Quote from: bosharpe on April 05, 2010, 07:56

I'm looking into insurance at the moment to cover my (expensive) 5d MkII and a lens I'm buying (either the 24-104mm or 24-70mm).

Off-topic: don't buy the 24-70 but buy the 24-104 instead. I saw full size images of both and they are equally sharp. I have the 24-70 and the range of 70 is just a bit too short for portraits. Moreover, it's very heavy and feels like your (light D5II) cam is out of balance when handheld. Ask Patrick and Lisa. I think Lisa has both.

hmm I think you are right in some respects. The 24-70mm is faster and by all accounts better image quality but the kit lens does have IS which suits me because I'll be doing a fair amount of handheld work.

A lot of you have mentioned the tree concept specifically as being a good idea which I'm quite pleased to hear. If only I could use it.  The lighting is poor/dull, and some of the decorations aren't symmetrical which are my primary concerns as people have pointed out. I was playing around with the lighting on the day and had difficulty getting it spot on. I took about 150 RAW images in the process.

Lighting Is something I've been training myself to notice more and concentrate on as well as flash- something I've seen as negative in the past. I know what looks good but technical know-how shows me up and until recently I haven't really been thinking about what sells.

Click_click- Thank for your comments. I'm glad you like my ideas, they don't take me long to come up with. I'm quite resourceful and usually use what I've got around me for stock ideas. The bottle one- I just happened to be on a beach with a bottle of bud and two people walked past. Same with the bubble gum image- just circumstantial. The tree was the first image I planned in regards to stock imagery and I plan to carry on this way while I improve. I'm just curious to know but do you think the tree image will ever amount to a stock image- any advice on editing and how to help it achieve its purpose? If It can't then I'll be done with it and come back to the idea next year.

Thanks again to everyone.

Most of these aren't very "stock" oriented. The photo with the bottle and the couple could be a good concept photo but it is too dark and looks too out of focus. Bad lighting on the eagle, can't really tell if that's a wren on the windowsill, already LOTS of photos of mallards online. I like the christmas tree in the snow.

My personal opinion is that these types of photos might do better and be more appreciated by a site like Photocase.
http://www.photocase.com

I thought the Christmas tree was a winner, maybe colour wise slightly off. I understand about the mallard one and the beach photo- that was really when I just picked up a camera. Not heard of Photocase. I'll check it out properly later today.

I've bought some cheap pan lights so I can create basic studio lighting in my kitchen so hopeful I can photograph items I have in my inventory to a better degree. They'll probably make for better stock images. I'm also going to try my hand at audio at istock also since I own a Edirol R-09hr.

Thanks again everyone for your comments

great. thank you