Last year we did a cover shoot live at the Arnold’s in Ohio with Greg Plitt. Here is the behind the scenes and final cover from the shoot.

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Stock photography is different than commissioned photography. Not only is it different from the technical side but also from the planning and execution aspect as well.

How is it different from the technical side? Well for one it is a little more demanding in the final image requirement. There are a lot of variables that need to be taken into consideration when producing a stock photo. Stuff that you can get away with during a commercial or magazine commissioned shoot might not go through as easily for stock. The technical requirements are much more demanding when producing stock images. A small dust spot in a corner of an image might not even be visible when submitting to a magazine, however a stock photo is reviewed at 200% zoom and any small imperfection will result in the file being flagged and rejected. Noise, fringing, copyrighted logos, etc… are other elements that need to be taken into consideration. It’s not to say that for commercial work these don’t have to be taken into consideration, but what I’m trying to say is that the level of acceptance between magazine submission and stock submission standards are quite different.

The other important point regarding stock is planning and timing of your images. There are various themes that are relevant all year long, such as business images, sports and fitness, and lifestyle. However a big portion of being successful in stock photography is the seasonal and special events. It’s important to time these right to maximize on the returns. For example you wouldn’t want to upload Halloween images in October as it’s already past the required deadline. Designers would need the Halloween images few months in advance to prepare their materials, etc… So you always want to time your seasonal and special occasion shoots 2-3 months in advance. For example right now in the studio we are in full swing shooting Christmas images. We’ll continue to do so for the remainder of the month.

Here is a preview of some of the latest shots produced.

And here is a quick view of how the studio looks right now.

So happy shooting and remember to plan ahead for your seasonal and special occasion stock photoshoots!

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Several months ago I was approached by the president of UFE to discuss a possible creative project for 15ft. banners for a fitness show. I love working on creatives and this this has sparked my creativity to come up with something new and different. I wanted to showcase the two fitness competitors but also make the images different and cool.

One of my favorite movies (especially the way it was shot) was 300. I loved how the movie had a bit of a different feel to it. So that’s exactly the angle I was going to take for this project. I dusted off the smoke machine had the two models come in for the shoot and produce this creative.

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Couple months ago I did a photoshoot with Amanda Lee who came down from Winnipeg. She’s a Dynamis sponsored athlete and our task was to come up with something creative for one of their new ad campaigns.
It just so happened that few weeks before I dug up my smoke machine from the storage closet for a different shoot. That smoke machine gave me a few ideas where we could push this advertisement. Let’s just say it’s not easy to control that smoke machine in the studio as it usually has a mind of its own turning on and off whenever it pleases. We did however manage to get the shots we needed and here is the final result.

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This past June I had the opportunity to work with Kendra Wilkinson for a cover shoot for Inside Fitness Magazine as well as a workout feature. The shoot took place at the Hazelton Hotel in Toronto. The final result came out great. Here is the preview of the cover.

I’ll post some more images from the shoot later on, so stay tuned.

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We do a lot of work in the stock photography industry exclusively via istockphoto.com. If you ever need an image for any project you might have this is the time to sign up. If you sign up now you’ll get 10 free credits with a purchase of 26 credits. This is valid only for the next 30 days so sign up fast! Click the banner below to take advantage of the promo.

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Last March we traveled to Columbus, Ohio for the Arnold Sports Festival. While there we did several test photoshoots with various fitness models. One of the shots from those photoshoots has just landed a cover with Inside Fitness Magazine. The models on the cover are Leigh Brandt and Mark Anthony Wingston. Makeup provided by Lori Fabrizio.

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So it’s that time again to publish some more of our recent work that you might have seen on news stands.

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The final image from our creative shoot with Scott Milne (see blog post from 02.24.11- http://arsenik.net/?p=152) for Cygen Laboratories has been published! Pick up the latest issue of Inside Fitness Magazine to see the results of this creative collaboration:

Customer: Cygen Laboratories
Model: Scott Milne
Layout Design: Scott Andrews

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This past weekend I had the chance to cover the UFC 129 even for Inside Fitness. Equipped with a 600mm lens it was like being inside the octagon watching the fighters. Here are a few preview images from that night.

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