Learning to Shoot Lifestyle Stock Photography the Hard Way

Learning to Shoot Lifestyle Stock Photography the Hard Way

I like to photograph in three main areas: 1) photojournalism, 2) portraits, 3) motion with athletes and dancers. But the PhotoShelter Collection is about shooting stock, so like many of you, I’m going through a learning curve to shoot stock. This includes poring over the School of Stock, and paying attention to as many publications as possible to understand the contexts in which stock is used.

This is my on-going story to share my experiences primarily through showing you my failures. I’m assisted by the brutal criticism of our photo editors and sales team who have been around the block a few times, and know a thing or two about what sells.

I decided to pick a relatively mundane topic of “teens using technology” for the simple reason that it’s something that nearly everyone has access to. Everyone knows someone with kids, and everyone reading this has access to some sort of technology, whether it is a camera, cellphone or laptop.

After reading the School of Stock, I decided that for my shoot I wanted to:

  • Place the model in a more natural situation rather than shooting against seamless
  • Try to use natural light, or at least give the appearance of natural light
  • I wanted to minimize the appearance of shadows
  • I wanted to cast models who were able to do their own make-up & hair (to save money)
  • I was resigned to the fact that I would be doing some post-production retouching

I looked at some of Kareem Black‘s work with Verizon to get the juices flowing. I didn’t want to copy him per se, but I did want to take note of his production values because his work is top notch.

TAKE 1:
Mallorie is studying fashion design and  is a modern dancer. I shot some dance photos with her during the afternoon, and then asked her to do some stock photos while pretending to talk on the phone. She was wearing jeans and a black tank top, and had a pretty mod haircut, which I figured would be good to convey her youthfulness. The only direction I gave her was to “pretend that you’re talking to your friend.”

There is a window to her right, and a white reflector to her left to fill in some of the shadows. I wanted a pretty even lighting ratio on her face as Joel indicated in his lighting tutorial.

mallorie1.jpg
Photo by Allen Murabayashi

There wasn’t enough energy in the face for my tastes, so I asked her to smile.

mallorie2.jpg
Photo by Allen Murabayashi

She has a very pixie-ish face when she’s smiling, which is very different from her non-smiling face. I thought the expression might be too much, so I had her dial back the smile.

mallorie3.jpg
Photo by  Allen Murabayashi

Up until this point, I’d only been looking at her expression. But then I started to notice things like the chain on the wall, and the orange paint on the post behind her. Then I started to get nervous about her hand position, and whether she was slouching or not. It’s really hard to judge by yourself, which is often why produced shoots have an art director on set. The light also didn’t seem perfectly white balanced, and I started to get frustrated.

I’m much more comfortable shooting with strobes in the studio, so I panicked, and shot her against seamless. The set-up is 4 lights on the background to ensure that the background is truly white from top to bottom, and a single beauty dish a foot above eye level and slightly to the left of center.

mallorie4.jpg
Photo by Allen Murabayashi

After only 20 frames, I threw the towel in. I had too many doubts about the posing, the haircut, the clothing, etc. I felt good about the light, but that was about it. It was my first lifestyle shoot, and I really felt like a fish out of water. It was a fallacy to believe that I could create good stock without practice.

TAKE 2
Four months later, I was ready to try again. But truth be told, I hadn’t really thought about what would make the next shoot successful. Sonia showed up with her mom (who was needed to sign the model release) because she’s a sophomore in high school.

We started around 7pm in the evening, so the light was much lower in the sky, but I tried to go natural light plus a white reflector again, and pushed my ISO to 400 (this is about the maximum I am comfortable shooting to guarantee a noise-free image for stock). I was shooting Sonia in the same corner that I shot Mallorie.

sonia1.jpg 
Photo by Allen Murabayashi

The light was way too dark. The white reflector wasn’t kicking enough light back into her face because there simply wasn’t enough light at that time of day, so I pulled out a strobe and a large softbox, and tried to balance out the ambient light.

sonia2.jpg

Photo by Allen Murabayashi

At first, the fill looked a little too strong, but after I analyzed it a little more, I thought it was appropriate for the “light and airy” ambience that modern lifestyle imagery tends to have. Immediately I noticed two things: 1) the frame on the wall, and 2) the grime on the window. Ironically, I had cleaned the window before Sonia arrived, but it was still dirty.

