An interview with Ryan Schick, a photo editor from Conde Nast's Portfolio.com, from the Shoot! The Day event in New York City.

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An interview with Belinda Lopez, an art buyer from the ad agency Strawberry Frog, from the Shoot! The Day event in New York City.

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If you've already read our Primer on Travel Photography for Stock Photography, then you're already briefed on some of the do's and don't for stock-quality travel images. This article will give you more visual comparisons of accepted, borderline and rejected images that our photo editors have seen in their queues.

Arguably, the number one goal of a travel stock image is to make the viewer want to visit that destination. The image needs to strike the right balance of informational and aspirational content. A very banal image of a sunset might be aspirational, but it's not informational. A street scene might be the opposite.

As you view these visual examples, you will likely find individual images that you disagree with. However, we encourage you to spend time looking at the level of quality of the accepted imagery to understand where the general bar is set for these travel-related images.

Lastly, the number of images we have of any specific location will affect the acceptance rates of other images of the same subject matter. The PhotoShelter Collection contains many images of the London Eye, but not many of Makapu'u Beach in Hawai'i, so the bar will be lower in the latter.

Beaches & Bodies of Water
Accepted:


Photo by Zach Holmes / #PSC000833428


Photo by Jevgenija Pigozne / #PSC001185375


Photo by John Smith/ #PSC001226979


Photo by Doug Dailey/ #PSC001252628

• Exposure are highly accurate
• Good composition (e.g. vanishing point in the old pier)
• Sharp focus
• Good tonal range

Borderline:

• Although it might be hard to see at this size, neither photo is really sharp, in part because of the sea mist and time of day
• Tilted horizon
• Light is not flattering

Reject:

• Tilted horizons
• Poor point of view and composition
• Doesn't convey enough information about the location. Rocks and the ocean are very generic. Try harder to frame a composition that conveys something unique.
• Mediocre photos don't make the viewer want to visit.
• If the image does not succeed in identifying a specific place, it must be aesthetically superior (i.e. the iconic beach shot)

Rob Haggart from aphotoeditor.com moderated an editorial buyer panel at Shoot! The Day. Panelists included Leslie dela Vega/TIME, Michael Wichita/AARP, Ryan Schick/Conde Nast Portfolio, Whitney Lawson/Travel+Leisure.

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The comments and opinions expressed in these videos are attributable only to the individuals as industry professionals and not the companies they work for.

An interview with Leslie dela Vega from TIME magazine from the Shoot! The Day event in New York City.

Get it on iTunes too.




The comments and opinions expressed in these videos are attributable only to the individuals as industry professionals and not the companies they work for.

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.

 
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.


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.