Stock photography: Tips and tricks

[weka2000]

Looking at making some pocket money (money to buy more glass) and toying with stock photos. Unsure how to go about it, or should I say what photos to take.

I have a studio at home in my garage. I live in a the largest city in New Zealand and I go out to the beach a bit.
Do you focus on a subject or do you just uplaod the ones you like.

So any advice and tips would be welcome.

[adam LC]

My friend works for a photo agency and she told me the other day that the most popular subject at the moment that is earning the sales is shots of office workers/industrial workers, or basically the "working" theme. So there's a subject for you to shoot.

I guess the only down side with these types of shots is the release you need. You also need to have a lot of photos to see any real return, even if it is just pocket money.

This is something that I'll do myself when I'm good enough and have a sizeable collection of images.

[bieber]

Get in with a real stock agency. iStock and such are just out to screw you...

[-kk-]

from my very limited experience with getty and corbis, it seems that 'landmark' pics do fairly well with stock agencies. in terms of auckland, might be shot of davenport, harbour bridge, skyline with sky tower, mission bay perhaps, piha etc

other things you might want to think about are 'mood' shots, possible ad or product or brochure shots etc options are endless. try surfing through getty or corbis to get a feel of what they're looking for.

also agree with bieber's suggestion, work with a proper agency.

[thedruid]

There are no tricks the best tip is to shoot People not landscapes or seascapes. The top agencies are full of those, they are well covered by established shooters. What changes constantly? People, people working at play living etc...you will need modelreleases or they won't even consdier an image., this keeps the micro stock shooters at bay.
Be prepared to submit 200 new images a month, that's whats required.

Be original find a niche and you can make money.

[Mr. E]

Get in with a real stock agency. iStock and such are just out to screw you...

I just started looking on line about 5 minutes ago and decided to come here and poke around before signing up with anyone.

What are some that are more honest?
Thanks!

[Borderfox]

Its a good thing to do alright, I always have it in the back of my mind when I am shooting and anything that I think would be good goes into a stock folder on the desktop for archiving and sorting.