Your Key To Sales…
Most editorial photographers approach their stock photography with a mission. They have a point of view or a story to tell. They want to change people’s minds or open new insights about the
But educating the public to your way of thinking is a lost cause if you approach your mission solely with logic. As the saying goes, “Don’t clutter this argument with the facts.” Plain logic very often does not win arguments. Psychologists tell us that how you say something (your body language, tone of voice, and your facial expressions) are much more convincing than what you say (the words). Here are three important "E's."
How does this apply to your stock photography?
As a stock photographer, you don’t “take” pictures, you “make” pictures. In order to be convincing, your images must go beyond the visual representation of what you are depicting. In order to reach and to appeal to the widest possible audience, your pictures must evoke a mood.
A portrait of a cat, yes, evokes a mood, but a picture of a cat with a sore paw being attended to by a young teenager evokes a much stronger mood; i.e. conveys emotion.
They say the Super Bowl enjoys a TV viewing audience of 215 million. The Academy Awards presentation attracts an amazing ten times that amount, 2 billion. The funerals of Mother Teresa and Princess Diana drew even more.
And why is this information important to you? It reminds you that your photos not only have to be of top photographic quality, but must have emotion or entertaining value to appeal to viewers.
Your viewers are not only interested in what information you can impart, but how you make them feel. Photo editors recognize this and will always choose a photo that allows readers to “read into a photo” over one that simply documents a landscape, a dramatic event, or disaster. Emotion, then, is an important element in each of your stock photos.
The world loves an entertainer, be it a sports figure, singer, movie star, author, or daredevil. As a creative stock photographer, you have the opportunity to weave an entertainment value into your pictures. There are plenty of ways to entertain your viewers through the use of color, humor, style, innuendo, and graphics.
I once talked with Richard Steedman, who was founder and director of one of New York’s largest stock photo agencies, THE STOCK MARKET. When we discussed the “Information Age” we live in, he said, “No, it’s not the Information Age, it’s the 'Entertainment Age.'" What he meant by that, I think, is that we all value entertainment; it has a high priority in our lives; and today’s world has more
Entertainment is an escape from the woes of the world or from the doldrums. An antidote. If your stock photography is entertaining, it increases its effectiveness and eventually its market value.
The final “E” is Excellence. Without excellent technical quality, composition, and design, your stock photos will be shut out from sales. Study photos that appeal to you in your area(s) of specialization. Figure out how the photographer achieved his/her excellent results.
Use top-quality optics to evoke mood and entertain, and you’ll produce winning stock photography.
Rohn Engh is director of PhotoSource International and publisher of PhotoStockNotes. Pine Lake Farm, 1910 35th Road, Osceola, WI 54020 USA. E-mail: info@photosource.com . Fax: 1 715 248 7394. Web site: www.photosource.com .
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