This year on the Christmas episode we talk A LOT about the industry business and pricing ideas, what we see for 2011 and even some great tools and gadgets to pick up for Christmas. Note that this is a long show. If it’s a bit much break halfway using the time index below and listen to it as two episodes.
Bright lights of Monte Carlo. ISO 400, 2.5 sec. @ f4
by Lawrence Sawyer. First, let me thank Gavin Seim for the invitation to write a piece on my recent experience shooting stock photography in the Mediterranean. This was a dual-purpose trip: anniversary cruise, and a test of my theory that with the right choice, one could actually shoot salable stock with a point-and-shoot pocket camera. Now, a little background…
I’ve been shooting stock photography since my college days in the early 1980’s, and make a living doing it. I have several thousand images on file at four U.S. agencies and dozens of sub-agents worldwide. I have a new book out, entitled  See It, Shoot It, Sell It! -How to Earn a Great Second Income Taking and Shooting Photographs of Virtually Anything. That title embodies the way I work: I shoot “found images” more than anything else. I have learned over the years that there are countless opportunities to shoot highly marketable images all around us, every day… if we just learn to see them.
So when I’m shooting stock, here are the five main criteria I use in evaluating a scene:
1. Is there a message here? There needs to be either a solid piece of information in this shot, or a pure-magic artistic element to something mundane, like beautiful light on a cityscape.
2. Can I pull it off technically? An elk in a shaft of sunlight is killer if it’s 50 yards away and I have 300 f2.8 with me, but pointless if it’s 500 yards out.
3. Does it have enough appeal that it will sell to a broad audience? I worry about this one less and less, because all images are available now to the whole internet-connected world, and somewhere, there is a buyer for darn near anything.
4. Can I shoot it better than it’s likely already been done? If it’s a scenic shot, I’m careful not to be enamored by the place just because it’s my first visit. But if the light is phenomenal, I’ll roll the dice and shoot first, then ask questions later.The more famous the place, the more skeptical I am of my ability to make great stock on my first visit. I try to research how much a place has been shot before I go in with guns a-blazing.
Today’s Host... Gavin Seim. This week Gavin gets in depth about his month and a half photo trip spanning various areas of the USA. He looks at things he saw and learned and ways to improve it all going forward.
Sunsets hidden falls. Gavin's favorite from an evening Yosemite. Did some experimenting with blacks on this. Image links to f164 post. More info in that post soon.
Grooms Wake. Even this has a story. I almost dunked my gear during this TTD session. But the results were worth it. Gavin used a preset from Power Workflow for tone. The couple loved the result.
Today’s Panel... Gavin Seim – Denns Zerwas – Kerry Garrison – Barry Howell.
We talk about Lightroom, Photoshop and other random bits. Then move on to our main topic where we discuss tales photographic of woe and suffering and war and trauma and horror and even happiness.
Two After the Storm. Mentioned on this episode, Gavin caught this image using his E-PL1 with a 20mm 1.7 lens. The detail and quality would be easily adaptable for a 30-40 inch canvas. Processing was done using LR and the Pickles Preset from Color Fantasies.
Today’s Host... Gavin Seim. This week Gavin look at news, the new rangefinder, Photo CS5, stolen images, education and studying, focus ideas and more.
