Have you ever written a fabulous post and then realized that you don’t have a photo to go along with it? Yes? Good, I’m glad I’m not the only one. This has happened to me so much that I decided to make sure that it never rarely happens again. For me, this means having a stockpile of photos that sit on my computer just waiting for the right post to come along. Yes, you could use a stock image from a website but then you run the risk of the photo looking too generic and not fitting with the brand that you’ve spent so much time and effort creating.
I like making my own stock photographs because it gives me a chance to:
- flex my creative muscles
- practice my photography skills
- explore my environment
Here are a few of the categories of stock photos that I’m creating:
- Animals – dogs, horses, cows, they’re always fun for random posts
- Food – especially coffee and pastry pictures, they make great photos for reflective posts
- Landscape – thinking about going on a trip or writing about a memory, these make great images
- People – this is a great opportunity to practice shooting out of focus, unless you’ve gotten a model release
- Technology – I love these types of photos for blogging or photography related posts
Whenever I take my camera out, I try to shoot a couple of things in one or two of the above categories, then I save them {unedited} on my computer. You don’t want to edit them because you want to be able to manipulate the image to fit your post when it’s needed.
And don’t think you can only create your stock photography if you have a DSLR, you absolutely positively can take great photos with a point and shoot or your cell phone. And thanks to the abundance of apps, you can edit to your heart’s desire.
What would you add to the list?
Happy Clicking,
