Pictures from D.C.: Shooting for Stock and The Ultimate Stock Photography Workshop

I spent some time this weekend with professional photographer Stacey Blomstrom, running through photo shoot locations here in D.C. for our upcoming stock photography workshop.
Stacey isn’t a stock photographer.  But she’s a local.  And she knows all the best spots.
I asked her to take a few photos as she might if our model hired her to shoot traditional graduation photos or portraits.  And then, I asked her to shoot a few with stock photography in mind.
Here’s her traditional shot…

And here’s one she might send to an online stock photo agency…

Both shots use a nice shallow depth of field and have areas that could be used as copy space for a designer to put text.  But the second one is more useful for photo buyers looking for images of D.C., D.C. students, young professionals, travel, and more.
It says more than simply: Girl standing next to a tree.
Think about this the next time you’re out with your camera.  What does your photo say?  How do you think it might be used by a designer or photo buyer?  You might find that simply giving your photo a purpose will make it more attractive to photo buyers.
[Editor’s Note: Learn more about how you can turn your pictures into cash in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.  Sign up here today and we’ll send you a new report, Selling Photos for Cash: A Quick-Start Guide, completely FREE.]