I have spend a good part of this month shooting, editing, and uploading to my stock photo portfolio. This included a shoot at a farm with a young woman and her horses. Experience has taught me that an authentic location like this would provide great opportunity to shoot strong images. It was a fun shoot and I’m pleased with the images. Based on that experience, here are 4 tips to maximize your next stock photo shoot.
Different wardrobe helps create variety in images
Tip 1 – Have Your Model Change Wardrobe Mid Shoot
In this shoot, the model was well organised and prepared. We planned to shoot farm style images with her wearing casual clothes, and equestrian images with her wearing her usual competing outfit. Bringing the clothes and getting changed was easy for this shoot as it was held at her home. If you look at the images in this post, the lesson here is having your model bring a change of clothes can help you to produce a broader range of images. Of course, a broader range of images helps to produce more stock photo sales.
Different colored horses helped produce different looking images
Tip 2 – Changing Your Props Generates Variety
For this shoot, I considered the horses to be props. I hope that doesn’t offend horse and equestrian lovers!
The model had informed me in advance that she had two horses which she would be happy to have in the shoot. Fortunately the horses look quite different – one was a chestnut brown and the other a palomino. We shot with both horses, together and separately, near the barn. When we went to riding images, we used the horse the model was most comfortable riding and jumping.
You can make much more subtle changes to props which will help generate variety in your images. If your model has long hair, you can shoot with the hair down or tied up. If it is a sunny day, shoot with and without sunglasses. You get the idea. Tip 2 of our 4 tips to maximize your next stock photo shoot is to change your props throughout the shoot.
Shooting against a plain background produces a very flexible image which could be anywhere in the world
Tip 3 – Shoot Both Vertical and Horizontal Orientation
On Beyond Here I generally use horizontal orientation images as they look best on the blog. But don’t think I only shoot horizontal images.
Our goal in stock photography is to shoot images which will be downloaded and used by our customers. And our customers need choice between vertical and horizontal orientation images.
When I shoot vertical orientation I think about magazine covers. Nearly all magazines are in vertical orientation. They also need space at the top of the image to add the magazine name and edition details.
When I shoot horizontal orientation I think of web sites and how the images might be used online.
Tip 3, remember to shoot both vertical and horizontal orientation.
The different locations shown in these images demonstrate how location can help produce different images
Tip 4 – Change Location
By changing location, we change the background of our images.
In this shoot we used:
- the barn area
- the holding pens
- a paddock with cross country jumps
- a show jumping area
These locations were all within 10 minutes walk and enabled us to create different images in each location. To maximize your next stock photo shoot consider which locations you will use, and plan for what type of image you will create at each location.
Thanks for reading 4 Tips to Maximize Your Next Stock Photo Shoot. Happy shooting!