How Ryan Cardone Sold an Image for $8000 through PhotoShelter

How Ryan Cardone Sold an Image for $8000 through PhotoShelter

Ryan Cardone is a surfer turned photographer who combines his passion with business. A single course on stock photography at the Brooks Institute helped him to consider ways to diversify his revenue stream within the photographic industry. Like many photographers, he sees the world as a series of photographs, and on a vacation with his girlfriend, he created an image that he turned into an $8000 sale on PhotoShelter to a pharmaceutical company (Not to mention that he could write off the trip as a business expense). You can license more of his work at http://psc.photoshelter.com/user/tidalstock.

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Photo by Ryan Cardone

Ryan and I had some virtual coffee talk while surfing (the web).

Are you a full-time stock photographer?
Yes and no.  I am a full time photographer.  I do commercial, editorial and stock photography.  I own boutique stock photography company called TidalStock.com, which is dedicated to ocean, water, and life stock photography.

How did you get into shooting stock? Are you systematic about content that you shoot to plug hole in your collection, or perceived holes generally?
I graduated from Brooks Institute of Photography; while I was there I took a Stock Photography class taught by Ralph Clevenger (he shot the famous over/under iceberg photo that has sold all over the world).  Since that class I was hooked and that’s when I started TidalStock.com.

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Photo by Ralph Clevenger

I am pretty systematic about filling holes, I started TidalStock.com because as a surfer I noticed the outdated, “same old” photos that were being licensed. Our hopes were to fill the gaps with new and fresh surf imagery.  So far it has been pretty successful.  On a side note that is why I was so attracted to PhotoShelter.  I think you guys are taking my theory and applying it to all stock photography.  I think it is great.   



Do you approach shooting stock with an end-client in mind? Does your approach to shooting stock differ than if you are shooting something like a wedding?
I do try to shoot stock with an end client in mind.  I try to think of concepts, colors, negative space for copy, shooting vertical, horizontal, different angles, different lenses, etc, but sometimes I forget all that and just shoot, especially with surf photography.  There are so many factors involved.

My approach to shooting stock is pretty similar to any other job I shoot.  You basically have a client that needs great photos.  As the photographer I take my skill and knowledge to deliver a product that the client is looking for.  The difference with stock is that you never know who your client will be, but I still take that time to plan out my shoots.  Stock is not just about pushing the shutter button, so easy to do now with digital.  A lot of people say stock photography is a numbers game (there is some truth to that) but no one is going to want to go thru 5 million shitty photos.  It is better to have a nice edited collection with great photography (like Photoshelter).  That makes buyers happy and happy buyers buy photos.

Are you a member of any trade organizations? If yes, have you found the membership to be beneficial?
This is bad but no. Don’t get me wrong trade organizations are great and have a wealth of info.  I do visit their websites often; they offer a ton of great information for free.  Also I am pretty active on forums and love reading blogs.  There are way too many blogs to keep up with.

How much time to you spend shooting as opposed to non-shooting activities like keywording/captioning, retouching, and dealing with business-related activities?

To be honest I hate key wording and captioning.  I think I spend a lot more time in the office than I would like to.  I always remember in school hearing, “You can be a great photographer but if you don’t know a thing about business good luck surviving.”  So I kind of took that to heart.  I wouldn’t say I am great in business (still learning new things everyday) or for that matter an amazing photographer, but I do know that it takes time and effort to build a business.  So all those times I am stuck in the office I know it will benefit me in the long run.    

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I know you like to shoot surf and other beach lifestyle images. Can you tell me a little bit about the image you sold and how you created it?
The beauty of stock is that you can shoot anytime anywhere.  So my girlfriend and I were in Kauai for a buddy’s wedding.  We were just doing some snorkeling this day and I wanted to get some stock shots.  I had this idea to shoot my fins out in the nice blue water.  Seemed easy enough.  Well to get the right kind of shot my fins needed to be out of the water more then I could lift them to take the picture. So I called my girlfriend over to help me out.  From the picture it looks like a nice calm day when but in reality it was really rough.  So she is under me almost drowning trying to hold me up enough to get the shot.  I shot this using my SPL housing that fits my Nikon F100.  So I couldn’t just fire off a bunch of shots.  I took a few and felt that my girlfriend drowning is not worth the shot.  I was happy when I got the film back to see this shot and new it was a keeper.  It is one of my favorite shots.

What’s typically in your camera bag?
Too Much  

Below is the common list, but here are some things that really have come in handy…Pen with gaffers tape wrapped around it.  We all know a roll of gaffers tape is humongous so rap some around a pen and you at least have some.  This has saved my butt many times.  Gum.  Yes it is never fun to have bad breath or your model to have bad breath.  Some money, you never know when you will be without your wallet!!!  Pocket model releases when you travel if you have those you have no reason not to get a release; most of the time if I don’t get it there I never get one, and a copy of your passport.  I was on a cruise once in the Grand Cayman long story short almost missed the boat.  So see it all ties in: next time you miss the boat, use your copy of your passport to get a new one, while you wait use the money to get a beer, use the gum to meet a nice looking lady friend, use the pen to write down her number and the tape I will leave that to you.

Here is the common list:

In another bag:

And in another bag:

  • SPL water housing for my F100
  • 20 mm Port
  • 50 mm Port
  • Flash Port
  • Velvia 50

Do you try to obtain model releases when you’re shooting surfers? Do you hire models at all?
I do shoot a lot of professional surfers but I can only use those shots for editorial and commercially for companies they surf for.  My main goal is to find surfers who are good enough to show the sport in a good light but not too good where they are professional so they are able to sign a model release. I have been surfing for many years so luckily I have a lot of friends who I use.  I do hire models for the lifestyle shots.  I have been on a hunt for models that can surf, I feel like I am searching for the Holy Grail sometimes.  Marissa Miller if you read this I would love to shoot with you (so would every other photographer in the world)!  

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This article was written by

Allen Murabayashi is the co-founder of PhotoShelter.

There are 3 comments for this article
  1. interslice at 8:00 pm

    Are we allowed to know WHO ordered the image? I absolutely love stories like these and i’m also trying to collect them … as well as the people behind the “action”. I hope I can leave a comment link to my community for helping people get lucky online like this with hard work and effort Thanks – Click Interslice to Join: Mobilize your life

  2. MarkTwain at 2:34 am

    Once you are comfortable with your skills, one possibility is wedding photography. Research lots of books on style. Offer yourself to friends to get practice or just bring your camera to a wedding and practice. If your good, this can be a nice jump start to pay bills.

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