Taking Stock : Make Money in Microstock Creating Photos That Sell

The ultimate insider guide to creating stock shots that sell from a veteran iStockphoto inspector An iStockphoto inspector since 2002, author Rob Sylvan has spent the last decade as part of the team that decides which photos get sold on one of the largest, most popular microstock sites in existence. Hers"s also made tens of thousands of dollars off of his own microstock photography. As a result, no one knows better than he does what it takes to get your photos accepted to stock sites-and what to do to make those photos sell. InTaking Stock,Rob shares his hard-earned insider knowledge with real world advice on how to shoot, edit, and tag photos so you can earn while you learn, regardless of which microstock agency yours"re using. In this book, yours"ll learn how to look at the world through the eyes of designers, photo editors, and stock photographers, as well as the importance of focusing your energy on creating stock content that resonates with your passion for photography. But we all know time is money, which is why Rob explains how to set up an effective digital workflow-the real key to making money in the high-volume, low-cost microstock market. By the end of this book, yours"ll look at your work with new eyes, enabling you to make more money doing exactly what you love: shooting photos that sell. You will learn: How to license photos as stock What photos are in demand The components of a successful digital workflow How to use titles, descriptions, and keywords to give yourself an edge Specific tips for shooting food, people, places, nature, objects, animals, and more Editing techniques that will make your shots sell

Rob Sylvan started contributing photos to iStockphoto in 2002. In December 2002, he became the sixth photo inspector (the people who review all new submissions to the site) to be hired. Over the last seven years he has inspected thousands upon thousands of photos and is in the process of re-writing iStock's photo contributor manual. Beyond his experience with iStockphoto, Rob has been one of three people serving on the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) Help Desk answering Photoshop and Lightroom questions for all NAPP members. He is also the author of Lightroom 2 for Dummies.

Table of Contents

Ch 1
Is this Book for You?
    How I Got Started
        From Content Consumer to Content Creator
    The $13,000 Christmas Tree
    What’s in it for You?
    Quality vs. Quantity

Ch2
What is Stock Photography?
    Who Uses Stock?
    When is a Photo a Stock Photo?
    Understanding the Licensing Models
        Rights-Managed
        Royalty-Free
        Editorial
    The Ways that Money Changes Hands
        Pay-As-You-Go
        Subscription
    The History of “Microstock”
        The Top Microstock Sites to Start With

Ch3
Getting into a Stock Frame of Mind
    Knowing Your Customers
        Doing Your Research
        Keeping Track
        Thinking Like an Image Consumer
        Greater Than the Sum of its Parts
        Spectrum of Stock
    Ingredients of a Stock Photo
        Communication is Key
        Simplicity of Message
        Give Equal Weight to the Background
    Assignment   

Ch4
Of Rights and Wrongs
    Reading the Fine Print
        Permitted Uses
        Editorial Options
    The Role of the Model Release
        Finding People Willing to Model
        Can I Get a Witness?
    A Healthy Respect for Property
        Prevention Pays Off
    Being Inspired by Others
    Assignment

Ch5
Tools of the Trade
    Gear Crazy
    Camera Choices
    Raw vs. JPG
        Keeping Your Options Open
    Key Camera Settings
        Do Touch that Dial
    Beyond the Camera

Ch6
Shooting Tips From the Pros
    The Importance of Good Exposure
        Reading the Histogram
        Highlight Clipping Warning
    Top Tips for Your Next Photo Shoot
        Get Ready
        Day of the Shoot
        After the Shoot
        Moving Forward

Ch7
Setting Up Your Digital Darkroom
    Hardware Choices
        Computer
        Plan B (For Backup)
        Your Monitor
        Calibrating Your Monitor
    Software Choices
    Choosing a Color Space
        Color by Numbers
        Understanding Bit Depth
        Answering the Question
    Assignment

Ch8
Digital Editing Basics
    Focus on Quality
        Work Smarter
        A Little About that Bear Photo
    Setting Defaults and Creating Presets
        Choosing a Default Rendering
        Creating a Develop Preset
    Adjusting White Balance
        Using the Tools
        Speeding Up the Process
    Making Exposure Adjustments
        Exploring the Exposure Adjustment Tools
        Practical Exposure Adjustments
        The Presence Controls
    Sharpening for Stock
        Making the Sharpening Adjustments
    Dealing with Noise
        Making the Adjustments
    Assignment

Ch9
Avoiding Rejection
    Digital House Cleaning
        The Dreaded Purple Fringe
        Cropping for Composition
        Removing Distracting Elements
        Downsizing to Fix Minor Problems
    Avoid Over-Processing
        Adding a Vignette
        Creating a Reverse Vignette
    Assignment

Ch10
Seeing Like an Inspector
    Being Your Own Worst Critic
        Capture Time
        First Review
        Post-production
        Objectivity Practice
    Developing an Inspection Workflow
        Creating an Upload Pre-flight Checklist
    Dealing with Rejection
    Assignment

Ch11
Putting it All Together
    First Things First
        Backups on the Go
        Software Solutions
    Importing into Lightroom
        Import Interface Orientation
        A Typical Import
        Creating a Metadata Preset
    Wheat from the Chaff: Reviewing
        Decision Time
        Collecting the Keepers
    The Wonderful World of Metadata
        Search Engine Optimization
        Adding Titles and Descriptions
        Keywording 101
        Creating a Keyword List
        Applying Keywords

Ch12
Moving Out into the World
    Save Your Final Versions
        Lightroom Export
        Lightroom Publish Services
    Establishing a Name for Yourself
        Going Through the Application Process
    Find Your Photos in Use
        Google Google Google
        Reverse Image Search
    Move to the Next Level
    Parting Words

Afterword