top 50 ways to make money from photography
DESCRIPTION
Top 50 Ways to Make Money From PhotographyTRANSCRIPT
50 WAYS TO MAKE MONEYFROM PHOTOGRAPHY
1. School Graduation Photography
2. Wedding Photography
3. Event Photography
4. Banquet Photography
5. Fashion Photography
6. Trade Show Photography
7. Opening Day Photography
PEOPLE
8. Equestrian Photography
9. Exhibition Photography
10. Motocross Photography
12. ID/Passport photography
13. Model books and portfolios
14. Sports photography
15. Corporate Portrait Photography
16. Industrial photography
17. Sales manuals and catalogues
18. Architectural Photography
19. Public relation’s Photography
20. Store-front Photography
21. Real-estate photography
22. Promotional brochure Photography
23. Macro photography
24. In-store merchandise display photography
25. Postcard prints to gift shops and hotels
26. Mobile Portrait Photography
NOVELTY PHOTOGRAPHY
27. Calendar Photography
28. Photographs on Mugs
29. Photographs on T-shirts
30. Decorative photo plaques
31. Custom calendars
SERVICES
32. Photo duplicating service
34. Restoring old photos
35. Producing CD / DVD Photo Albums
36. Retouching service
37. Photo oil portraits
MISCELLANEOUS
38. News Photography
39. Aerial photography
40. Medical Photography
41. Insurance Photography
42. Stock Photography
43. Fine Art Photography
44. Personalized Calendars
45. Photographs on Glass
46. Photographs on Canvas
47. Decorative photo plaques
48. Custom calendars
49. Photo duplicating service
50. Photo restoration
51. Photography Books
52. Photo oil portraits
CHAPTER ONE
My first every camera was a Rollieflex given to me by an Uncle. An unusual but beautiful piece of kit, that produced top quality photographs. I had no idea how to use it and nor did anyone else in my family. What’s more, it produced an upside down image in the vertical viewfinder that I couldn’t get my head round. The whole notion of viewing things upside down bothered me too much and sadly, the camera was put back in its box.
Years later, when I first travelled to the Far East, I did what many holidaymakers tend do on most of these trips – I took pictures, pictures of everything. The natives, wildlife, scenery; just about everything that stood still long enough for me to point a lens at. Came home, got the slides developed and put the whole lot in a drawer. How many of you can relate to this, statistically is not important but this book will put paid to a lot of that.
However, it didn’t stop there, though. I had a secret weapon - the same one you will learn in this book - how to earn money with those photographs.
Kevin Daly loves taking pictures of his home city San Diego. He used this very same secret to make $2,000 for just 10 shots. And later, he used this secret to travel to Kauai, a Hawaiian Island renowned for its enchanting beauty, cascading emerald mountains, flower-bedecked streams and swaying, palm-fringed shores. There, he stayed for a week, all expenses paid.
Sean Nell has used this secret to make a career out of photography… one that earns him over $60,000 a year and the freedom and flexibility to set his own hours and buy a brand new 4 x 4 SUV.
Of course, you don’t even have to stray far from home to pursue the photographer’s life. Rich Wagner made over $10,000 from a single photograph he took of a pumpkin patch just an hour from his home in Connecticut… and it's still selling. These people aren’t doing anything you can’t learn to do. You don’t need fancy equipment. And you don’t need to know a thing about photography to get started. All you need is the same secret to success these folks are using to profit from their photos. With it, you can make money even as a novice photographer.To learn this secret – including how you can take better photographs – the kind that make people go, “WOW, I wish I could do that”... simply read on! MKT 11 Principles of Professional Photography A professional photographer needs to achieve a balance between art, craft, and business acumen to succeed. This course digs into the details of photography as a business and how studios operate.
MKT 12 Advertising Chances are, you will be advertising your services in the future. This course will introduce you to the various advertising media, show you how to plan campaigns around traditional selling seasons, and explore how top photographers use advertising. You will write advertising copy and explore type and design options to create a logo and letterhead that reflects your personality. There will also be discussions about advertising theory and ethics.
MKT 13 Salesmanship With the right attitude and a good grasp of selling procedures, anybody can become a great salesperson. This course will give you important tips on how to open and close a sale, how to encourage minimum order customers to buy more, how to appeal to specialty customers, and how to sell by mail.
MKT 14 Public Relations I Establishing a good reputation in the community is invaluable to any business. In this course, you will learn how to plan a public relations campaign, how to write press releases, and how to get them placed. Guidelines on how to throw a studio open house and insights on the importance of joining civic organizations will be shared.
