Contributor Tips

Contributor Tips: Budgeting, Briefs, Keywords, and More

Comments

There’s a lot of info out there on how to succeed as a stock media artist, and there’s a lot of it right here on this blog. To help you locate the most important pieces, we’ve rounded up some of our key contributor blog posts from the past below. Consider it your personal guide to success as a Pond5 artist!
 

How Does Pond5 Know What to Shoot?

The subjects of our shoot briefs are based on what our clients are requesting and analysis of what’s trending in our own search data. In addition, we study both global and regional consumer and advertising trends to give you the best forecast, so that you can target the most lucrative themes.


Businesswoman Using Laptop in Office Meeting by blendimages
 

Shooting on a Budget

If you’re in a financial pinch, adjust your shot list to accommodate your shoot for the resources that you have — which should hopefully include your camera gear, and, if possible, a list of free locations and talent. The impulse to dip into your savings or finance your production with a credit card is both tempting and ill-advised. Read more »

Related Post Shooting on a Shoestring Budget: How Constraints Can Foster Invention

Shoot Brief Basics

The shoot brief is a document that addresses everything pertaining to your production, from concept and technical specifications to casting and what to actually shoot. It provides clarification to communicate your vision, goals, and objectives. In other words, it can be the essential tool that drives your ideas to their final outcome. Read more »

Related Post Italian Job: Shoot Brief Basics on Location in Sardinia

Young Woman Making Phone Call by florisproductions
 

Capturing Authenticity

As a director, it’s important to take an opportunistic approach to your shots, especially when wonderful things happen outside of your control. Allow spontaneity to happen with your actors. Authenticity demands that you take an attitude with your work that coats the banalities of everyday life with an aspirational gloss. Read more »

Related Post Get Real: What We Mean by ‘Authenticity’ and Why It Matters

Young Woman Listening to Music While Jogging in the City by rodinhamidi
 

Keywords and Concepts

More often than not, customers will dial in a keyword well before narrowing their search to a specific theme or category — so even before you take your first shot, you should be thinking of conceptual ideas you can weave in to what may appear to be a simple shoot. Read more »

Related Post Keywords and Concepts: How to Get More Eyes (and Buys) on Your Work

Young Couple Listening to Records and Sharing Headphones by kaspar_films
 
Be on the lookout in the upcoming months as we cover more trends and other stories that relate to making you more successful. If there’s anything particular you’d like to see, or questions you want answered, let us know in the comments below!

Top image: Airport Gangway by danielschweinert