Today was a fun day. My grandfather and his girlfriend agreed to allow me to photograph them exercising, as well as to sign those golden model releases. Remember, releases are required to submit these types of images so they can be licensed commercially.

Finding strong stock concepts

In my quest to earn from this tough stock game, I’ve been thinking about this concept for a while. It’s a logical concept, that is older people exercising. Think about it, in most countries people are not only living longer but healthier.

Different media is going to eat this up to illustrate a multitude of concepts. Editorially this could be interesting but commercially, this is gold.

My grandfather is 91 (really doesn’t look like it and lucky me as I have inherited some of his genes). His girlfriend is 70 (and also doesn’t look like it). Not only did they look like authentic non-models, they were having fun which showed in the final images! The background of Ipanema beach was also superb as you’ll see.

Gold? More like fake gold…

I have an update. My previous stock shoot back in July, with that good looking young Italian dude flopped. Sure, it sold a few times in the first few weeks showing some promise, but overall it’s been extremely disappointing. It just goes to show that this game is unpredictable…one really needs to upload pretty much all sorts of different types of images and just hope that some of the shit sticks to the wall lol

That model shoot would have put me out of pocket had it been a real model that I would have had to hire. That’s why I prefer to shoot friends and family. Perhaps if I’m accepted at Stocksy I would invest in a more professional set-up since their licenses are more interesting than at microstock…by the way, my application there is still pending! 

Let’s try something different – You tell me if you think they have commercial value and which one has the most commercial value and why? After 3 months, I’ll report back on which image has been sold for the most. Looking forward to your comments.

Warming up

Breaking a sweat

Cooling down

Conclusion

In total, I shot 85 shots of which I’ve shortlisted some 50 (of which only 11 are above). I still have a lot of work to do in cloning out trademarks in the backgrounds, removing people and some more post-processing. Then, I’ll get those releases signed and submit these images to Shutterstock, Adobe Stock / Fotolia, and iStock.

They were great sports (pun intended) and would love to use them for more stock set ups in the future, such as romantic dinner out, couple argument and maybe even a re-make of the 2017 viral jealous girlfriend image…this time with older people, imagine that!

Key takeaways

• Ask your models to wear as plain clothes as possible to avoid having to clone out logos on items of clothing. In hindsight, I should have asked them to remove their sunglasses
• Try to find a quiet place without people/logos in background (if possible)
• Shoot with plenty of copy space in mind so buyers may insert text if they wish
• Make sure that the models are enjoying themselves so it will more likely show in the image!
• Post-process them bright and vibrant as to show up best as thumbnails to entice those buyers
• Last and certainly most important, caption and keyword it to an excellent standard.