MKT 15 Sales Promotion Advertising isn't the only way to get customers into a studio. In this course, we will talk about personal contact, window and in-store displays, attendance at shows, and other promotional methods that will attract business.
MKT 22 Marketing Analysis Who buys graduation, portrait, and commercial photography? How can you best locate industrial customers? This course is all about finding buyers for your services by mining existing markets and by developing new ones.
MKT 24 Pricing In order to make money, your prices have to be right. This course will show you how to establish prices through cost analysis, how to design a printed price list, and how to use it effectively as a sales tool.
MKT 25 Packaging Nice things come in beautiful packages and that should be true of your work. In this course, you will discover what products are available for packaging and delivering photographs. You will also be exposed to an array of mounts, frames, albums and finished packages.
MKT 31 Out-of-Studio Displays
This course will show you how to create an attractive photographic display and where to find locations to hang it. Libraries, banks, and merchandise shows are a few of the possibilities that will be explored as ideal places to promote your work.
MKT 32 Product Development Finding a niche in the photographic market that you can fill is a great way to build business. This course will show you how to group sizes and styles to meet specific needs, how to duplicate other styles, how to create unique products, and how to price it all.
MKT 33 Selling Plans This course will give you the confidence you need to present your photography effectively to prospects. We will cover how to create a hard working selling plan for employee use and how to make "cold calls" to commercial and industrial accounts.
MKT 34 Public Relations II A continuation of Public Relations I, this course delves more deeply into planning PR campaigns, writing and publishing press releases, and the value of community service as a communications tool.
MKT 41 Contracts and Proposals The elements of sales proposals, how and when to submit them, and the production of sales and service contracts for high school, commercial, industrial, portrait, and wedding photography will be covered. We will also provide information on the availability of stock forms and discuss photographic copyrights.
MKT 43 Allied Products Frames and framing, cards, invitations, albums, plaques, cameras, and other photographic supplies are natural add-ons to a studio business. This course will show you how to merchandise them effectively.
1. School Graduation Photography
2. Wedding Photography
3. Event Photography
4. Banquet Photography
5. Fashion Photography
Fashion photographyIf you are considering a career in the artistic field, photography in particular, you will almost certainly be tempted by fashion photography, because you get to travel a lot, mix up with the rich and famous at posh cocktail parties, work with some of the most
attractive people on the planet, you receive high-pay checks, and you have a huge audience of magazine readers, in front of whom you can show your talent at its best.Bear in mind, however, that it is far from easy to make it to a worldly renowned fashion magazine; many photographers are forced by circumstances to give up their dreams and start dealing with celebrity portraiture, advertising or even paparazzi work to make both ends meet. Patience, persistence, devotion and self-criticism are qualities you will be lost without.If you have only just began pursuing your career, you will need some promotional material to show the photo editors at the magazine you would like to work for. That is to say, your portfolio, in which you need to include at least twenty pictures, which best represent your personality, your style, your sense of beauty and harmony.They should be also thematically related to the specific work you would like to do and, preferably, to one another. You will make a strong impression if your work looks complete, if the photos tell a story, if the pages of your portfolio radiate the very 'you'.Still, the photos should be chosen in a way that best demonstrate your range. Always try to be unique, different, instead of copying others. You should showcase a few beautiful portraits, as they are known to be the most memorable, the most inspiring pictures.When you are called in for an interview, remember that you are not selling your work, you are demonstrating skills. Photo editors probably won`t be interested in buying those pictures that you have included in your portfolio, but if you impress them with your work, you stand a chance of being offered a job.
TOP TIPGoogle Base is a place where you can add all types of information that they will host and make searchable online. Based on the relevance of your items, they may also be included in the main Google search index and other Google products such as Froogle and Google Local. Better still, it’s FREE!
Supply and demand, it's a buyers market right now.
Let’s face it photos just aren't worth what they used to be anymore. With the demise of conventional film and cheaper technology anyone with a half decent camera can take great pictures for next to nothing. Resolution and quality doesn't even really matter that much anymore. When it comes to designing websites small images are increasingly the norm.
The market is now flooded with photos of virtually anything imaginable. If I want a picture of a dog next to a roll of toilet paper the question is no longer can I find one, it's how do I choose just one.
Unless digital cameras start making people sterile then people will still use them and photos will still flood the market.
Photos just aren't special anymore. Welcome to the real world. Wishing it were different won't make it so.
