Home  >  News  >  Special announcements  > Announcement

What makes an appealing stock photo?

There is, of course, no short answer to this question. Whole books have been written about the subject — we often recommend Michal Heron's How to Shoot Stock Photos That Sell and other titles from the Allworth Press catalog. But we can offer some broad concepts.

In one sense, a good stock photo is one that tells a story without needing a caption. After all, its destiny is to be surrounded by somebody else’s words.

In another sense, a good stock image is one that grabs attention even at thumbnail size. After all, buyers are looking for pictures that will be noticed by readers flipping pages. Besides, prospective buyers will be searching thumbnails, and a good image is one that gets licensed.

The technical aspects of a good stock photo include appropriate resolution and well chosen keywords and captions. We discuss these issues on a separate page.

Editorial uses

The client is looking for an image that illustrates some point in his story. The best image will therefore be associated in specific ways with the details of that story: the time, the location, the people and what they are doing. However, the kind of picture that the publisher wants will depend on whether the story is news or a feature.

News stock is very specific to a particular event, and thus has a very short life in the market. Eventually, a few news images gain historical value, but most just go stale. Most news photos are sold through the big wire services and a few specialist agencies, and they go for standard prices.

Images for feature stories have a longer shelf life because they are used to illustrate concepts, attitudes and situations. In fact, in many ways they are like advertising images. However, they don’t command as high prices and they usually don’t need model or property releases.

Advertising uses

The client is looking for an image that will help sell his product or service, so your photos should not show any logos or trademarked items. (If necessary, retouch them away.) Most advertisers want subjects that look natural, not posed. They want contemporary, too — not just clothing, hairstyles and props, but also a fashionable photographic approach. There is a niche for dated imagery, but it is a small one.

Advertisers often want to evoke a specific concept or emotion. According to IPNStock, there is currently an unmet demand for images that depict:

• the enthusiasm of youth
• the wisdom of the ages
• multiple generations together
• affluent and aspirational people, things, activities
• people in business, communications and technology environments
• people being consumers
• mixed-ethnic peoples steeped in their own individual styles
• luxury food items
• exotic destinations
• luxury accommodations

Advertisers often value ethnic and life-style diversity in photos. However, advertisers rarely want images in which readers can identify the specific people, places or events being shown. Thus, the best advertising stock manages to be generic, yet evocative and visually compelling.

Releases. Advertisers will usually insist that you provide model releases and property releases with your images. ASMP offers several examples of release forms that are suitable for most commercial purposes. Be aware that a general-purpose release may not be sufficient to protect you from lawsuits if the advertisement concerns one of the “sensitive subjects” (sex, religion, politics, health, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, et al.) We advise consulting an attorney before licensing photos for such uses.