As many readers, clients, and models know, a good portion of my business centers around creating commercial stock photography. I am currently looking for airy, contemporary, and organic work environments to create authentic business images for Stocksy United. Researching and shooting this topic has brought me to the local bike shop (a fixture of downtown Frederick, operating continuously since the mid-80s), a fantastic and eclectic “battery free” toy store, and to Cowork Frederick which is a fresh workplace concept for the 21st century workforce.

As I walked through Cowork Frederick, I immediately got excited about several great spaces in their beautifully renovated downtown location. The concept behind Cowork Frederick is providing both shared and private work areas that local business people and entrepreneurs can subscribe to and use on a part time basis. It provides a much more professional space for remote workers to meet up and meet with potential clients compared to the old standby — coffee shops. More importantly, it provides a fantastic environment for sharing ideas with professionals from diverse industries and interests. This latter aspect was proven handily by what happened next…

Certain that the space would be very photogenic, my next concern was models. When aiming for authenticity, I prefer to use real people in their everyday environments rather than bringing in models as actors. I approached several people working in a common area and gave my elevator speech about what I do, so I could follow-up by asking if they would be interested in being involved. Explanations are fine, but an actual example can be a thousand times stronger. So, I pulled up my portfolio on Stocksy to share real world examples. The “Oooohs” and “Ahhhs” were immediate and gratifying! I wished I’d recorded this to share with some friends at Stocksy. :)

In particular, I’d like to highlight Jennifer Gerlock, Social Editor of Frederick Gorilla who instantly appreciated the photos on Stocksy, calling them magazine quality and noting a high-end advertising style. Several other people in the room perked up and headed over to see what the fuss was about. Many small business people are well acquainted with stock photos, having used them in their websites and marketing materials. There’s also been a push back against microstock photos that is gaining force as people feel the generic photos are overly polished, fake, and don’t connect well their audiences. Stocksy is an antidote to this, and people see this immediately. Aynex Mercado, of Aynex Designs (whom I’ve had the pleasure of working for) described what she saw as “Stock photos that don’t look like stock photos…” BEFORE she learned that was Stocksy’s tagline! :)

Back to that great idea I mentioned, and how it opened my eyes to the value of co-working spaces: Here in a room full of people I’d never met, came an idea that never occurred to me. As they browsed my portfolio, they began to notice many familiar places: Cunningham Falls, Carroll Creek Linear Park, the fairgrounds… and they said images of local places could be very valuable to local designers! So I showed them more from my portfolio: shoots I had done at local restaurants, the toy shop, the bike store, a counselor’s cozy space in Walkersville. Ideas continued to flow. I showed more from our local CSA, schools, a mud run, and series near Harpers Ferry and Washington, DC. And finally, cycling photos taken on the C&O Canal and our own lovely back roads, complete with trees, mountains, and land forms that immediately feel like home to anyone from this area.

So, at their request, and I hope as a helpful library to more local designers, I’ve created a gallery of stock photos local to Frederick, MD at Stocksy United. General enough to be useful, but with a feel that is closer to home. The gallery houses some of my favorite photos from Frederick and surrounding areas. Many more can be explored by browsing the shoots and galleries associated with these images. As royalty-free stock photos, they can be licensed inexpensively and used for commercial purposes that highlight the best of Frederick County and the Mid-Atlantic region.

* As a final point, if you are a designer or local business owner seeking imagery not already represented in my portfolio, please contact me. It’s quite possible we can work out a trade or I can shoot exactly what you need on spec. I enjoy working with local businesses and it’s been great discovering just what a vibrant community of designers and entrepreneurs we have right in our own backyard.

I enjoy working with kids because they are naturals in front of the camera, they don’t filter themselves as adults often do. You get authentic smiles and emotions right from the start. This was proven again (to the extreme!) when I did a photo shoot for the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. of Frederick County for Down Syndrome Awareness Day. I was contacted by F.R.I.E.N.D.S. President Denny Weikert to help create posters for Frederick County Public Schools showing a day in the life of these adorable kids with Down Syndrome in their schools.

It was an honor to have the opportunity to contribute, and so fulfilling! I couldn’t stop smiling as I skimmed through the photos to select the best poster images. So many great smiles, and words really cannot justify how much fun we had and how they lit up in front of the camera!

I also learned a more about Down Syndrome ahead of this shoot and first hand by working with these children and their families. The experience was eye opening for me and once again I am impressed by Frederick County Public Schools, this time for their mainstreaming programs which are clearly working very well for these kids.

At times, I do shoots on trade to help a good cause or when an interesting opportunity to photograph a new subject presents it self. I hope that the positive, happy photos of these great kids will be used in advertising and educational materials that promote mainstreaming concepts and advance the simple idea that people with Down Syndrome are so very much like you and me.

