Ron Shoots

(Photo credit: Alex Khromushin)

Wow- what a great experience! I’m in Moscow, just finished teaching a stock photography workshop for Stockxpert. Over 140 photographers participated in an all day event with many flying in from the outlying cities in Russia.

(Two images of Anna from the workshop session.)

Only a very few of the workshop participants spoke English so fortunately there was an interpreter that could translate my words into Russian. The model only spoke Russian as well. (Of course, I have the world’s dumbest laugh that will make anyone smile…) In the afternoon, I photographed the model using just natural light and reflectors surrounded by the entire group. After each series of images, my camera would get passed around the room for everyone to see the what had been just shot. Photography is truly a global language.

Many thanks to all who came to the workshop, and to all my new friends in this beautiful city!

Keywording is the real “key” to successful stock sales. A photographer can make great images, but without the right keywords, no buyer can find your images. Keywording is an art and a science- and good keywords add value to your images.

How Do Clients Search?

Recently, Dreamstime started sharing the keywords that the buyer used to find and license your image. While sometimes the keywords make no sense as to why the image was licensed, in most cases, we get to peer inside the thought process of the buyer.

When I shot the image above, I really wasn’t thinking about Bulimia, the eating disorder that affects many young women (especially in the fashion world). I just thought the scene was a cool concept. Actually, I probably don’t think that much when I’m shooting other than exposure, composition, etc. Fortunately, one of our very astute keyworders recognized the social issues surrounding the image and attached the appropriate words.

Look closely at the image above- the word “Bulimia” is how this buyer found this image, and the reason for the sale.

Finding the Right Keywords

The owner of a very successful stock agency once told me that their business was not in selling pictures, but in selling words! From that moment on, I understood how valuable keywords really are.

Good keywording uses both descriptive words and phrases to describe the image- the main subjects, the colors, compositional elements, etc. But the real art is thinking through the concepts and how the image might be used. Is the concept freedom, or winning, or teamwork, or in this case, Bulimia? I find the best keywords are immersed in life, current news and the art world. They have an immense curiosity for everything around them and the ability to connect images and words.

Sorry for the lack of posts! August is our planning month. Every year, we dedicate about 2 weeks to reviewing our digital process, testing new software and making content strategy plans. While good pre-pro for an individual shoot can maximize the number images, having an overall plan for the next 6-12 months helps us keep production flowing along.

Our long term content planning involves both data and trend research. We look at our best selling images to determine if we need to “refresh” a category or if we need to alter the demographics for the next shoot. We think about overall production in terms of general keywords. Keywords are the “real estate” of the stock photo industry. Do we have enough images in the “family” or “business” section? What makes one image sell more than a similar from the same shoot? Do we need to change our cropping? These are all fun questions to ask! Sara, our senior editor did a fantastic job of pulling together lots of info for us.

We manage our stock collection much like a “financial” stock portfolio. Diversification is good. We diversify both by having images in the different licensing alternatives such as rights-managed and royalty-free, as well as images that cover a wide variety of keywords.

We’re on location at an island resort off the coast of North Carolina. The really cool thing about this place is that no cars are permitted on island- you take everything on a passenger ferry across the Cape Fear River, then golf cart is the only mode of transportation once on-island. So yeah… no car for 5 days! (The only challenge is packing all the lighting gear, props and cameras… and 6 models plus 4 crew into 5 golf carts.)

We’re shooting casual lifestyle with an upscale twist. The challenge is keeping the shots looking natural, and essentially “un-stock-like” as much as possible. You would think that “candid” approach would be easy, but its the toughest type of shooting that I’ve done. Besides the composition part (with tons of copyspace) and the lighting, the models need to be set-up and then the scene set in motion so that the final shot looks like it was a spontaneous moment.

Above is a behind-the-scenes snapshot of one of the set-ups. Maybe not quite as candid as some of the others. Working with natural light and reflectors when possible to keep that “natural” feel, or if we use the strobe, we’re toning it down to the bare minimum of fill-light. (Note the blanket around the models as the temperature was an unseasonably 60 degrees chilly this morning…)

Here’s a couple of the selects from the above set. If you look at the composition, check out how we’ve set up the shot to be used as either a 2 page horizontal spread, or to be cropped into a single page vertical. In both cases, there’s plenty of copyspace and crop room for the art director to work with the image.

All of the images were shot on the Hasselblad H3D-39 with a 28mm lens so the files are large enough to crop tight and still have enough pixels for a very sharp file. While you won’t be friends with this camera on your first date, a real love of large files doesn’t take long to develop. (If you shoot with an H series digital, please feel free to email me- I’ll be glad to share any tips we’ve learned on using this camera… or post your experiences on the gear page.)

Achieving maximum results, even on a cloudy day.