Just how do you get started as a Fashion Photographer..I think the most important thing is not only to be totally dedicated to the profession and feeling that you have that flair that this job needs, but always to keep studying
fashion magazines, catalogs, brochures and other fashion promotional literature and to keep on practicing your skills as a photographer.
A good way to find these answers is to try to work out how a photographer might have covered an assignment that you may have been reviewing in a fashion magazine, trying to work out what equipment he might have used and carefully studying his technique and how affective it is in illustrating the fashion shoot he covered and in your opinion was he successful in doing the best work, or could you see room for improvement in his results. The trick is to keep on practicing you skills, especially in the Studio, weather it's your own studio or a hired studio, together with practicing shooting on location and learning the technical stuff, using stand in models to try out these ideas and improving your own technique untill it's almost second nature.It would be a good idea to check out all the top studios and try to present yourself for an appointment. Be prepared to be disappointed, but be positive and keep trying, sooner or later someone will recognize your talents - and "your in".However, if getting a job as an assistant with an ad/fashion studio or photographer is out of reach for the moment, why not consider a position as an assistant with a good "High St" portrait and wedding photographer, meantime practice your skills, also at the same time keeping your eyes open for an opportunity with an ad/fashion studio.Seek out your opportunity, study photography, check out your local photo art training courses, or evening courses, (if you are working in the day), keep reading fashion and photo mag's, also check out galleries in your spare time, set yourself assignments, and be critical about the results you produce.It's most important to try and see if you can work for an established photographer as his assistant, it's really the only way to learn.FACT: It's the way most well known photographers got started.
6. Trade Show Photography
7. Opening Day Photography
PEOPLE
8. Equestrian Photography
9. Exhibition Photography
10. Motocross Photography
Get at least a 300mm zoom lens and a wide angle plus a camera with a shutter speed of at least 1000 or 2000th of a second. A lot of action shots can be good with just 500th of a second. Get out to whatever sports you plan on shooting and practice a lot. I had a sports segment of shooting in my college photo class and had to shoot all kinds of stuff. If you have the lenses I described that is most of the solution, a good Digital SLR is also pretty much a must for this stuff and a motor drive of at least 3 frames per second is needed as well. I still shoot some action images because it is more of a challenge than the "Old Barn in The Field Thing" Action shooting can be fun so take
a shot at it.If you don't have the bucks for a super wide angle then at least get the 300mm zoom.
TOP TIPLisa Gagne http://www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=162596
12. ID/Passport photography
13. Model books and portfolios
14. Sports photography
15. Corporate Portrait Photography
16. Industrial photography
17. Sales manuals and catalogues
18. Architectural Photography
19. Public relation’s Photography
20. Store-front Photography
21. Real-estate photography
22. Promotional brochure Photography
23. Macro photography
24. In-store merchandise display photography
25. Postcard prints to gift shops and hotels
26. Mobile Portrait Photography
NOVELTY PHOTOGRAPHY
27. Calendar Photography
28. Photographs on Mugs
29. Photographs on T-shirts
30. Decorative photo plaques
31. Custom calendars
SERVICES
32. Photo duplicating service
34. Restoring old photos
35. Producing CD / DVD Photo Albums
36. Retouching service
37. Photo oil portraits
MISCELLANEOUS
38. News Photography
39. Aerial photography
40. Medical Photography
41. Insurance Photography
42. Stock Photography
Micro-stock is the name given to stock agencies that provide stock photos and illustrations at affordable prices. The name apparently originated from the fact that photographers make a nominal sum per photo compared to traditional methods, but they make up the difference in selling large quantities of images. Many photographers earn their entire income by selling images through online agencies.
I’ve had a few questions about how my microstock experiment is going, so here’s a little summary. I started uploading images to a handful of microstock sites in February of 2005 as a test to see how it would go. These sites allow people to upload images which are then sold cheaply for royalty free use, with a certain percentage of the sale going to the photographer. There were two sides to the debate, in my mind: the first side that can’t believe how cheap these sites sell their images and can’t help but think that this business model is contributing to what might be called the “Wal-martization” of photography, and the second, which sees this as a model that is closer to an “Open source” model of photography, providing affordable images to a broader base of designers, bloggers, churches, nonprofits, etc.
On reflection, I have to come down on the latter side. For one thing, images on these sites are generally being uploaded by people with the means to buy a digital camera and access to the internet—not children in third world sweatshops. (That said, I do think a few of these sites could raise their payment rates some). Also, providing low-cost, legal imagery will allow many people to use it who would otherwise use none, or use other copyrighted images that they found online (perhaps illegally).