I also found the position of her legs was bothering me (not to mention that I cut off her foot). I asked her to hang her foot off the side.

sonia3.jpg


sonia3.jpg

Photo by Allen Murabayashi

I stilll had the same problem of cutting off her foot from the angle that I wanted, and I noticed that her knees were a little banged up from being, well, a teenager. I didn’t want to come around to her right because I didn’t want the buildings in the background to distract too much from the photo. I asked her to cross her legs.

sonia4.jpg

I was really seeing the dirty window at this point, and the wall wasn’t straight. I knew I could Photoshop the “IBM” and the sticker off the front of the laptop later, but I still wasn’t happy with the pose. It seemed too compact now, so I had her hang her leg off the side.

sonia5.jpg

Photo by Allen Murabayashi

The leg that is hanging off the side looks ok, but her right leg makes her look like an amputee. I started to get really frazzled with the posing once again. I took the picture frame off the wall, and the hook was bothering me. I tried to throw in a foreground element, but then I noticed that it looked really stupid with the black object jutting off of the chair. I panicked and asked her to talk on a cellphone.

sonia6.jpg

Photo by Allen Murabayashi

Kids sit like this all the time. But I started to think that the skirt was revealing too much of her leg. What ad agency or publication would even consider using a photo that might be construed as provocative? So I went tighter and asked her to pretend to talk.

sonia7.jpg

Photo by Allen Murabayashi

This was a little better, but the dirty window confounded me again. But I thought compositionally that the horizontal aspect was good.

sonia8.jpg
Photo by Allen Murabayashi

When Sonia walked in initially, all I thought was, this looks like a really authentic and cool teenager. She had the streak of blue in her hair. She had on the rockin t-shirt and skirt with the leopard print belt. On this last shot, I finally noticed that her authentic shirt had the word “FUCKING” on the front.

(take a deep breath)

I didn’t feel like the shirt invalidated the shoot because from a lot of angles you can’t even read it. But it did point out how many different variables I needed to be aware of to create a single usable frame. I’m starting to feel like I need some sort of checklist that I can run over until I get really comfortable with shooting lifestyle.

The Verdict
Annie (Pro Collection head editor) & April (sales executive):
Both Annie and April have been in the industry for years. I sent them the image samples and questions independently without any other comment and without divulging any of my experiences or feelings about the shoot. I was honestly a little surprised at how similar their feedback was generally, and the little details that they picked up on (like the fingernail polish, which I totally missed).

Is it lifestyle stock photography?
Annie: This would not really be categorized as classic lifestyle.  These images look set up and even though a good lifestyle shoot is produced with a crew and location, the final product doesn’t look it.  It is all about creating a story and shooting it.  There is movement and it looks light and easy and loose, even if the production isn’t.  All the pieces need to be in place to make the story come alive.

April: Yes.

Is the casting appropriate/successful?
Annie: I would say no.  It is tough to define, but natural good looks are best for lifestyle.  It’s that girl we see in the grocery store or at the park who is just pretty without trying.  It’s the father with the kid on his shoulders who looks happy and healthy.  Healthy, good looks are key, outdoorsy is always good.

April: Mallorie can be appropriate for a certain urban look…. but she is limited, she needs a little styling (see answer in styling question). She is a good cross ethnic mix. Sonia seems a little more polished, it may be to her advantage that she is not looking at the camera

Is she styled convincingly?
Annie: Styling, like all the details of a shoot are key and I cannot stress enough the importance of putting a good crew together.  It is difficult to create a successful shoot without a good team.  In this example, the styling is drab and dark and lifestyle should be light and colorful.  Lifestyle is not fashion and that can be a common mistake when first starting out.

April: Both models fall into a certain trendiness which will limit there “sales life” but they hit on a certain area that is appropriate and needed for this day and age (this is a good thing)

Mallorie, needs a little polish, some make up to even out her skin tones, (I’m not talking a full face just even her skin tone)  her nail polish is chipped, you may be looking for a certain “look” but there should be some polish to the models to appeal to commercial clients.  I have a problem with Mallorie’s top… Frankly, it’s a poor fit which will eventually limit her salability. I also have a problem with Malorie’s teeth, this may cause a little problem in the US market but it will not be a problem in Europe.

Sonia is styled appropriately, you can tell she is dressed in a certain style and actually has more “accessories” on her clothing but because of the angle you cannot not really see what she is wearing.

I like the fact that both models portray a certain type of urban image but both are dressed simple

Does the posing seem natural?
Annie: In the first image, she seems relaxed and it appears that a real moment is happening, but I struggle a with the styling.  The others feel posed, but I think the third one evokes a emotion.  Lifestyle images can be posed, they just can’t look posed.

