How to Snap Photos That Sell

How To Snap Photos That sell.
by Robert Hartness ?2004
A photo buyer calls for a picture of pigs. It could be about anything.
A hundred responses go online and one lucky so-and-so gets the sale.
That’s 99 pictures deemed to be second and that’s no good in any race.
So, what is it about that winning picture that produced a sale?
It may good lighting, it may be striking content… but hey all the pictures
Submitted were about the same topic, so eliminate that one.
Let’s face it; there could be a million reasons for the selection of that
winner, but there isn’t!!
The winning shot is unusual. It’s different from the rest. It’s got something
The others just don’t have. It’s got oomph. It’s got pizzazz.
Call it what you will, it’s got that winning streak that just knocks spots
of the competition. It has? Well what the heck is it?
Tell me and we’ll bottle it.
It might be stunning exposure. Well it might. That certainly helps.
In fact, exposure IS a factor, it must be spot on. However, that’s not the
killer factor. Picture researchers, editors and publishers don’t set out to
look for stunning exposures. No. That’s not it. There is something else,
an elusive factor that underpins every sellable photo.
It’s not something you can find by playing blind man’s buff either.
If you want to sell photos you have to recognize it, pursue it, capture it,
master it and make it work for you.
It there for all to see in practically every photo that sells and yet most
people and even many photographers just don’t see it.
How can something so obvious be invisible to a creative eye?
It’s a mystery. I don’t understand it. When I look at the range of
submissions for any photo request, my heart sinks.
Most photos betray a complete absence of this elusive essential quality.
They are duff!
Shots taken so far away from the subject that life-size objects
are mere pimples. Boring views that have 5% coverage of the intended
and desired theme. Constant repetition of the same unimaginative angle.
Yes, you’ve guessed it. I’m talking about composition.
If you want to sell photos, for pity’s sake THINK about what you shoot.
The first angle of view MAY be the best one, but I doubt it.
The old gunfighter adage ..no matter how fast your are…seems to apply
to photography also. Stalk around your intended subject, look at it from
all angles, make mental photos before committing one to film or digital
memory, as the case may be. Don’t TAKE pictures MAKE them.
Fill the screen with powerful compelling artwork. Look for interesting
shapes, textures, colours in the most fascinating combination possible,
given the lighting conditions and your time constraints.
How you compose your photo says everything about you, so train your eye
and mind to maximise your artistic ability. When you shoot in pursuit of
beauty, you fulfil yourself. When called upon to make pictures of mundane
everyday scenes, you will bring your eagle eyes to scour the most pleasing
elements of vision and combine them in a most powerful way.
You will always be an unpredictable photographer who can capture
unusual shots.
Shed the snakeskin of normality and kick out the usual suspects in favour
of the racy, the dangerous, the exciting and discover how to enjoy your
using your camera, finding the unusual angles and great whacking
compositions that draw photo-buyers to you like flies to a honey pot.
You just can’t achieve that by shooting the same stuff as the
average Joe. Be a special Joe!
Think outside the box and you will sell your images