And for those who are worried about the future of photography as an occupation, you’ll always have the bigger companies and corporations who will pay top dollar for exclusivity or for images that are not sold on sites such as these. With the countless digital cameras that are out there, it was inevitable that a model like this would spring up.
My goals (beyond seeing how these sites worked) were fairly modest: to pay off my digital camera. I am almost there. To the right are the five sites I have uploaded to with my total revenue to date on each site listed beside it and a few graphs of earnings. If you are thinking about uploading, take these numbers with a grain of salt, because each site has a slightly different audience and not all sites have the same number of pictures uploaded (for various reasons). If
you want to try selling images, I recommend submitting the same batch to all sites for a few months to see how your images do on each one and where they fit in best.
I also recommend editing the EXIF data in the files to add your keywords and description directly in the file. These sites can all read that information and input it automatically into the correct fields as you upload, saving a lot of time. (Keywords and description can be incredibly important in actually having your image come up when a designer is searching for imagery.) Once you have the keywords and description you just have to choose the categories it belongs to on each site as the final step after uploading. Many of the sites have batch upload capabilities as another way to save time.
It’s also worth noting that two of these sites allow vector imagery to be uploaded: istockphoto and shutterstock. So if you don’t have a digital camera, you could still create vectors (sort of like clip art) to upload.
The benefits of stock photography have been argued for years by professionals and semi-pro’s alike. However, the burning question remains, can you actually make money from stock photography? The obvious answer is YES but there’s a bit more to it than that.
Many agencies and businesses globally do not have the time or resources to commission their own stock photography, be it for a company website or brochure advertising campaign.Photographs, which qualify as stock, need to be top quality. Well taken, properly exposed, clean, high resolution and most importantly, what the customer needs! A snapshot of your granny at the beach just won’t do, no matter how great she looks. The resolution needs to be interpolated up to around 48mb with minimal loss in quality.
The great thing about stock photography is that even if you stop submitting you continue to earn. Things might slow down over time but there’s very few businesses that offer non-traditional income for no additional effort.
EQUIPMENT NEEDEDStock Photography Equipment - The CameraBecause of the quality required for most stock libraries you are going to need a decent camera especially if you are shooting digital. If you are shooting film, its more the quality of the lens that you should consider and perhaps a medium format camera. For digital, I would recommend a minimum of 8 mega pixels (Although you can get away with 6-6.3) and shoot with a Digital SLR , not an 8MP compact. Remember, the better the quality straight from the camera, the less work required in post-processing to get it "Up to scratch", and compacts have smaller sensors. The only digital SLR capable of producing acceptable prints direct from the camera, is the Canon EOS 1ds MKII with its full-frame, 16.7MP sensor. Although, as it comes with a hefty €8,000 ($8,000) price tag, you may want to get started with something smaller. Cameras such as the Canon EOS 20D or the Canon EOS 350D Rebel XT , or from the Nikon camp, try the Nikon D70, D70s, D200 of the more affordable 6MP Nikon D50. Stock Photography Equipment - The Lenses
I would actually say that the quality of the lens that you use is the most important factor in any type of photography. For a brief explanation, see my lenses page. Some cheaper lenses give off a phenomenon called "chromatic abberation" or "purple fringing" creating a halo effect around your subject. It is caused by cheap glass but I won´t go into detail, however, this is not acceptable for stock libraries. Don´t panic though, you don´t have to go out and spend thousands on the best quality glass out there. There are a lot of mid-range lenses that do a fine job. 2 lenses that I still keep in my bag from when I started, are the Canon EF 50mm 1.4 and the Canon EF 28-135mm USM. These are reasonably priced and can throw out some top quality images, especially the 50mm 1.4! Before you buy a new set of lenses, think about what type of photography you will be doing, follow this guide: • Interiors/Landscapes/Architectural/Artistic/Groups – Wide angle lens. Bear in mind that most semi-professional DSLRs have a “crop effect” of about 1.6x so choose the lens accordingly. Look at 16mm, 24mm, 28mm and 35mm. You can also use zoom lenses such as a 16-35mm, 17-40mm or a 24-70mm, they do a great job but prime lenses tend to give slightly better results. If