Challenge | Visual Storytelling
Need a Special Image? Roll Your Own!
Stock Photography
How often have you found yourself searching for just the right photo on one of the free stock photo sites, only to come up empty — or to find only the same photo that has been used a thousand times, before, on Medium?
Stock photos are meant to illustrate — they are the workhorses of the photography world. And how lucky are we, that we have access to so many high-quality, free, stock photos?
I’ve relied heavily on my own photos, in the past. I’ve even contributed some to ShutterStock and, just this week, to Unsplash. I don’t know if Unsplash will accept my contributions, but I submitted a few under the “pay it forward” principle — in gratitude for the glorious free stock images others have made available, for free, to me.
Did I Choose the Wrong Career?
The generosity of our fellow creatives is not something we should take for granted. Stock photographers can earn quite a bit for just the right photo, taken to fit a client’s requirements, and licensed for their exclusive use. They can earn some nice royalties — even that mythical “passive income” — from some of the online microstock companies that charge money for downloads.
Would you believe that a carefully isolated red leather speed bag is the photo that has earned me the most revenue? Or that it was my first attempt at “isolating” an object in PaintShop Pro? This single image earned me well over $100.
Take a look at the whole portfolio:
That preview photo? That was a combination of “Image Arithmetic” merge and mask layers. And to this day, I have no idea how I did it. I was just experimenting. But it’s my second-highest earner.
I’ve earned more money from stock photography than I have from writing. That counts Medium and royalties from all my books.
Perfectionism is Not Your Friend
The images I create for my own blog posts and stories may not all be “professional” quality, but at least I know they’re mine, and I have fun creating them.
I can’t always get exactly the illustration I want, unfortunately. That’s when it’s time to get creative! And sometimes, a little silly.
I was just looking over at some of the little knick-knacks that keep me company while I write. These Intel “Bunny People” toys were hot in 1997. I knew they’d come in handy, some day.
How hard would it be to transform a Bunny Suit into a HAZMAT suit — or at least the idea of one? First, let’s strip him of that logo — he’s got a new job, now. We’re going to wash that off with the “clone” tool so we can put him to work on a hand-washing PSA:
Of course, he needs some soap. I found an image of soap on Unsplash, then did the same thing to it that I did to the Bunny Man — I stripped it of its logo and its pretty surroundings, made it look a little used, added some “water droplets,” then used layers to “insert” the soap over one of HAZMAT Guy’s arms and under the other.
It’s silly, and I could have added more shadows to make it more convincing, but you can see from what’s on the PC screen behind him that I created this in just a few minutes while writing this story!
Now You Try It!
You don’t need Photoshop or PaintShop Pro, though they make it a little easier to zoom in and get the details right. If you have a smartphone, odds are good you have all you need — a camera, and access to plenty of fun, free apps that will help you to create a great image.
I have an Android phone; my favorite apps for photomanipulation are Snapseed, Background Eraser, PhotoLayers, Add Text, and Photo & Picture Resizer.
Who’s feeling brave, creative, and quirky? Rasheed Hooda? Timothy Key? TheresAnn Sylvan? Trista Ainsworth? Britni Pepper? You? That’s right — you. You know who you are.
Tag me, if you decide to give this a try!
Holly Jahangiri is the author of Trockle; A Puppy, Not a Guppy; and A New Leaf for Lyle. She draws inspiration from her family, from her own childhood adventures (some of which only happened in her overactive imagination), and from readers both young and young at heart. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, J.J., whose love and encouragement make writing books twice the fun.
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