Part of my/our work as stock creators is to jump on the trending bandwagon and un-apologetically create useful concepts to feed the market need.

Raging Amazon Fires

Taking a short break from the No-Deal Brexit nightmare, one such concept that is trending is the sudden and total media uproar that there are forest fires raging in the Brazilian Amazon! Perhaps one of the catalysts was the August 1st cover of the Economist:

Follow the trends

Out of curiosity, I checked the Google Trends keyword on whether there has been an uptick on searches on “Brazil Rainforest” in the past 90 days and predictably there has been massive spike:

The trend is obvious for anybody who spends any time on social media, but it’s always good to check anyway.

I’m not an activist and this isn’t a political blog, however…

As stock artists we must try our best to be impartial when creating concepts. In fact, taking both sides of an argument may even mean greater sales since different politically-leaning media may pick up on the content.

In fact, always consider the source of the media you’re reading. One such NASA Earth Observatory source recently stated the following:

“As of August 16, 2019, an analysis of NASA satellite data indicated that total fire activity across the Amazon basin this year has been close to the average in comparison to the past 15 years. (The Amazon spreads across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and parts of other countries.) Though activity appears to be above average in the states of Amazonas and Rondônia, it has so far appeared below average in Mato Grosso and Pará, according to estimates from the Global Fire Emissions Database, a research project that compiles and analyzes NASA data.” 

This means that I/you/we can create other stock concepts surrounding possible “fake news” and political pressure to bring down the Bolsonario government, which may equally be picked up by certain segments of the news. To be continued…

Photoshop Actions

A few months ago I wrote about using Photoshop Actions to create destruction. These are mainly for book covers and all but I thought why not take an innocent pine-wood forest shot and light it on digital fire…and create some concepts around those (being careful not to create too many similars). Here are some examples:

Make the place identifiable

By adding a flag, at least it’s more recognizable that it’s in Brazil.

Add some text

Boycott Brazil

Another trend that is arising is political pressure by developed countries to oppose trade deals with Brazil as a result of the forest-fires. Some of those politicians have gone as far as to call for boycott of Brazilian products. So I went back to the drawing board and created this concept:

Again, for the record, I don’t support any sort of this type of boycott but it doesn’t stop me from creating them! If not me, then someone else will do it, so I might as well create it first.

Just testing the market…

I didn’t spend a huge amount of time with the goal of just testing the market. Depending on how they do I’ll create more….good sign from SS….

Will be back in a week with the August 2019 earnings report!

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About Alex

I’m an eccentric guy on a quest to visit all corners of the world and capture stock images & footage. I’m determined not to waste my life away as a corporate drone and have devoted six years to making it as a travel photographer and freelance writer. I hope to inspire others before it’s too late.

I’m proud to have written a book about my adventures which includes tips on making it as a stock travel photographer – Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock Photography