Digital Photography - What Is Stock Photography?

Mar 15
07:55

2009

Michael Wong

Michael Wong

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Stock photography has been long in the market and it has help a lot of people in performing their task. You might not be familiar what is stock photography and this article is going to show you briefly what it is all about.

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Stock photography is just existing photographs that are available for specific purpose. Sometimes it is also known as picture library or photo bank and digital stock photography can just simply mean that the pictures are taken digitally.

You can see a lot of these digital stock photographs in books,Digital Photography - What Is Stock Photography? Articles magazines and websites. You might ask why the publishers don't hire professional photographers for the job. This is because the pictures in photo bank are cheaper than getting someone to do it. Plus the pictures sold in the photo bank are created with the best quality and that can save you from the frustration of fighting with the photographer over the quality of the pictures.

As good as digital stock photography may sounds, you might not have much control over the pictures you get from the library. This is especially true when the pictures you are looking for are not something popular and often you have to compromise with the second or third choices you can get.

Since stock photography is about buying and selling photographs, it provides a chance for you to make extra income for your pocket. When you are photographing for picture library, remember that you are to shoot for what your potential customers are interested instead of what you like.

And to help you make money with this process, look at what other photographers are selling and think about what else you can offer. Let's say eagle is the popular subject. Can you photograph other species of the eagle with different angle or performing other activity? You will never know whether anyone is looking for a picture of Harpy eagle resting in its nest and he might be willing to pay good money for it.

Another easy way for you to cash in with photo library is to look into the 'wanted list' in the digital stock photography agencies. Once you know what your potential customers are looking for, plan your shots so that you can bring something different to the table. As long as you can make your clients feel that your picture is their perfect solution, they are going to get your picture regardless of your reputation.