Prepping for stock photography

Hi Nic.

Thanks again for the use of your studio. The photos are fab.
I am off for the summer to Gods country (Ireland - where else?) and hope to hone my manual photography skills. My aim now is to develop and fine tune my photographs and start stockpiling for stock.
Am I running before I can walk?
What top 5 pearls of wisdom can you bestow on me when snapping with the hope that it will be technically suitable for stock?

Also a studio workshop would be brill. Count me in.

Have a good summer

Ren.

Hi Ren,

Glad you enjoyed the studio shoot! Roo was a fantastic little model and I hope to see her back in the studio soon.

Stock photography is all about technically correct photos that are commercially viable. Technically correct means:
1 - Perfect exposure (use that histogram!)
2 - Perfect focus - you can use DOF artistically, but something must be in perfect focus, unless you specifically blur the image for a VERY GOOD reason.
3 - No (or very low) noise, i.e. shoot at ISO100 or 200 if possible.
4 - Rules of composition must be followed
5 - White balance must be perfect (or near perfect)

The quality of your lens(es) will often make or break a shot. Purple fringing (chromatic aberration) happens when your lens fails to focus colours to a specific point, causing a fringe that could be purple, blue or orange in colour around the edge of something in your picture, especially if there is light coming from the back of your subject. Those are usually rejected by the stock companies and you will not even notice the fringing at first!

I'm considering a stock photography course where the business of stock will be explained. Will let you know if/when that will be.

I will also be off to SA on the 27th for my annual vacation - you will no doubt see the pictures on my stock sites in 2 months' time Enjoy your holiday!