Micro Stock Photography Dot Net

When you want to take pictures and sell them on the web, there are some essential equipment pieces you will need. The initial cost is not high, and if you get good sales you can cover your expenses fast. I have tried to compile a list of items that are a must for the micro stock photographer, and some extras that will give your image selling record a little boost.

Selecting a camera

The first thing you will need is a camera. OK, no surprises here - but which camera, out of all those available is best for you? From my experience, you'd be best suited with a medium range D-SLR like the D40 from Nikon or EOS 400D from Canon. Most micro stock sites have a mega-pixel minimum requirement, so 5-6 mega-pixels camera is your base line. Personally, I shoot with my good ol' Nikon D70, and get great results. Though point and shoots can be used for this type of job, you can get quite frustrated with long shutter lag and noisy images. (and, as you know - noise is the enemy of micro stock images)

Selecting a lens

I recommend a general purpose lens such as Nikon's 18-200 VR lens. This lens is a bit expensive, if you can not afford one, I'd go with a medium range zoom lens like 24-120 or similar. Of course, if you are using a point and shoot, this is a non issue for you.

Using a flash

A flash is not mandatory if you use a well lighted setup. Otherwise you'd better get a nice flash to give you some light. I recommend getting two small cheap flashes from eBay, along with radio slave control . This should be enough to start with. As you get more experienced, you can get better flash units like Nikon's SB800 or Canon's 550EX . You may also consider studio flash units (like this one - note it can be expensive), and flash accessories like snoots, grids and barn-doors.

Creating a setup

As long as you are shotting still, you don't need to invest much - most setups can be achieved with some basic materials and a good pair of hands. You can check out our micro stock image setups section for more details.