April: Yes, both models seem natural, Malorie gives off a friendliness.

Sonia seems a little distant but that totally works for the set up and the
pose (you know no matter how far away you are, you can still keep in touch
etc…)

What elements would make it more successful?
Annie: Practically speaking,  it is the chemistry of all the elements that go into the shoot.  Production value is key, without it, the imagery will not hold much value.

To get specific in this example:
Casting – more natural
Wardrobe Styling – lighter, more colorful
Prop Styling – more realistic environment without being cluttered.  This environment feels cold.
Lighting/Photography – Natural light is good, but this still feels drab….cannot stress it enough, light and airy.  The best lifestyle shooters often let their highlights blow out and/or use a shallow depth of field to allow one’s eye to land on the subject.  In the case where the location/props are important to the shoot, this may vary, but lifestyle photography is typically bright.  The photographer should feel free to move around his subject…loose, loose, loose, but not sloppy.

April: Mallorie’s lighting on white is not balanced, (I like the fact that it is a little hot and a little reminiscent of Rembrandt lighting)  but, there is a lack of details in her clothing,

Sonia’s image, somehow the focus is on the bottom of her shoes (thank god they are clean underneath) also you have Sonia at an unflattering angle which could be a disaster but it is not, her butt is not showing and her under thigh area is smooth and clean (was she retouched? If not she has good legs (even though the angle could be bad for what I expected to show, it worked out well)

You can’t see the phone’s which is sometimes very good, no problems with someone competitors phone in their brochure etc… I would also put them on more trendy phone while on the shoot i.e. Blackberries, iPhone’s etc

Would you accept any of these images into the Collection?
Annie: Maybe, the one of Sonia talking on the phone with her legs up. The others, no.

April: Yes, it balances out, older photography and typical stock models when people are doing a search.  The image [of Mallorie against seamless] is a little dark in the clothing and for technical reason I may not accept, If I was editing, I would actually ask another editor’s opinion and weight the pros and cons to the subject in comparison to how much we need the image)

Would you push these images to any clients? If so, what type of usage to you envision?
Annie: The [potentially accepted] image could be sold in a variety of ways, editorially to young women’s magazines and I can see it being used for something like Planned Parenthood or Public Service ads.  There may be more commercial value, but the styling may be an issue for big ad clients.

April: The images can go for anything on communications and clients not wanting typical people on the phone, or any phone company on keeping in touch. There is also an editorial market for this type of image.

Conclusion
It’s become really clear that I won’t be creating good lifestyle stock without practice. I didn’t run into technical problems with exposure or composition, but I ran into a ton of issues that I simply didn’t have to deal with in the past based on my experience ranging from casting to styling and beyond. And while the lighting is ok, it’s not quite there from a lifestyle perspective. But I feel a little more confident going into the next shoot, so I’ll see you on the flip side.
 

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Allen Murabayashi is the co-founder of PhotoShelter.

There are 6 comments for this article
  1. Kendal Larson at 2:17 pm

    Allen – Tremendously revealing, and I suspect your post here could be extremely helpful for folks as they shoot stock, if they read carefully and learn from your experience. Thanks mucho for sharing in this manner – good stuff to be sure. Kendal

  2. Jana at 5:23 pm

    Allen ~ This was fabulous information. I am new to stock and have never tried lifestyle shots at all before, but I have a teenage son and daughter that I have wanted to try getting stock shots of. The above information will definitely help! Thank you for taking the time to share. Jana Thompson

  3. Becque Olson at 1:41 pm

    Wow! VERY helpful! One thing I noticed was the reflection of Sonia in the window … would have made it harder to Photoshop later. I’m often finding I catch reflections of myself in photographs, and have to photoshop them out. But other than having a big block in front of myself with a hole for the camera, Photoshop is the answer, I guess … That famous photograph of the girl in Afghanistan from National Geographic? Has the photographer reflected in her eyes … We all suffer. Or we’re trying to get pix of ourselves on magazines!

  4. Michael Zahora at 5:23 pm

    Great post. This really let’s people know what is needed/wanted for lifestyle stock photography. The amount of detailed information you included makes this invaluable to anyone starting out shoot stock… Like me. Thanks!

  5. roye at 10:56 am

    I have to agree that this is tremendously insightful. I would love to see more of this type of expose as I think each would be just as useful as the school of stock articles describing specific fields.

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