If you own a half decent camera and have access to editing software, you could take your own high quality stock photos. Find out how right here!

Stock photos have many uses. They can brighten up a website, create visual appeal in marketing, and beef up an Instagram grid. They’re a great option for those who require beautiful pictures, but perhaps don’t have the budget to purchase the licensing for individual photographs.

Licensing

Much like music, in order to use images, the appropriate licenses and permissions must be obtained. As a form of art, photographs are protected by copyright laws. This means, if someone else’s photograph is improperly used on a website or in an article, the author might be asked to remove it, or even run into legal problems.

Creators can pay a one off fee or a subscription for royalty free music. They are then free to use tracks forever, as they have obtained the licensing to do so. The same can be done with stock images.

At Synchedin, we are excited to now offer royalty free, high quality stock photos for all uses. Under a subscription that costs less than a slice of cake per month, users can download unlimited images covering a wide array of categories. We also offer free amazing stock images, under the creative commons license, meaning they’re simple to use for anything at all, without costing a penny!

If you’re a budding photographer, you can become Synchedin contributor. Share your images with a world of content creators, businesses and more! Once uploaded, you can sit back, relax, and watch the passive income roll in.

Take Your Own High Quality Stock Photos

You may have spent some time searching online for a very specific image you had in your head. After many minutes of scrolling, you resign yourself to using something more generic, slightly less relevant. But, why not create that image yourself?

If you’ve got an eye for composition and know your way around a camera, you could fill in those stock photo blanks. You could well end up saving someone else the frustration you went through, and won’t that feel good?

Here’s all that’s needed to shoot your own high quality stock photos!

Light It Up

Grainy and gloomy are not generally criteria people look for when searching for the perfect stock photo. Make sure that whatever you’re photographing is drenched in plenty of light. Of course, you don’t want to go too far and vaporise the subject, but the more light, the better the clarity.

If you want to control the light and avoid harsh shadows, you can diffuse it using a few tricks.

Aim for High Resolution

You might be tempted to take as money photos as your memory allows. Although more is more, loads of poor quality images will never amount to a couple of high quality stock photos. Even if you’re an editing wizard, you’ll struggle to create a beautiful photo with a poor foundation.

Shooting with the highest quality settings your camera allows means you have a strong canvas to work with when it comes to editing.

No One-Take-Wonders

There are some bragging rights in being a one-take-wonder. However, if you aim for this with your photography, you’re limiting the chances of capturing some amazing shots of one subject. Things can be beautiful from multiple angles. The more photos you take of something, the higher your chances of getting a few incredible images at the end of the session.

Rule of Thirds

Composition is key when it comes to photography. The rule of thirds is an important one to follow in order to get well-balanced, appealing images. Check out this super informative explanation of the rule of thirds from Learn Pro Photography!

Example of the rule of thirds in landscape photography.
Image Credit: Learn Pro Photography

Don’t Skip the Edit

Raw photos can certainly be beautiful, but without an edit they can appear flat and lifeless. Bring colours to life, sharpen subjects and accentuate shadows with a simple edit.

Programmes like Photoshop or Lightroom allow a wealth of photo editing options. If you’re not at a stage where you want to invest in edition software, free options like GIMP still enable you to give your photos that all-important finishing touch.

You can advance your photo editing skills by checking out some great photo editing classes on Skillshare.


Sign up and become a Synchedin images contributor today, and start sharing your high quality stock photos with the world whilst earning easy money!