budget is an issue, go for a good zoom lens, you can cover a wide focal area for a fraction of the cost. • Portraits/People/Still life/Everyday scenes - Standard/small telephoto lens Great lenses for these types of photography would be 50mm, 85mm, 100mm, 135mm. Any of these prime lenses are fantastic for people portraits, and I would highly recommend you have at least one in your bag. Again the zoom options for these would be 24-70mm, 28-135mm (My choice for a great walk-around lens), 28-85mm or 35-135mm. • Sports/Wildlife/Press – Telephoto lens You are going to need to get in close for these subjects and for that you need to spend a little bit more on your stock photography equipment. Do not buy cheap telephoto lenses for stock photography. Because you are magnifying the image many times, you are also magnifying any imperfections in the glass and this will really stand out! Look at 135mm, 200mm, 300mm, 400mm and 500mm anything bigger gets very expensive. As these lenses are not cheap anyway, you should consider a quality zoom. Remember, these lenses can last a lifetime so it is worth the cost for the long haul. Look at 70-200mm (My choice), 80-200mm, 100-400mm or the excellent (and cheap) Sigma 50-500mm. Most reviews rate this lens and it has an awesome range! It is also worth considering a 1.4x or 2x teleconverter but please buy a good quality one. By doing this you greatly extend your telephotos range without the need for splashing out on more glass! Stock Photography Equipment - The SoftwareOk! You have taken your photographs with your quality lenses, now you need to get them to a decent level for approval by the stock libraries. Some of the adjusments you will need to make are; • Dust/Blemishes/Mistakes etc You need to be able to zoom deep into your photo and check for dirt. This can normally be caused by dust on your sensor (before you go scrubbing the sensor - DON´T, I will cover this later on). To remove any nasties, you need software with a cloning or healing tool. These incredible tools enable you to safely remove anything from the photograph that doesn’t need to be there without anyone ever knowing.
Here is a quick example of colour correction and dust removal!
Tyler Olson wrote:
It seems to me that it IS possible to earn a living at micro-stock agencies. There has been a bit of discussion recently of people earning $100 a day, which seems like it is competing with macro stock income. And of course the all stars like who earns $500/day Lisa Gagne You can check her download stats today, and then again in 2 days to check my figures. Of course she is an exception and the likelyhood of me selling that much is the same as being a sports star, but selling $2000 a month is atainable by anyone with some hard work I figure.
So the question remains, where is it better to focus ones energies. Macro or micro. I would like to think macro, as it feels good to be paid $100/image. Images also sell for $5000 on Macro sites, but then this is Licensed images NOT royalty free (so with Licensed, there is no question, Macro is your only choice.)
So in the end, where do the 1000 images earn more. A macro site, or a micro. I am beginning to think it might be micro.
Another thought... with the enourmous amout of micro sites poping up everywhere, why would people purchase from a macro site. It is common knowledge that you can get professional looking images from a micro site. TV commercials, and news ads, and websites all use the micro stocks for their images.. i might think that this is where the future is going for Royalty Free images.
Here is a TV commercial with images from istock. here I had the image of a van in there.
Did i feel 'used' to get paid only 50 cents for that image: Yes However I HAVE earned $15.00 from that image in the last 6 months... which is closer to a better price.
I have had 600 images on Alamy the past three months now... only 1 download, earning $50.00 (actually that download was 6 months ago when i had 12 images on alamy but will include it in my calculations) .... I have had 350 images for the last 3 months micro sites.. earning $750. ($3.39) a day. If i wanted to earn $2000/month I would need 19.66 X more images. My images seem to be not very popular though... i don't have many people and not many isolated objects. Lisa G has only 2000 (excellent images) images, for her $500/day.
The following list is by no means exhaustive but will give you some idea of where the money is to be made in this business.
Let’s look at the top 10 agencies in turn.
43. Fine Art Photography
44. Personalized Calendars
45. Photographs on Glass
46. Photographs on Canvas
47. Decorative photo plaques
48. Custom calendars
49. Photo duplicating service
50. Photo restoration
51. Photography Books
52. Photo oil portraits
53. Scanner Photography
Use a flatbed scanner as a cameraThe dusty scanner connected to your computer on your desk can be used to capture stunning images. In this first Photo-Vinc article the basics on how to use a flatbed scanner for "photography" are described. After reading the article there is left enough room for own experiments.
