Hot Selling Stock Photo Theme: Baby Boomers

In the stock photo market, there’s a current need for photos of the youngest baby boomers – age 50-59.  If you’re in this age range, or know people who are, you should know that now’s the time to get photos of yourself, your friends, and your family up for sale.
Take a quick search through any stock agency and you’ll see that the vast majority of people photos staring back at you are in the younger “20-something” category. But there is a tremendous need for a wider representation of ages, including these younger boomers.
Below are four tips for getting the best shots of people in this age group.
1)  Get real: be as genuine and authentic in your shots as possible. Think about what these young boomers are doing at this time of life … family, jobs, activities, concerns, responsibilities … if you can identify, tap into, and capture shots that convey these aspects of the young boomers’ life, chances are they can meet a designer’s needs, which are huge in this age range.
2)  Get natural: use natural light if it’s possible. Natural light adds to the genuine and authentic feel in your shots: they tend to look more spontaneous then staged. If you need to, use a reflector: it’s always a good idea to have a reflector along on any shoot, but it’s especially important to catch light in the eyes.
3)  Get a bunch: this can be thought of as two tips in one… Get a bunch – of shots, which you should be doing on every shoot; the more you shoot, the more likely you are to walk away with a few great shots. Get a bunch – of people. The more people you have in your shots the more challenging it can be; eyes blink, expressions don’t match and so on… But if you can get a group of peers or family members engaging and interacting with each other, it will increase not only the genuine feeling but the overall uniqueness of the shot. So, get the gang together and then shoot like crazy.
4)  Get active: while designers have a wide range of photographic needs, I suspect with this young baby boomer group there’s big demand for “active” shots. These folks have put in their time, worked hard, raised families (empty nesters), and have not yet retired but are getting closer. They have typically done enough to be able to spend some leisure time, to be engaged with sports, fun, and adventure. They also enjoy spending time with friends and family, perhaps racing through the yard with a grandchild or two, hitting the tennis court with another couple or golfing with the guys; the possibilities are endless. The more you can explore these ideas, showing the young boomers fully engaged in life, the better chance you have of making sales.
It doesn’t matter if the young boomer is you or someone you know; what matters is that designers have a big need for photos representing this group of people… and who better to take them, than you?
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