How to Photograph Still Life For the Microstock Photographer

Shooting 'still-life' or 'table-top' photographs in the comfort of your own home and selling them online through the Microstock Libraries can't be a bad way of making money can it? By 'still-life' or 'table-top' photography I'm not talking of bowls of fruit or dying flowers. I mean images that illustrate a point or tell a story, taken at home when the weather outside is just too bad to go out.

You don't have to create a photographic still life masterpiece to achieve sales in Microstock Photography. A very simple images of objects isolated on a white background are very popular and are downloaded on a regular basis. You can shoot the images outdoors on a piece of white card and by use a home made still life reflector to soften the shadows. The home made still life reflector is a sheet of A4 card. You can also use aluminum foil if you way a stronger reflection of light.

For only a few pounds you can buy a simple table studio or Soft-Box Cube that you can use outdoors in natural light if you don't have any lighting. I started by using two simple electronic flashes and making notes of the camera settings. I then used the same setting each time and I almost always got the exposure spot on.

Possibly the hardest thing is to come up with the ideas. Just take a close look at the world news and the events that are happening now! Try and predict the eventual outcome and illustrate it in a still-life image. Do that and you could be on to a winner.

Only a couple of months ago we were seeing images of the petrol pump and the dollar sign. The nozzle dripping dry signifies the shortage of petrol or gas as our friends across the water call it. But that's all changed as the prices have plummeted. So anyone who had the foresight to shoot images to illustrate this will be selling their photographs like crazy.

For the Microstock Photographic Market I think it is better to keep things simple. If you browse through the libraries you will see that some of the best sellers are the simplest images. For example isolated objects sell well. You need to use a clean white background. I always used to buy white paper but you will find that it soon gets dirty and marked so I now use a piece of laminate or Formica. The advantage of this is if you are shooting liquids any spillage can easy be wiped up

If you would like to make some extra cash with your camera or work from home in your spare time, get creative and shoot some still life images that you can sell through Microstock Photography markets!