These highlights and a larger Collection of Images of Children with Down Syndrome in School are available for Royalty Free licensing via my commercial photography portfolio at Stocksy United.

[All images on this blog post are copyright (c) 2013 and may not be used without a license.]

I have always been in awe of talent. It takes many forms, and they all deserve to be celebrated. Talent and perseverance give us the greatest examples of what we can achieve.

I’ve also loved sports photography since I was young. Sports images give us unfiltered glimpses into the most powerful of human emotions: aspiration, determination, pride, and love. Iconic sports images convey the heights and depth of emotion that come from pouring our hearts and souls into realizing dreams.

I started photographing gymnastics in 2008. It started small (and with a bit of luck), and grew into my most heavily photographed topic across several years. Perhaps it should be obvious, but it is almost impossible to comprehend how hard these young women have worked to reach the top level of their sport. This short video is my attempt to tell a bit of their story, both as a thank you, and hopefully as tangible memory of this amazing time of their lives…

Without giving too much away, I’ll also share that one of the images in this video will be touring the country in a 7 year Smithsonian Institution exhibit starting next year! I can’t wait for the reveal :)

As with previously blogged commercial sports photography, I hope these images will be useful for encouraging and promoting youth sports and inspirational advertising. Images from this video are available for licensing in my Gymnastics portfolio at Stocksy United.

This is a cause for celebration! So I’m here to share with you a relatively recent series of royalty-free stock photos with themes surrounding youth sports, particularly baseball! For this shoot, I had the pleasure of working with very talented high school players, some of whom have gone on to play college ball. Maybe even turn pro some day soon?

Here are a few favorite baseball player, game situation, and team photos from the shoot:

Studio lighting pops and these images drop you right into the action of the game!

For a fun twist, I built a microphone trigger to capture photos at the moment of the crack of the bat. Check out that smoke after making contact! I’d be remiss if I didn’t say, “don’t try this at home!” If you do, wear protective equipment and have a solid insurance policy on your equipment. I won’t forget one shot that breezed right past my ear, literally, the “WHOOSH” itself was almost deafening.

And, it’s not an official game, unless it’s called by a good umpire.

Many thanks to all of the baseball players who took part in this shoot!

These photos, and many more “utility players”, are available in my portfolio at GL Stock Images. I highly recommend stock image buyers and designers give GL a fresh look as one of their first stops for stock photography needs. There’s a fair trade movement gaining steam in the stock photography industry and GL Stock Images has a great library, with simple search, streamlined buyer checkout, and pays a fair royalty to photographers.

This. Is. BIG! On Monday, March 25, 2013 Stocksy United Photography went live to the public. It was the first web-based company I’ve been a part of launching and it was electric. More important than being a new company, it is a new model for the stock photography industry! Stocksy United is a photographer-owned co-operative, and it is exploding onto the scene at a perfect time to bring balance back to the supplier-distributor relationship. Did I mention that Bruce Livingstone, the original creator of iStockphoto, is at the helm? Yep, it’s true!

At launch, we’re a collective of 220 hand selected photographers from around the globe. Many of the biggest names in photography are actively contributing: Thomas Hawk, Sean Locke, Kevin Russ, Jonathan Ross, and… Your’s Truly ;) I am in awe of the company I’m in. This is a dream come true, and a giant step forward in my career.

So, why are we here? The “two things” about Stocksy United are: ground breaking stock photography and sustainable fair trade.

Stock photography — photography that is created for broad audiences and a variety of commercial uses — has gone too far towards the generic, sometimes becoming comically perfect. (Conjure images of Stepford Wives and you get the idea.) Stocksy, by contrast, is building a collection of epic, inspiring, authentic imagery that also includes a dash of quirk, real life characters, and a healthy dose of global culture.

Fair trade? Yes! And, that’s long overdue in our industry. When Getty Images bought iStockphoto in 2006, they promised to grow business and allow the community culture to thrive. That didn’t last long. Although iStockphoto was at times Getty’s most profitable business unit, rather than build on this model, Getty did what Getty does: it began hunting growth by slashing commissions paid to photographers, cutting benefits, and eliminating key staff. Foreshadowing what was to come, Jon Kline, CEO of Getty Images, asked Bruce Livingstone, “Why do you pay your photographers so much?” At that time, iStock was paying photographers up to 40% commission on each sale while Getty Images typically pays half that. Getty has since introduced initiative after initiative to reduce commissions to the very creators of the content they sell. In Getty’s hands, the lowest commissions at iStock have been hacked down to 15%. Unbelievably, photographers with tens of thousands of dollars in equipment, invest their time and money to hire models and locations, and conduct shoots and finish production to get paid as little as 15% on their work as a result.

