The images of our next featured age fotostock photographer, Ton Koene, might provoke a wide range of emotions in our readers.  What they won’t provoke is indifference.  This series, “Doctors at the frontline,” documents the work of Doctors without Borders at a hospital in Afghanistan.  And, more powerfully, it tells us something about the lives of women and children in that country.  You can read more about this hospital here and you can see more of Koene's images at www.tonkoene.nl.

At a time when microstocks have started selling photos for editorial use, images like these should invite photographers to a moment of serious reflection.  The value of these images is their very serious and realistic vision of the day-to-day reality in an Afghan hospital.  Their value is the careful composition and storytelling, making them images that communicate powerfully, not sensationally.  Their value is the trust the photographer has developed with the hospital and ONG to gain access and the careful planning behind photojournalism in a conflict zone.  Finally, the value of these images is the financial cost of a trip and long stay in Afghanistan and the risk of harm that the photographer has accepted. 

Should a photographer´s blood, sweat, toil & tears be available for a 14 cents download?  If we sell such valuable images for pocket change, won´t the day come when these valuable and unique images cease to exist?

Q: Why did you choose to be a photographer?

A: It is fun. You have no boss, no personnel, and can be creative and free as a bird while travelling the world.

Q: How do you get funding for your trips and projects?

A: It depends, sometimes I seek funding for projects, but mostly I invest profits from my previous projects to initiate new projects.

Q: What equipment do you carry when you’re packing light?

A: I always take: two Canon 5D, one 24 mm 1.4, one 24 mm-70 mm 2.8, one fisheye, flash and chargers. I have no telephoto lens.

Q: Where is your favourite place to photograph?

A: Outside, in all weather conditions. I love the tropics to shoot. I also shoot a lot in conflict areas where the emotions in people are stronger.

Q: Where are you still hoping to go?

A: There is no limit. I would like to go to places which are not photographed too often.

Q: Have you ever faced great difficulty in gaining access for a story?  How did you manage it?

A: I always have problems in photographing as the context I shoot is violent and corrupt. It requires good preparation and being transparent in what you want to do. Also, you must talk to the right people and take good advice.

Q: Do you feel that viewers nowadays have become desensitized to images of war, refugees, etc or are they still impacted by these images?

A: Yes, and often these images are indeed cheap. But a good photograph is always powerful, no matter how often it is being done....but you have to be creative and original...

Q: Which is your favourite of your features?

A: Any feature which shows the strength of people in difficult situations. I like the transvestites in Pakistan as the images are good, but it was also difficult to make.

Q: Why did you choose age fotostock to represent your photography?

A: AGE has a wide network of distribution which helps my sales and income.

Q: What is the best or worst photographic advice that you have ever received?

A: The worst advice: Do not start doing it, it’s hard to get an income (which is true, but who cares).
The best advice: If a picture is not good enough, you are not close enough (Robert Capa).

Q: If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be?

A: Rich.

Have you ever taken a photo that you were absolutely positive would sell like hot cakes… and it didn’t sell…at all?  But then a random image you took of the back of an old box, broken glasses or some odd thing, has sold.  And keeps selling.  And you’ve wondered: What are those clients looking for?!

Well, we don’t promise a miracle, get-rich-quick, wish-list of ideas… but we would like to share some ideas, based on the requests of real age fotostock clients. 

If you are interested in receiving these photo ideas, follow age fotostock on twitter where you’ll find this first Production Tip: images in demand... a large pile of clothes on a white background (still).  We will be sharing these tips through Twitter only, not the blog, so click on through today.

Now the fine print.  It’s not just the idea or subject; it’s your creative interpretation and competent execution of that idea which will produce a good sellable image. Are you up for the challenge?

To wrap up our month on stock photography productions, we would like to feature the lifestyle images of age fotostock photographer, Stuart Pearce.  Since he moved from the front of the camera (as a model) to the back (as a photographer), Stuart Pearce has been shootings families, couples, business and more in his island home of Mallorca.  His images of people are relaxed, happy and warm;  as though he was photographing his family...  Stuart's specialties also include yacht and travel photography.  You can see more of Stuart's work at age fotostock or at www.stuartpearce.com.

Q: Choose 3 words that describe you.

A: Imaginative, Loyal, Spontaneous

Q: Why did you choose to be a photographer?

A: As a child, my family and I were often used as models in the very early days of stock photography. When the opportunity arose to be behind the camera instead, I knew I’d found what I’d always wanted to do, made better by not having to smile for 8 or more hours a day.

Q: Was it a good decision to become a photographer?

A: It was the only choice, photography has given me freedom and taken me to the 4 corners & 7 seas of the planet. I’ve met some amazing people, some famous, some just very funny and many less fortunate, but nonetheless happy. I’ve shot countries, yachts, houses, food and people and still enjoy the great variety of my work today as much as the day I started.

Q: Are you more technical or intuitive in your photography?

A: Much more intuitive, it took me years to get the hang of the technical side and I’m sure there’s still a great deal that I could learn.

Q: What’s your favorite lens and why?

A: Canon 24-70mm f2.8, not too wide, not too long and has always been my workhorse.

Q: How do you achieve the warm and natural feeling which characterizes your lifestyle images of models?

A: I try to find models that can act as well as model; this helps add authenticity to my images.  Although directing models has never been easy for me, I know what I want, so I direct the first few shots and then usually there’s a lot of adlibbing from there on, which produces the best and most natural shots. The lighting I use is an unusual amalgamation of hmi, halogen, natural light and flash, arranging them all so that it’s not too noticeable. On exterior shoots, I only use natural light, much easier!

