Eight Secrets of Mastery from Yuri Arcurs

Many of you have probably already heard about the well-known microstock photographer Yuri Arcurs. Some time ago, I published an interview with this photographer on my blog. Today, I want to share with you some advice from Yuri Arcurs. In this article, Yuri Arcurs discusses the secrets of organizing the work of a successful stock photographer. It’s clear that this is just his perspective, but considering his achievements in the stock photography industry, I believe there’s definitely some wisdom to take away.

Learn to See and Separate Your Images into Meaningful Layers

What does this mean? The camera focuses only on the subject being shot, while the elements in front of and behind the subject can be viewed as layers. Accordingly, we have: foreground, focal point, and background.
The interaction between these layers often makes the image more interesting. If you analyze the winners of photojournalism competitions, you will notice many similarities. When these meaningful layers harmoniously combine, they complement each other and highlight the emotions or idea of the shot. The best photographs have multiple layers that “speak” together. For a photojournalist capturing everyday life, layers are one of the most complex aspects to master and truly require multitasking. In commercial photography, meaningful layers can be used as a tool to create a complete photo.
Amateur photographers often pay little attention to the background, or it may be entirely absent, but by creating layers step by step, you can gain a competitive advantage over other photographers.

Note that the first photograph looks like a real concert, while the second looks like a technical photo. This is not a concert, and only 23 models were used, but thanks to the carefully thought-out layers, the final photo appears as if it’s a real concert.

Think in “Icons”

Will your envisioned image be just as impactful when it’s significantly reduced or displayed for only a quarter of a second? Can the photo convey its essence in such conditions? The best commercial photographs can – they utilize different lighting and colors to create contrast between the main elements in the photo.
Our lives are quite fast-paced now, and you need to create photos that hit the mark. In stock photography, the “icon effect” is what allows your photos to stand out among the masses. An abundance of unnecessary barriers and distracting elements will negate the “icon effect.” Be very selective about what should be in the foreground and background layers to avoid giving the shot a sense of clutter.

Here is an example of how we process our photos. Notice how we hide many distracting elements, thus achieving the “icon effect”.

Use Stereotypes to Strengthen Your Idea

As you read the following lines, try to follow the instructions given. I’m not joking, do this, or you will miss the point. Mentally calculate 6×6, add 14, and subtract 50. Done? If not – calculate…
Now think of any hand tool. Picture it clearly in your mind. Then think of any color. Close your eyes and visualize that color.
95% of normal people picture a hammer, and the color – red. This is because the hammer and the color red are stereotypes of the categories “hand tool” and “color.”
Use this knowledge to enhance the “icon effect”.
If people glance at a photo for just a couple of seconds, be wise and use stereotypes so they can easily identify elements in the photograph. Recognizing stereotypes should happen effortlessly, at a subconscious level.
Let’s take, for example, the theme of “classic female beauty.” The image of Marilyn Monroe is probably the best fit for it. Considering that it’s extremely difficult to get her photo, you get the main idea.

The color of this guitar was chosen very carefully. If it were black or any other dark color, it would simply blend into the crowd. By selecting a white guitar, we highlighted it in the frame and created a photo with an “icon effect” – even at a small size, it’s immediately clear what the photograph is about.

Utilize Knowledge of Human Nature

If I have a very demanding client whom I want to impress, I apply some of my knowledge of psychology to understand how to do that. Most people focus on one or several moments in a photograph, namely: humor, extraordinary things, or contrasting symbols. Contrasting symbols are when two opposites collide and create irony.
For example, a priest and petty theft in a store, or a skinny person standing behind a fat person. These are basics, but they work – tap into everything that reflects irony and the diversity of our daily lives. Try to take a photograph that you like, but which lacks the aforementioned elements.
Using the contrasting symbols technique requires prior thought and planning, but if you achieve that effect, it will be a true eye-catching photograph. Sometimes during shoots, I find myself telling the stylist things like “this scene isn’t strange enough, make it stranger.”
People are captivated by unusual things. So, twist, bend, and make reality more unusual to hit the target precisely.

Feel the mystery in this shot.

Step away from conservative composition rules

In fact, classical textbooks can only teach you certain rules of conservative composition: don’t crop foreheads in portraits, shoot only standard images with all objects inside the frame, and so on – but that’s routine and boring! Don’t listen to this nonsense!
Any photograph from my most popular works has a composition that contradicts all the rules from textbooks, and in addition, it is often framed in an unconventional way. Experiment! Try! Take a shot from a low angle, from a high one. Try to focus on your inner feelings, even if they contradict the rules.
As the years go by, your sense of composition will grow, and you will achieve mastery and professionalism in your own way, while also developing your own recognizable style.

In this shot, you can see sun flares and a composition that would surely shock a rookie inspector in stock photography. There are also overexposures, a tilted horizon – the only correct focus is on the eyes. The young man’s head is cropped. In many ways, this photograph is “textbook nonsense” but nevertheless, it is much more interesting than the standard approach.

Explain and say “stop” at the right moment

Explanations are everything! If a model doesn’t understand what you want from the scene/shoot, then she simply won’t be able to do what you strive for. The best models know their best angles and poses and start posing as soon as they see the camera. Stop that process and bring the model back to reality so she looks like a human.
When shooting more than one person, you should try to engage people in conversation, add some interaction, and say “STOP” when you want to take the shot. This method works wonderfully when you need to take photos in a relaxed atmosphere, as if you weren’t even there.
When I shoot business themes or staff portraits, I often involve models in a game like collaborative storytelling, where one person writes one or two lines, the next adds another two, and as a result, they relax and laugh – it’s a great opportunity to get a good shot.

Be super productive

My senior assistant (who works as a photojournalist) recently came to me after a behind-the-scenes report on a rock band from Denmark and said, “I don’t understand… all the other photographers were just sitting around with their cameras and talking… I saw this through my viewfinder.”
My assistant observed this throughout the concert through his camera. He shot over 1300 RAW files in three hours with his 1Ds. And I don’t care how much talent goes into each of them. Creating beautiful photographs requires a lot of shots; that’s normal.
Shoot like crazy, especially if you have little time to work with a given model or in a given location. After a good day of stock shooting, only 3-4% of the material shot remains. This percentage count helps to understand one important conclusion – the more material shot, the more good works will go into your portfolio at stock photo banks. This conclusion is very simple and can be interpreted in various ways, but it inevitably leads to the realization of a truth. Sitting and talking or shooting half-heartedly is surely a waste of a chance to get a cool photograph. Go out, shoot, and work like crazy.

Never settle for less

Here you see part of the file of one of my usual studio portraits. You don’t need to increase sharpness, creating artifacts (I’m preparing you for using top-notch optics). This shot wasn’t sharpened at all, camera sharpness settings: zero, and processing: zero. This is sufficient resolution and quality I get with an ordinary 1Ds Mark II, and I don’t need medium format.
The vast majority of photographers who learned to shoot on film cameras eventually switched to digital cameras but did not make the same transition in their knowledge and workflow and did not gain enough understanding of digital technology.
At the moment, this concerns me, as many of these photographers hold themselves in very high regard, yet they really know nothing about the workflow with digital technology and are too proud or consider themselves too “creative” to worry about such trivial things as artifacts, compression, TIFF files.
Don’t go that way. Improve your knowledge on online resources that are constantly updated. Gradually, the demands for digital standards are rising, so be prepared for that.
Good luck!
Source of material for the article – the site photodealer.ru