Beyond the obvious

Waiting for something to happen. People on a bench in Ostend, Belgium. Why should you use a professional photographer instead of downloading an image from a stock library? Well there are many good reasons and I hope that photographers reading my blog find something useful here when pitching for new work and marketing themselves. I've got nothing against stock libraries as such and in fact I contribute to a few. These days though the returns are diminishing and articles keep appearing challenging the viability of making a living as a traditional stock photographer. Enthusiasts and amateurs have swamped the stock library market with images and unfortunately designers and agencies, with pressure increasing on their budgets, all too quickly turn to stock libraries for their picture needs. So it is becoming more important than ever for good professional photographers to differentiate themselves from the offerings of stock libraries. Here goes... When a company hires a pro photographer ...

What tags would apply to you as a photographer? It's a fascinating question. In a sense the tags are your photographic DNA, or in marketing speak your brand. People who know how diverse my work is may wonder what tags would apply to me as a photographer. I wonder too. Different editors and art directors will no doubt have their individual set of tags depending on what they use my work for and how they perceive it. I don't think that I can be easily pigeon holed. But maybe I'm missing something. There's a very interesting article on one of my favourite blogs which you should read if you're interested in how photographers are perceived by photo editors. I've had a go at picking my own tags: color black & white digital available light location portrait photojournalist fine art captured moment quirky real people I'm curious to know how you would tag my photographic work. Please leave a comment or send me an email . Many thanks, Paul