After six weeks traveling around Brazil, I’m finally back in Portugal. It’s a great time to recap on the book covers captured to reflect on what were accepted, what I hoped to have captured and what could have done better. In total I had something like 164 images accepted with a few dozen pending, so was a really successful trip. Let’s get started!
What I hoped to capture
I notified Arcangel before heading off to Brazil and they provided me with some suggestions on the types of book covers to capture with many examples.
Some examples:
What I captured vs what was recommended
It’s never a good idea to exactly copy existing book covers, but use them as a base to work from. With this in mind, I tried to find similar angles / scenes and add my own style. Here are three examples of when I did just that.
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
What I wish I had captured more
I had an attempt at capturing luxurious villas + swimming pools but were all rejected as I believe they ran into issues related to property rights.
I also only had access to a swimming pool for a very period of time, so some of the luxury tropical village with swimming pool concepts will be longing for a next time.
In addition, often times I was slightly hesitant to fly my drone too far. Combination of feeling unsafe, helicopters around and the heat (which had adverse impact on the batteries) made me more risk-averse. For instance, I could have quite easily captured this similarly looking shot:
If I had just flown out a few hundred more metres out to capture the luxury houses next to the street and ocean…
Some personal goals to capture
I set myself some own goals to capture some sights with some accepted at Arcangel or Robert Harding. Overall, it’s been quite a success with 5 out of the 7 places I targeted. As always, before going out I’ve researched the locations to shoot to find the right angles on Google Maps (blog post here), as well as flight restrictions on the DJI app.
Aerial panoramic view of Elevado do Joa in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a complex of tunnels, bridges and viaducts that connects the south and west zones of the city of Rio de Janeiro on the Atlantic coast 
Aerial panoramic view of Pedra do Pontal, which divides Praia de Sernambetiba and Praia do Recreio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 
Aerial view of Pepe Beach and Pedra da Gavea in Barra da Tijuca district, a western neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with a population of 394,000 
Aerial panoramic view of Sao Conrado neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with iconic Hotel Nacional on left designed by Oscar Niemeyer
There’s always next time…
Planning to go back to Brazil a few months’ time so I’ll be better prepared / more confident to capture what is needed. In the meantime, hopefully those accepted in January/February will be selling!
About Alex
I’m an eccentric guy, currently based in Lisbon, Portugal, on a quest to visit all corners of the world and capture stock images & footage. I’ve devoted eight years to making it as a travel photographer / videographer and freelance writer. I hope to inspire others by showing an unique insight into a fascinating business model.
Most recently I’ve gone all in on submitting book cover images to Arcangel Images. Oh and also recently purchased a DJI Mavic 2s drone and taking full advantage.
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
Alexandre Rotenberg's Brutally Honest Guide to Stock Photography & Footage 
You’ve got some good book covers from this trip! Hope they sell.
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Great job with those aerial images. Did you ask them for ideas by email? It’s a great help coming from them. The covers that you used as a guide are good examples, but your images are also good for me, I continue to increase my portfolio. Although with a lot of rejections I think I have a decent acceptance rate. Thank you!
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Thanks. I didn’t include all the suggested images by Arcangel, there were like 6 pages.
Yes, I asked them for tips and they were really helpful. Now let’s see if I’ll get some sales!
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Congrats on the great work! That’s so helpful that you received input from Arcangel beforehand. What I found interesting from their examples was that a few of them didn’t really have traditional copy space. Instead, the image was in the background with the title covering it. Have you seen this as a trend?
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Thanks, Maria.
Yes, they seem a bit tight when it comes to copy space. I try to add more than necessary and AC are always going on about the need to be generous with copy space.
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