I really don't know what to shoot. I really don't know. It's just too hard. I
can't do this. Stop right there! This video is called stock photo ideas
that sell for you. Many new photographers to stock get so excited at first and they
just want to keep it going and finally start selling their photos and stock and
they might try one or two shoots. Others start searching all over Shutterstock
what sells what are the top selling images. What is recommended to shoot and they
get so overhelmed that at the end of the day they have really no idea what to
shoot. Or you've been shooting for a very long time. You need to change direction.
You've been shooting the same damn thing all over and over, you are simply bored.
You've hit a plateau. What I'm going to do with you today is to help you create
long term shooting lists or calendar specifically tailored to you.
And if you are new to this channel my name is Zdenka Darula.
I'm a photographer a former model and you know a few of the things. I make
tutorials, fun me logs, so don't forget to hit the subscribe button. Let's grab a
calendar and piece of paper and let's start with the obvious which is seasonal
and holidays. Now I live in Canada, so I'm going to create one, which suits me. Now
you should create your own based on location where you live.
January - winter photos, still some New Year's photos. February - Valentine's Day
March - St. Patrick's Day and spring photos start. April - Easter. May - Mother's
Day. June - Father's Day and summer photos start right here.
July - Canada's day. August - just some activities like travel, camping, sports
barbecue. September - back-to-school and fall photos start here.
October - Thanksgiving and Halloween. November - Remembrance Day. December
Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year's . Now when it comes to holidays, you want to
upload them two to three months ahead to give the full benefit of full sales. So
that means Christmas you're not gonna upload in December you're going to
upload them in September. I personally like to shoot Christmas when it's
Christmas. I don't like shooting Christmas in the summer at all so I
upload few photos at that time, the rest I put away and I uploaded the next year
when the time comes. For that purpose I have another when to upload calendar. In
January I upload Easter photos. In February Mother's Day. In March Father's
Day. In April Canada Day. In May I start uploading summer photos. In June I
start uploading back-to-school photos and in July Thanksgiving and Halloween.
And August Remembrance Day and in September/October I keep
uploading Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year's photos. I am going to ask you a
question. What do you shoot outside of stock? Do you shoot weddings? Do you shoot
family portraits? Do you shoot models? Do you shoot babies? Do you shoot sports, products,
interior, nature.. What else do you shoot? What do you have access to? What
connections do you have? I shoot weddings. I know a lot of
couples. They might have babies soon so they might want to have a lot of photos
and videos of them. I also know a lot of fashion models. I know a lot of fitness
models so I can do a lot of sports. I have a studio.... So go ahead and write down
your own list. Ask yourself a question. What photography style you are very
good at? I am very good at lifestyle couple shoots, weddings, babies, fitness
models. I'm very good at posing models. I'm very good at beauty shots. I don't
like taking photos of a very large group of people. Now I shoot for a very long
time so my list is kind of long. It is totally ok to write down only one or two
things. Perhaps you specialize in something.... so go ahead and write it down.
Now if you have already existing gallery go ahead and open it up and look at your
top-selling photos. Study them. What is it about those photos? Can you make
something similar like that again? Can you maybe shoot something similar with a
different model or different settings?
Evergreen content. Perfect example is this baby photo. There will be always
need for baby photos. The fact that she's in a blanket and not wearing something
current makes it good for sales years to come.
Babies, fitness, families, business, health, food. Do you see yourself shooting any of
these? Write them down.
Now it's time to check the agencies your sign up with if
there is a specific demand in certain type of photos or videos. Some of them
listed on their website others send email asking for a certain type of
images. Check what's the top-selling photos are. Can you come up with
something like that but in your own unique way? Perhaps thinking outside of
box? By now you're sure that there's a very long list. Grab a calendar and write
in it those things when you could possibly do them. In a winter I'm going
to shoot some very nice snowy scene. In a spring I might grab one or two fitness
models and we might do some I don't know yoga or running somewhere outdoors.
This doesn't mean that you have to shoot everything. Pick only what you can handle
or what do you feel like shooting this month.
Have your shot list ready for the shoot. Don't waste your time with retouching all
the photos from the set. Pick only the good ones. And if you can do video as
well that's fantastic because you can have photos and videos from one shoot
that means more content, possibility of making more money. I went ahead and
created my own calendar it's really full and if you want you can download it it's
in the video description below and it's free. You know you can change it make
it your own.
Thanks for watching. I am pretty sure you got something out of this video so
please don't forget to give it thumbs up and subscribe for more future videos
when it comes to stock, photography and video. If you like to, please leave a
comment below. You know I read them all and I'm always happy to respond. Thank
you so much again and I'll see you next time. Cau.....
Ahoj....