Enter Stocksy offering a new model for creatives pursuing sustainable careers in photography, and a resource for designers seeking amazing images, fresh content, and straight forward transactions. Plus, a source of satisfaction knowing that the majority of each purchase is now paid directly to creators rather than a corporate middleman.

I am very proud to offer my portfolio for licensing through Stocksy!

Designers in particular, if you love our images, and appreciate the fair trade philosophy, please help spread the word about Stocksy!

Stocksy buzz has been huge! Read more about the “who” and “why” of Stocksy:

• FastCompany – ISTOCKPHOTO CREATOR BRUCE LIVINGSTONE STOCK PHOTOS 2.0
• Tech Crunch – iStock Founder Returns to Stock Photography with Stocksy
• Stocksy – Alive (In the Founders’ Own Words)
• Stock Photo Secrets – A Stock Photo Cooperative – the new Stock Photo Business Model?
• C|NET – Stocksy aims to bring the soul back into stock photography
• Sean Locke – A Fresh Start
• Thomas Hawk – WHY I QUIT GETTY IMAGES AND WHY I’M MOVING MY STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY SALES TO STOCKSY

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I started shooting for Maryland Life this past Autumn. It is a beautiful publication! I was initially approached by Art Director Marie Boshoff after she discovered product photography examples on my website. After sending more samples, Maryland Life asked if I would like to shoot for their new regular department titled “Treasures.” Specifically, the magazine needed high quality photos of objects for layouts with colors and seasonal themes synchronized to local events and culture.

When Opportunity Knocks, you answer the door! :-) I jumped at the chance. Commercial photography is an area I thoroughly enjoy and one in which my business has invested heavily to facilitate production of material that meets commercial’s high technical and quality standards.

It has been such a pleasure working with Marie Boshoff in studio. Just last week we completed our fourth shoot together. Marie brought a few issues of the February 2013 issue for my portfolio. She also brought great news! For the February issue, and going forward, Maryland Life magazine is using my photos in additional spots in the magazine. As a design accent, they are featuring one object from the Treasures section on the table of contents page. I’ve also been tapped to shoot for a new section called “Opportunity Knocks” which features products from local businesses.

Marie is an incredible art director, and as I’ve posted before, I love collaborations. I’ll usually setup lighting, and dial in initial shots. Then we’ll play with each object, and it is amazing to see the dramatic differences that tiny movements and styling changes make in the final product. My favorite photo yet is the candle from the December 2012 issue. After we got the safe shot, we decided to photograph the candle lit, and finally with smoke floating off the wick right after blowing it out. Smoke won the day and ran in print.

A lot of thought goes into making great photographs. And subtle changes can elevate a regular product photo into a stylish commercial piece. One bit of irony for me, is that it is 180 degrees from the stock photo aesthetic that’s been popular with agencies — shadowless objects floating in space. As we work, I chuckle (on the inside anyway) at seeing how well these shadows work to heighten the creative impact.

As a fun and final note for photographers in the audience: let me reinforce the fact that attention to detail matters. Early in our work together, Marie mentioned that what she liked most about my product photography portfolio was the coloring of the shadows! And when we work on each issue, we spend quite a bit of effort creating shadows that are “just so”. Case in point: the white card we held under a butterfly broach that was suspended in mid-air to give it context and enhance the sense of flight. Other times, lighting is moved to steer shadows, diffused or hardened to fit the object, and shadows filled or intensified to perfect them for her page layout and graphic design vision.

Photos by Brian McEntire in Maryland Life Magazine, October 2012

Photos by Brian McEntire in Maryland Life Magazine, December 2012

Martin and Iliana liked the style of my photography (website) and, after seeing a composite from previous trash the dress shoots, booked their session to coincide with a family visit.

Having both husband and wife together for parts of the TTD shoot afforded great photographic moments, including this scorcher!

And also offered many opportunities to capture beautiful “Day After” images.

A “Day After” shoot needn’t be the very day after a wedding. It can be a month, a season, or even years later. For Iliana and Martin, several years have passed since their wedding day, and they got to relive a bit of that excitement as onlookers and passers-by offered them many congratulations and compliments!

As I quickly browsed their photos to make this blog entry, I glimpsed this one I hope will serve as a fun Facebook banner for them. (Click through for the full size image that should be a perfect fit.)

Iliana and Martin, you were fantastic to work with! Thank you so much for choosing me to do your Trash the Dress and Day After photos. Your easygoing personalities and adventuresome spirits rewarded us with wonderful photos! This post holds several of my favorites, but I held back many more to save some excitement the day your CD arrives in several weeks. Thanks again!

Many of my commercial images are bright and cheerful but there’s also a market for edgier, darker imagery. In fact, iStockphoto has an entire collection named Vetta that is dedicated to images with higher production value and a more artsy feel. And, one of my favorite things about running my own photography business is the challenge of producing a broad range of images.

