Great Escape Publishing

Posted August 3rd, 2011 by Lori Allen & filed under Travel Photography.

Our stock photography workshop in France was a little more intense than I imagined. First the chateau, then the city… plus, sunset wasn’t until 9:00 at night so we often returned back to the hotel late.

Traveling with an eight-month-old took its toll, too, so I’m sorry to have taken so long to complete this Photography for Beginners e-letter series.

Nevertheless, here’s your last issue on composition and what it takes to create great photos…

First, a quick review…

When I started this series, I said that photography for beginners really breaks down into four parts:

Your camera – how to buy one and then how to manipulate it to get the kinds of photos you want.
Your computer– how to get your pictures off your camera and onto your computer and also how to process them in programs like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.
The art of photography – composition, exposure, and light.
Where to sell your images

I ended up telling you about these things in a different order because it’s important to first think about where you’d like to sell your images before you consider buying more camera equipment or processing your images. If you missed any of these issues, you’ll find them here…

Today, let’s talk about taking the kinds of pictures that sell best as fine art, magazine photos and stock.

The first thing you need to understand about taking “saleable” pictures is light. Here are two articles from our archives that I think address the two biggest issues you’ll face…

After light, composition should be your main focus. I’m sure you’ve heard us repeat these things a thousand times, but they’re worth repeating and having them all listed in one place. Here are composition tips on the Rule of Thirds, Framing and Leading Lines:

And lastly, here’s one more article on distinguishing your photos from traditional snapshots and also one on basic camera set up…

[Editor’s Note: Learn more about how you can turn your pictures into cash in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel. Sign up here today and we’ll send you a new report, Selling Photos for Cash: A Quick-Start Guide, completely FREE.]