then it will try to use F5.6 or lower. This will not produce the best results. Try taking a few photos at F8 or F11 and compare them to those taken at other apertures. full article here.

15) Don't try shoot everything. It's fine if you don't have any food, people or landscape photos in your collection. Concentrate on what you enjoy photographing, if you are not interested in them then leave the food, people and landscape photos to other people who enjoy that. A great way to motivate yourself is to take images related to your hobby or create a niche style for yourself. Another motivator is creating a series or 'a project' and setting yourself the goal of taking say 50 photos related to a specific subject. Ideas might be 50 images that represent summer, autumn and winter etc, and in each collection have 5 textures, 5 images which represent joy or fun, 5 that represent something unpleasant about the season etc.

16) Don't get obsessive about microstock. It's too easy to turn what was an enjoyable hobby into, "No I can't shoot any more flowers they don't sell well". Remember what you enjoyed doing when you started out in microstock, and continue doing if you still enjoy it. Every photo you take does not have to be one that has potential for earing money. Taking a photo not intended to sell can spawn new ideas that do sell, allows you to practice your skills so that your stock photos are better, or might just bring you personal enjoyment while taking it or looking at a print you made.

When I began exploring the world of stock photography, I realised that it was a world filled with frequently-asked questions and conflicting opinions. In this article, I will attempt to compile my own thoughts to help you decide whether or not stock photography is for you.

What is stock photography?

Stock photography is the sale of images, often via a library that were taken without a particular customer or use defined. Generally (there are exceptions) people add their work to a collection / library so that potential customers can browse the images and buy one if it suits their needs. Potential customers search the library for keywords that match their needs. If you look around, you will see stock images everywhere, from magazines, newspapers, book covers, posters, calendars and postcards and much, much more.

Who can do stock photography?

This is often an eye opener which has many old school photographers reeling. ANYONE! Stock photography is faceless, the picture does the talking.

OK, now I’m interested what photo’s should I take?

My best advice is look around at magazines, books, leaflets, posters, advertising, and websites etc. Don’t just think locally either as stock libraries sell worldwide. There are books, websites and magazines for almost every subject. Maybe you have a hobby you could specialise in or you travel a lot, the world literally is your oyster.

The nitty gritty bits

One major thing to consider is that you can not sell photographs that have identifiable people or products or trademarks in them without written permission. For people this is called a model release and for logos/property etc, it is called a property release.

The other big consideration is how you wish to sell your images. Which leads us to two subjects that crop up a lot.

1, Should you sell via microstock or macrostock agencies?

Well, this is up to you. I’ll explain the difference.

Macrostock

as it is called includes agencies such as Alamy, Getty, and Corbis. This is the traditional method of selling stock photo’s and you can sell an image varying in price from $30 to$3000 (sometimes more) depending on the way your images are sold ( see point 2 ). Sales can be month’s apart though unless you have a good collection of images. Macrostock agencies tend to have minimum requirements on camera model or image size much higher than that of microstock agencies.

Microstock

Microstock is controversial to say the least, mainly because it upsets a great deal of professional photographers who feel they are being priced out of the market. Some microstock agencies are Istockphoto, Dreamstine, Fotolia and Shutterstock. The business model of microstock is to sell your images for just a few dollars of which you may see 20 cents - 1 dollar per download. BUT because the price is so cheap downloads are vastly more frequent than that of macrostock and if you have a good amount of worthy material you can make a reasonable return. A great number of amateur photographers are happy to make money this way to pay for their camera equipment. Microstock agencies often sell subscriptions where a client will pay a monthly fee and get an amount of downloads per month, which means they are very likely to download several images that may fit their needs. This all sounds perfect but there is, as always a catch. Most sales via microstock sites sales are royalty free ( see point 2 ).

2, There are several type of ways to sell your images. Licenced, Rights managed and Royalty free.

Licenced

Licenced sales are the traditional method at macrostock libraries and recently so, microstock are starting to use this method but still much cheaper than macrostock agencies. A licenced sale is price is determined by what the photo is going to be used for and for how long, with licenced sales you also get told basic information about what the image is going to be used for but generally you don’t get told the details of the customer. An example of the info received for a licenced sale is:

Country: United Kingdom
Usage: Editorial
Media: Consumer Magazine
Industry: Media Industry
Sub-Industry: Publishing
Print run: up to 500,000
Placement: Inside
Image Size: 1/8 page
Start: 04 September 2007
End: 11 September 2007

As you can see there is a reasonable amount of information there but not the customer ID. I’ll be honest I don’t know the exact reason, myself I’d say its because the agency is worried that they will look amateurish if customers buy something then get hassled for a tear sheet by the photographer. I have also seen in forums people speculate that the agencies are afraid of being cut out of the loop on future sales, which in today’s world is sadly quite believable.

Rights Managed

Rights Managed sales are pretty much the same as licenced except they can have restrictions such as the countries the image can be sold to or the usage of the image such as not for advertising. The price model as far as I’m aware is the same as licenced sales.

Royalty Free

Royalty free are the most common sales on microstock agencies and have become hugely popular on macrostock agencies also. The price on royalty free sales (also referred to as RF) is based on the image size. Royalty free has almost as many debates about it as microstock. The downside of royalty free is once you sell the image the buyer can do whatever they want with the image and you don’t get told who the customer is or what the image is going to be used for.

So which sales model should I use?

My logic on this is that images that are easy to reproduce I tend to sell as royalty free and less easily to reproduce ones I sell as licenced. This seems to be a more common practice for macrostock shooters. Other people who shoot microstock and macrostock often put their royalty free images on the microstock sites and their licenced images on the macrostock agencies. It is perceived as bad etiquette to sell the same royalty free images on both macrostock and microstock libraries as a customer would be quite annoyed to find he as paid $240 for an image he could of bought for $5 elsewhere.

Keywords

Whichever library you choose you are going to have to keyword your images. This is listing words that associate to your image so that a potential customer can find it. Bad practice is to add irrelevant keywords or copy other peoples keywords from similar images. Keyword abuse can result in the library forcing your images to the bottom of the pile making it much harder to get a sale.

What sells?

The most common asked but least answered question. Some photographers refuse to say because while others don’t know they are making the money. I don’t truly know myself but I believe good selling categories (if your pictures are good of course) are lifestyle conceptual and travel. A lot of images used for advertising etc have people in them doing lifestyle activities, it is much harder to get great images of people doing things and that are model released or conceptual ideas so this is where there is a good deal of money to be made, easier subjects are far more saturated so your image has to be all the better to stand out of the crowd, and images tend to fetch less of a bounty.

Other requirements and considerations

Most if not all agencies require images submitted saved in the Adobe RGB colour space as a tiff file or jpg, and sharpening is not allowed. (this is so the client can sharpen to their own requirements)

If your image is aimed at a magazine or book cover, remember to try and allow space around the subject of the image for the overlay of a title or other text.

Links & More information

How to upscale images for Alamy using Adobe photoshop
Microstock group forum
Stock photography section at DPchallenge forums
Alamy forum
Stock photography at Wikipedia
A book worth reading is “photos that sell” by Lee Frost. ( it wouldn’t be prudent to link to any particular seller )

Disclaimer: None of the websites on this guide are an endorsement I have tried to be subjective and not represent anyone.