Microstock Photography

I am writing today to share some notes on some editing I have had to do on portrait photography. Often the pictures taken in a given photo shoot are merely fodder for later retouching. This means whatever photo grab takes place on a given day is what the photo editors for the rest of creation have to work with. The stylists and makeup artists should keep in mind the end sum is not just that day’s effects. But all too often people forget that.

Getting the whole shot in to the camera is half the fun, but a shot densely packed with objects just isn’t fun or interesting to some people. Concentrate on a certain element or tableaus within the shot. Crop to make this the entire subject of the shot. Sharpen and edge in a contrasting color, fuzzing the background or bringing up the color as needed.

In micro stock photography, access and proximity makes you money. Having the image everybody wants, now or in future will pay off. But first you have to put yourself in a position to get the shots nobody else has. Get roving and put yourself in new venues to get new shots. Plot your micro stock trajectory along new paths.

Advanced software suites can offer intensely sophisticated effects, but the processing requirements, access to the appropriate licenses, and computing time necessary may not appeal to everyone. And that’s after you’ve gotten used to using this or that program, and absorbed the learning curve for that particular command or procedure. Simple tidying up inside a file and adjusting what elements you can of a less than ideal setting can work wonders on the value of a single image.

You know you are really in the photography biz when you just don’t find the released image acceptable and start improving it willy nilly after seeing it. There are a few simple tricks to use when you are reviewing an image to make sure the utmost quality appears in every submission.