42 What Sells and What Does Not
ingredients, poor settings, fussy over-decorated plates, water-stained
cutlery, and bad, uneven lighting.
Here is a great idea. If you are near a good local restaurant, ask the
owners if they will allow you to photograph their food in exchange for
the right to use your shots. It’s a win–win solution for you and for
them!Landscapes and Travel
Your favorites? Mine too. But here is the bad news: the market is
saturated with landscape images, so taking landscape shots that
will stand out and sell well on microstock libraries is a challenge.
The good news is that even though landscapes shots are plentiful,
this does not mean you cannot make money with them. You can,
provided you choose simple subjects, particularly ones that can
be used as a natural background by designers. Simple sells applies in
landscape photography as well. Good landscape photography—the
kind that sells through microstock sites—has an immediate impact
(Figure 3.10).FIGURE 3.10 “Green Field and Tree.” A
very popular microstock image. Did I hear
someone say, “Simple sells”? © Slawomir
Jastrzebski/iStockphoto