When hair stylist Jamie Flemming approached me after our last shoot and suggested a Future Retro mash-up, it sounded like a great opportunity to switch gears (ahem.) I’ve always been a fan of Sci-Fi books and movies, with such favorites as “Blade Runner”, “The Matrix”, and more recently “In Time” shaping my imagination of the future. (I expect the future will turn out much more Disney than dystopian, but dystopian won the day for the shoot.)

The next important piece of the puzzle was lining up my talented friend, Vicki, face painter by day, awesome mom and super FX artist by… night? Hmmm, that doesn’t sound right but this is a blog post not a novel, onward.

We started bouncing ideas around for this shoot several months ago. As the shoot date approached we refined our concept until it all came into view. My chicken scratch and Chelsea’s refinements:

A quick stop by another talented Frederick local’s place of business and we had one of our models fitted for a custom dress designed for the shoot. If you’re the Bohemian type and need coffee or an amazing seamstress, you owe it yourself to go to Joanie’s Carroll Street Cafe.

With the story board and wardrobe sketched out, it was time to build the set. Which leads to another favorite thing about photography — problem solving and getting hands on to build sets, jigs, and whatever else is needed to compliment a project. After a trip to Home Depot, the local bike shop, and fence supply company, and with the help of my awesome intern Chelsea, we were back at the studio with a couple sheets of plywood, several cans of spray paint, and other essentials.

First up — Gears. In order to “embed” real gears into our futuristic models, they first needed to be cut and smoothed. A great behind the scenes photo-op.

No BTS photos of finishing wood panels. Suffice it to say, my hole saw had it’s work cut out for it (huzzah!) drilling 120 4″ holes through sheets of plywood. Also, I felt a bit like Mr. Miyagi’s Daniel-San after hand sanding every hole and edge to a finished surface. Next time I will listen to the staff at Home Depot when they recommend MDF.

With the power tools portion of set design out of the way, it was on to make-up:

And a look at Vicki’s “work space” which happened to overlap with my shooting area since the MUA rightfully claimed the large mirror and counter space in the changing room. At nearly 900 square feet, my studio is very comfortable for most shoots but add 5 models, 3 stylists/MUAs, a photographer, an intern, and “support staff” (aka my wife and daughter :) and it gets “cozy”.

And some finished results!

Throughout the shoot, we worked several special effects ideas. We used a circuit board and gears “embedded” in skin, shaded painted circuit board traces, and FX body piercings. I love it when models add their own ideas to the collaboration, and thanks to Britnee for suggesting this take on being “chained to the desk” using her faux body piercings. First, a BTS of me showing where and how to safely hold the heavy chain away from the model, then the finished result.

And a final close-up showcasing Vicki’s amazing FX make-up in action…

Many thanks to Vicki, Jamie, Anna, Felicity, Britnee, Dani, Jillian, and Devin for making it a great shoot!

And a special thank you Chelsea for these behind the scenes images! All images, except those watermarked and in Joanie’s Cafe are Copyright (c) 2012 Chelsea Park-Brouse.

Photography is a very interesting art form thanks to its additional components of science and problem solving. For commercial photography, maximizing effectiveness, value, and delivery time is achieved by choosing the right tools and parameters for the job. Smart trade-offs can yield budget rewards for targeted uses.

With digital photography, just as with chemical/film photography, our goal is to create images as close to our desired, finished product as feasible at the image acquisition stage. Feasible is the key word, because some images can be created 100% in camera though at possibly 5 times or 10 times the effort compared to getting it close and finishing the image in post. With digital, just as with film, there is often a “darkroom” aspect to finishinging photos. We call this post production or post processing.

A prospective client recently asked me about the practical value of post production for apparel product photography. The following chart gives a real life example, to some, the difference may be very subtle -

The studio here at B Scott Photography was purpose built for large product isolations, including apparel photography for websites and catalogs. A white, reflective, epoxy and polyethylene floor and white walls combined with studio lighting create the seamless / infinity wall / pure white look. Depending on the scope of the project, or the intended use, the images SOOC (straight out of the camera) may be perfect for the targeted use. However, as a full page catalog print, billboard advertisement, and other large scale formats, post processing is needed.

Clients with an in-house graphic designer or specific targeted uses may not require post production. If desired, light post production can often contribute only a small amount to the bottom line of a project. I hope this post will be helpful when we’re outlining our next commercial project together!

Birthday parties aren’t something I photograph regularly as part of my business, but blogging it seemed like a fun way to share the photos. Enjoy! :)

That last one… I hoped it would show their enthusiasm! I fear a bit of my own psychology comes through with a message about being trapped at a childrens birthday party ;)

For parent’s that attended, here is a link to more photos from the party.

Thank you again to everyone who came out for Emily’s birthday. You made it a great day!!