I am trying to learn to shoot people for stock. I am currently not very good at people shots but I am practicing. Below is a link to a photo I recently submitted to several sites. It was accepted on most sites but rejected by one. I would like to learn from this and see how I could improve this shot.

If you do not mind, please take a look at the photo and tell me what you think? How could it be improved? Would it be better with a different background? How do you think it is for a STOCK photo? Will it sell?

I do not want to put the rejection reason in here now because it would probably influence people. But it was not a rejection that you would need a 100% crop for.

Also, I am not posting this complaining about a rejection. I want to learn how to shoot people for stock so I can hopefully increase by stock revenue.

Thanks for any feedback.

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-3439389-a-young-teenage-boy-playing-a-game-of-backgammon-the-boy-and-board-are-isolated-over-a-black.html

my two bits.

An ok image but it doesn't strike me as interesting. It is a fine documentation of the game but that is about all.  Perhaps if you had taken the image from a angle slightly to the side it would add to the interest of the photo.

Lighting seems to be pretty direct, perhaps with an on flash camera bounced?, or with a diffuser?  Either way if you moved the light source off the camera this would also help in creating depth to the image.

I imagine the image is fairly usefull being isolated on a black background but I have also heard designers wanting images taken in a natural setting.  perhaps the boy playing back gammon in a cafe or living room would also make good stock.  Despite that the isolated looks good from the tiny image we can see, it is a little unnerving that everyting is floating on this air.  Perhaps having the table in the isolation could be helpful.

depending on your flash you can probably make them communicate without a pocket wizard - or with a infra red sender which might be cheaper than a pocket wizard set up.

Or else you could invest in some cheap / but fairly decent studio lighting from alien bees
alien bee packages

they are actually not much more than on camera flashes and give quite a bit better lighting if you are going to be shooting in the studio.

Or thirdly try and rig up some lighting with industrial lights and bed sheets as soft boxes... although you'll need a tripod because even with industrial lighting at several 100watts it is still dark (and very warm)

I am using a Canon SLR and Canon 430EX flash. I was at first going to get the Canon infrared master controller and it is a cheaper option than the pocket wizards, but from reading reviews and comments I heard that the radio controlled Pocket Wizards are more reliable and have a longer working distance than the Canon infrared.

But in any case, I am going to look at the Alien Bees products. Thanks for the info.

Thanks everyone. Very good helpful comments.