The unbearable lightness of Stock.
Shooting images for commercial stock is not the same as shooting artsy things or things that you might like yourself.
Stock doesn't like the message of the dirty real world.
The show must go on.
Images for stock have to help sell a service or a product, or to be usable as elements in web design (like backgrounds, cartoons, icons).
How can images of your pet, a gloomy sunset, a dirty factory or yet another bunch of boring flowers help sell another's person products and services?
What clear attractive message and concept can they convey?
The world of stock and advertisement is bright, shiny, happy, positive, bigger than life, and most of all fake. If you can't live with that, better move on and continue to be a Flickr or DeviantArt star, stirring up all that goes wrong and indulging in the misery of life by beautiful photos.
landscapes, landmarks, sunsets, waterfalls, cities
Shots of landscapes, landmarks or sunsets can sell, if they are generic, unusual or if they have something extra.
Take for instance the Paris Eiffel Tower.
There must be gazillions of pictures around but these sell best.
Can you do better?
Landscapes, well, they need to be generic, with a blue sky and a few fluffy clouds, extraordinary and shot with the low sun at your back.
Can you do better?
Sunsets, can you do better?
Interiors or exteriors of less known buildings like churches or city views can sell now and then to the right buyer that has to compile a travel or hotel site.
Don't expect an avalanche of sales of those shots though.
people, persons, models
Models just have to be perfect and mainstream.
Creeps don't sell; plain people with defects (we all have them) don't sell.
Females sell better than males because they can express much more tenderness, care and emotions without being considered effeminate.
Guys will sell in tough, professional, business and leader positions.
Buyers are mostly male and the world of stock is very conservative as to lifestyles and gender roles.
Because of that, sexy shots of females sell well and those of guys won't.
Except for gay-oriented businesses, the world is still made up of 95% heterosexual customers.
And guys just like to look at sexy females recommending a product.
Gals at the contrary just want responsible and reliable guys in control.
It's in our genes.
Every advertiser now wants to show off how liberated, antiracist, open-minded and green he is.
At least for the record.
So multi-racial and mixed-gender shots are extremely popular.
It's as if they are overcompensating by their public image what they lack in reality.
Take politically correct images of green, anti-pollution, gender equality and multiracial set-ups and many sales will be yours.
If you can't beat them, join them.
It has been said that image buyers want real people, guys and gals nextdoor.
Plain friendly people that everybody can identify with.
But that's simply not true.
What they like and what viewers of advertisement like are models they wished to live nextdoor, not the ones that actually live nextdoor.
Models have to look happy, concerned, and should smile with perfect teeth and perfect fingernails.
They should have a perfect skin (freckles, sunspots, scars, pimples and blemishes can not be avoided: that's why we have Photoshop).
The seniors should look active, healthy and in control, the handicapped cheering in their wheelchair, the kids bright and in total harmony with their family, the couples deeply in love and set for a common goal, the businessmen (or better teams) should look professional, leading but with a touch of concern on how to serve us best, the doctors and nurses reliable and caring but serious.
It's the world we want, not the world like it is.
Real beauty of people is maybe inside, but in the stock and advertisement world it's just skin deep.
it's a green, clean, bright new world
Oh yes, and everything should be green.
Green concepts sell well.
Oil companies advertise how green they really are, how concerned with people, how much they do to reduce pollution.
Throw in a Compact Fluorescent Light bulb (CFL) as often as you can.
Incandescent bulbs are out, even if CFL's are ridden with mercury.
If you make shots of polluting plants with thick smoke plumes or dirty industrial surrounds, overdo it and make sure those are generic so they can be used as Enemy X.
We're not like them!
Aren't we?
|
Comments