The ideaFlatbed scanners normally are used to scan documents, photos or film. The inventor of the CCD flatbed scanner Ray Kurzweil had in mind to develop a machine to scan paper and recognize the text written on it. There are however more exciting applications for flatbed scanners. In this first Photo-Vinc article information, is shared on how to use the scanner to make "photographs". I will return to the term "photographs" in a moment but first lets see how I realized that the dusty scanner left on my desk could be used for more exiting subjects as intended by the inventor. The reason why I started to use my flatbed scanner was that in the autumn of 2005, I wanted to make some photographs of colorful leaves. Normally I take pictures on slide film but in this case I did not want to wait for the films to be developed. I wanted to see the intensive colors directly on my screen and print them on paper. The leaves where put on the scanner and after a few experiments results where so good that I started to make other experiments with three-dimensional objects on the scanner.
Is this photography?Some people react strongly and say things like; "this has nothing to do with photography". Emotional but interesting discussions sometimes follow. I am not looking for general agreement on my statement but in my eyes this definitively is a form of photography. It has to do with exposure, contrast, depth of field, and even motion plays a role. Some people called it "scannography", I just prefer to use the term photography and consider the scanner as a kind of slow camera, which takes shots of single rows and assembles them together as a photograph. The flatbed scanner only can be moved within some restrictions; instead of bringing the camera to the subject the subject must be moved to the flatbed scanner. Photography can be described as a process to capture and display an
image. In the past this was done with a lens, a shutter and film. The latent image was developed and became visible as negative on film. Next step in that process was to put the film an enlarger and a second lens was used to project the image on paper with a light sensitive coating. Step by step parts of the original process have been replaced by other technologies. In the case of using a scanner to take photographs the camera has been replaced by the flatbed scanner. Another example is the inkjet printer which has replaced the enlarger, this allows new possibilities and new limitations but it does not harm the process description of photography. At this point the time has come to stop with the argumentations. After all who cares, how to call the technique described in the next chapters? It *is* fun, creative and results can be stunning if the right technique is applied. I leave it to the reader if this should be seen as photography. If you want to express your ideas about this post your opinion in the Photo-Vinc forum related to this article. What is needed?To make photographs with a flatbed scanner a computer and a flatbed scanner are needed. There is no special need to the operating system; results will be comparable on all operating systems. I started with an older Microtek scanner model, after a while I replaced it by a Canon CanoScan 4200F which had a higher resolution and allowed faster scanning. When putting investment in relation with results it can be said that we are talking about low-cost photography, what is needed is time and creativity. People who get enthusiastic probably are going to spend more on the subjects (or objects, but that is another philosophic discussion besides the question on the definition of photography) than on the scanner technology itself. The CanoScan 4200F scans up to 3200 dpi, this allows to enlarge the scans easily 10 times when printing at 300 dpi. This means that a 4-inch shrimp will grow to a 40-inch sea monster. When currently have a scanner which scans at lower resolution, don’t run to the PC shop. First look around for subjects to scan and wait buying a better flatbed scanner.
Each scanner arrives with its own software. I tried the software that came with the scanners I owned. This software does a fine job for scanning documents, OCR and sometimes it offers creation of PDF documents. For this application of the flatbed scanner, it is recommended to use a dedicated 3rd party scan Software package that allows more flexibility in capturing the image and controlling the results. I am using Hamrick VueScan and did use Lasersoft Silverfast in the past. Both applications will perfectly serve the needs to do the job. I just stayed with VueScan because of the lower price and broader support for various scanners. In the workflow, described bellow I will refer to VueScan settings, of course the same things can be done with Silverfast or similar software. Besides this there is needed cleaning material to clean the scanner before and after scanning. An additional light source might be used but to start it is not needed. Which subjects to choose?There are some limitations on the subjects to choose. First of all
the main and most obvious limitation is the size of the flatbed scanner used. The subject must fit on the glass of the scanner scanner, which normally is the size of a sheet of letter/A4 paper. Subjects do not need to be flat shapes like leaves; they can have three-dimensional forms as well. Depending on the flatbed scanner, the limitation by Depth Of Field (DOF) and available light it will be perfectly possible to capture an area up to half an inch above the scanner glass. Favorite subjects are all kinds of food, which allows variation. Consider not only how the colors and detail will work but also think about making thin slices that are almost transparent. The good things about taking food, as subject is that in some extend there is control over the subject. To get the variations or increase the character food as a subject can be cut, squashed, dried or moistened (of course as long as the insider of the flatbed scanner stays dry). Talking about taking care of the flatbed scanner: be careful with sharp and heavy objects. The glass (or transparent plastic) is designed to carry paper and books. Try candies or flowers. When having the "scanner fever" visits to the supermarket are done with complete different eyes. Talking about fever, how long will it last? This probably depends on the supermarket and the season of the year. Consider taking things from the street, sand or stones.