Not every day is a sunny day. Regardless of whether you’re a full-time shooter, or you shoot just on the occasional weekend, weather is always a factor for the location photographer. I thought I would share some of the techniques I use to maximize any opportunity. The great part about shooting stock is that you have the flexibility to go in different directions to deliver a marketable image.

Gear up with simplicity

Before we talk about the weather, let’s jump into the gear. First of all, I always keep my camera bag really simple for most outside location shoots. Click here to read the rest of the article, and for a look inside my camera bag.

We’re in San Antonio, Texas for a shoot with a major tourist attraction starting tomorrow. To maximize our trip, we added a day in front and a day afterwards for other shoots. I learned a long time ago, that when you come across a great location to set up a shoot regardless of where you might find yourself. Such was the case today. Krista, our production coordinator, found a state-of-the-art athletic training facility through one of the models. We immediately put together a production and hired fitness trainers to be our models. Having models that know what they are doing is always key… can’t tell you the last time I went to a gym other than for a shoot!

Here’s some of the photos. The models are a husband-wife team who really are fitness gurus in real life.

Lighting a big open space like a gym where the only light is from overhead flourescents is always a pain. You pretty much have to select a narrow angle and light for that angle. The choice is to simply replicate the existing light with strobes, or to stylize the light with more drama.

Today, my choice was to take a more fashion approach. The models and location were all great… so why not? I used a ring flash on the camera, a long “strip” softbox on each side, and a bare bulb bounce in the background. The bare bulb just opens up the overall background, while the side lights help define the model’s well-toned physiques.

When I was shooting in the rental studio last week, the access was through a skylit hallway. I knew I needed to do a shot in that location when the moment presented itself. One of the models had a simple white dress, and thus the moment. Sometimes its just a simple thing like the right wardrobe that will trigger an idea, sometimes a prop, or even a conversation. Like most shooters, or any visually aware person, I become totally cognizant of the environment. This is really what I enjoy about stock- being able to improvise and challenge myself at any given time.

Here’s the first shot in the hallway- uuugh! Wasn’t quite working. The model was directly under the skylight and clouds had just obscured the sun. With this dull light, the hallway became way too busy. Not the effect I wanted.

The next step was to back up a few steps, let the skylight fall behind the model, and keep her body in an area shadowed from the skylight. I changed the camera exposure from “center-average” to “spot-metering” and after a couple of quick test shots I was a happy camper! Here are a few of the images:

This shot was accomplished with nothing more than the right exposure. There were no reflectors or any extra light beyond the available light. When spot-metering, especially with a white garment, it’s best to meter on the model’s face. I typically will pop up the exposure by 1/2 of a stop to keep the effect on the light and airy side.

Remember the post from a couple weeks ago from Mia- a model that I worked with in Maui who became inspired to attend Brooks Institute of Photography. She signed her email with a “P.S. Would love to model for you again just for fun!” Well, today, we shot again. I’m in Los Angeles for a week- rented a small studio for a few days- so she came down from Santa Barbara with a friend and shot for a couple of hours.

The studio has beautiful afternoon light when the doors are opened. The front light on Mia is all natural. I do have a soft silver reflector on the opposite side to fill in the shadows. I wanted to create a bit of a “Hollywood” movie set look since the studio had a couple of vintage Mole-Richardson hotlights available. The black background is just a piece of black 4×8 foamcore.

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With the camera set at daylight color balance, the hotlight warmed up her hair with its lower color temperature, and I ended up with a nice flair to soften the overall look. Oh, and I must have been doing the fashion photographer thing today- even had the fan blowing her hair with dance tunes playing in the background…  (crack myself up sometimes!) 

I shot in the Maui studio today with Natina, a new model headed to NYC in just a few weeks. This was our second shoot. The first one was outside, but the last few days have been overcast so we decided to shoot inside. Natina’s mom came along on the first shoot and again today- always great to have a stylist and a proud mom on the set. The mom modeled back in her 20s as well, and we’ve set up a mother-daughter shoot for early December.

Tech Notes

These images were lit with Interfit 1000 lightpanels. The panels are 22 inches square, but only 3 inches thick. (You can see one to the left of Natina’s mom.) There’s daylight-balanced modeling lights as well as strobe tubes in each one. The power can be controlled from full down to 1/32 ratio. I shot with my Canon 1DsMII and 24-105mm lens at 100 ISO around f/11. The center image is with the model behind a translucent fabric so those waves of color are really in the shot. While our Charlotte studio is big, bright and white with skylights, the Maui studio has charcoal gray walls- and its small- only 7×10 feet!

Our cool motorcyle dude thought he was in North Dakota, but a little digital artistry from Shelly Greer transformed the landscape to Monument Valley, Utah. We’re always looking for interesting ways to add value to our images, or to maximize the production. The hard part in a comp like this is finding just the right combination of background and foreground. The lighting and angles have to be just right. (Thanks Shelly- great work!)