Q: How do you get your subjects to sign model releases?

A: I have always paid my models and the precondition is for them to release their rights to my images.

Q: Why did you choose age fotostock to represent your photography?

A: I choose AGE over 20 years ago because of Alfonso, who has always been passionate about our industry, as well as supportive and fair.

Q: What is the best or worst photographic advice that you have ever received?

A: Best advice shooting interiors; “smack it with flash and leave it open for a fortnight at f8.”

Q: If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be?

A: I’ve been a photographer for a long time so I’m probably unemployable, but I do like observing people, so perhaps a freelance window cleaner.

Our next age fotostock photographer in the 10 x 10 series is Iolanda Astor.  Astor's images explore a world of texture, contrast and gestures, finding the potent moment when shadows meet the light.  In the stock photography industry, predictive and white lit images are the most commercially successful and the market doesn’t seem to pay enough attention to fine-tuned artistic sensibility, but at age fotostock we do appreciate a solid creative vision.

See more of Iolanda Astor´s work at age fotostock or at her personal website. 

Q: Choose 3 words that describe you.

A: Sensitive, observant and obsessive.

Q: Why did you choose to be a photographer?

A: I guess because I like to watch things (almost pathologically), tell stories, and create feelings & emotions ... and due to the direct influence of my father, a great amateur photographer, who bought me my first camera when I was three. I studied photography at the Institut Fotogràfic de Catalunya (Photography Institute of Catalunya) and I worked professionally in video, film and television.

Q: Any special artistic influences?

A: I’m sure there are many, but they come without trying.  I don´t really mythicize. I like to watch everything around me; if you keep watching, you see such interesting, everyday things. Undoubtedly, I am most moved by light, but also by people and their gestures, strange situations, forms and abstractions of nature ...

Q: What’s your favorite lens and why?

A: I don’t have a favorite, although usually I work between 35 and 135mm. If I had to choose a single lens, I would pick the 35mm for its versatility.

Q: Are you more technical or intuitive in your photography?

A: Definitely intuitive, although I believe it is important to master technique in order to forget about it. I prefer a photo that excites me, whether it’s technically perfect or not, over a technically perfect postcard. I have a problem: I do not like “pretty” pictures.

Q: What’s the Image that you are still hoping to make?

A: I don’t think I’ll ever make it. You could say that I am eternally unsatisfied, photographically speaking, of course.

Q: Why did you choose age fotostock to represent your photography?

A: Because I’ve known of age for many years and knew people who worked there and could speak for its professionalism.

Q: Do you promote yourself through social networks (facebook, twitter, blog,...)?  Is it helpful?

A: The truth is that I don’t use them.

Q: What is the best or worst photographic advice that you have ever received?

A: Among the worst, to make my photography more commercial… a disaster. And among best was when Alfonso Gutierrez told me to be true to myself in my photos.

Q: If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be?

A: I've already done other things, but right now I don’t know ... I'd have to think about it.

Hello photographers!  Are you lounging seaside with your favourite model, sipping a deliciously cold and beaded glass of the local brew?  Or is it more like watermelon clean-up and sprinkler duty with the shrieking pack of neighbourhood kids?  (Your Johnny dearest might be among them, but they seem straight out of the Lord of the Flies!)

Well, wake up from your fantasy or nightmare, and get back to work!  A stock photographer should take advantage of the summer months to prepare images for the upcoming season.  And after the slow sale summer months, it’s a good idea to provide a fresh supply of relevant images right as the season kicks off.  One such topic which can be easily produced by almost any photographer is The Return to School.

Come August, September and October, children and youth of all ages will be returning to their nurseries, day-cares, schools, and universities… and we need photos for this moment.  The images can run the gamut from quite realistic to utterly creative and artistic.  No matter your level of originality, the images should reflect your style, and you should keep in mind the following 6 tips.

1. Styling - As we mentioned in an earlier post (styling) it´s important to use a wardrobe which is not just specific to summertime.  You can make the images less season-specific by incorporating clothing like jeans, jackets, sweatshirts, etc into some of the images.

2. More Styling - Alternating styles to include both classic and trendy/extreme clothing will open your possibilities of creating images that will meet both an immediate vs. long-term and trendsetting vs. conservative demand.

3. Coming and Going – Show children going to school, walking, biking, in a bus or a car, hand in hand with big bro/sis.  Try to capture details like the hands being held, the backpack being carried and different perspectives like a frontal shot of the child arriving and a shot from behind or the side.

4. Study Time – Show children and youth studying in different environments such as: the classroom, the library and at home.  The children should use schoolbooks and notebooks, as well as tools such as laptops, calculators, etc.

5. Social Time – For many, this is the best part of school (for others, the only part!) so be sure to take photos of kids interacting with each other at school, in outdoor areas, and at home.  Show them talking, laughing, smiling, walking and studying together.  Add textbooks or a laptop to some of the shots, and change nicer, more formal clothing for a more relaxed, casual look.

6. School Stuff – When you´re tired of keeping the kiddies under control, take a break and photograph common school materials such as books, computers, backpacks, notebooks, pens & pencils.  Warning! There are many boring studio shots of these materials!!  Please have mercy on your photo-editors and send in creative and evocative images of school materials by using lighting, composition, selective focus and more to create an original image.