Stock photography, which photos are suitable?

Monday 23 April 2018, 14:41 by Tromp Willem van Urk | 12,039 views | 6 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

If you want to get started with stock photography, the first question is, of course, which photos are suitable? Do you need to take stock photos separately, or can you also use photos from your existing portfolio?
And if so, which ones are suitable and which are not?

Which photos are suitable as stock photos?

To answer this question, we first need to go back to the question of what a stock photo is. It is a photo that a customer wants to buy. They do not buy the photo because you like it so much. They buy it because they want to use it for something themselves. And that is the essence of a stock photo, the photo must have sales value!

What kind of photos are those? To find out, you could look through the magazines in your recycling bin. Or browse through the magazines for sale in a bookshop. These magazines are full of photos, and almost all of them are stock photos.

Some of them were specifically made as stock photos. But 'ordinary' photos of landscapes, animals and plants, buildings, cities and people are also widely used.

The tulips in the Noordoostpolder are coming into bloom again. I took this photo last Saturday. I will definitely offer it as a stock photo.
Suitable for themes such as wind energy, the environment, spring, tulips ....
So in fact, many photos are suitable as stock photos. As long as they support a commercial theme, a potential customer may want to buy them.

There are undoubtedly many such photos already in your portfolio. But if you get a little more serious about stock photography, you will discover that there is suddenly much more to photograph than you currently do!

Types of stock photos

If you wanted to name the different 'types' of stock photos, I would come up with three categories:

Photos from your existing portfolio
Stock photos on the go
Specific stock photos

In my previous blog Stock photography, is it for you? I already showed an example of all three types of photos. I will now discuss all three in a little more detail.

Photos from your existing portfolio
These are the photos that every photographer takes. They can be anything, from macro photos in your own back garden to holiday photos you may have taken anywhere in the world. But your own child on the swing can also work very well as a stock photo.

In short, your own photographic interests and possible specialisation already provide a suitable basis for getting started with stock photos.

I am quite interested in architecture. This photo from my own portfolio is also perfectly suitable as a stock photo. Useful for themes such as Lelystad, architecture, modern buildings ....
Stock photos on the go
You can start by offering photos from your existing portfolio as stock photos. But many more photos are suitable as stock photos. After all, the (holiday) magazines do not only feature beautiful sunsets, they also ask for very different photos. Anything from clothes airers to rubbish bins, and so on.

Almost any subject can be suitable. From time to time, you see this kind of photo appear in a specific article or on a website.

Before you know it, you will be photographing an endless number of subjects 'on the go', all of which can serve as stock photos.

I came across this scene during a bike ride. Suitable as a stock photo for themes such as the environment, rubbish, recreation...
Specific stock photos
In the previous example, the point was that you need to keep an eye out for subjects you happen to come across 'by chance' while you are out and about. But you can also specifically set out to make this kind of stock photo. Or you can stay at home and get to work on product photos in your studio. These are also in high demand, of course.

Stock photo made specifically in the studio. Sold several times every autumn before December.

Conclusion

As a stock photographer, you have a whole range of extra subjects available that you would never tackle as an ordinary photographer. Your options are much greater, and your imagination is stimulated more as well.

I regularly catch myself constantly looking for 'chance' subjects while I am out and about, subjects that I can photograph as stock photos. And is that a bad thing? Quite the opposite! Photography only becomes more and more fun this way.

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About the author

Tromp Willem van Urk is een enthousiaste hobbyfotograaf die een aantal jaren geleden met stockfotografie is begonnen. Op zijn website Kruwt.nl Stockfotografie kun je daarover lezen en blogt Tromp Willem regelmatig over zijn eigen ervaringen.

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6 comments

Alex wrote on Tuesday 24 April 2018 at 12:22 | reply
Interesting article, but it immediately raises a number of questions: How do you offer the photos, how do you determine the price, how do you prevent illegal downloading and use and how do you check that?
Translated from Dutch.

Karin wrote on Tuesday 24 April 2018 at 16:09 | reply
Yes, I thought so too, Alex...
Translated from Dutch.

Paul wrote on Tuesday 24 April 2018 at 16:57 | reply
Just read his previous blog and you'll know. The link to it is at the top of this article.
Translated from Dutch.

guest wrote on Tuesday 24 April 2018 at 17:05 | reply
Regarding architecture or photos of children or larger people , what about the rights involved? Offering them on stock photography so easily doesn't seem possible either, I think. Or is this not a problem...
Translated from Dutch.

Tromp Willem van Urk wrote on Tuesday 24 April 2018 at 18:16 | reply
Hi everyone,
Very valid questions questions that you are asking! In the next blog I want to cover how and where to offer your photos. All of that at once doesn't fit into one article now. So that's why first a blog with a general description of stock photography and whether it's something for you? This blog about which photos you can then use. And after that, further about the how and what and at which stock agencies.
And after that ..... how it works with rights to architecture and people .... what are editoral photos .... and so on ....!?
But if there are specific questions I can try to cover those first
Translated from Dutch.

kim wrote on Wednesday 25 April 2018 at 20:31 | reply
nice blog, thank you, I look forward to the next part!
Translated from Dutch.

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