Chances are you’ve seen a Yuri Arcurs image. Arguably the world’s most successful stock photographer, this affable Dane sells on average 2,000 images per day – or about two million over the course of a year – to the likes of Microsoft, Sony, Time and Der Spiegel. His images are everywhere. Google his name and you’ll get hundreds of thousands of results.

So it’s surprising to learn that this former member of the Danish special forces has only been taking pictures for five years and went pro just two years ago.

“I started taking pictures as a photojournalism student, but then I switched to psychology,” he says. “Because I had some photographic knowledge, I decided to shoot stock photography as a part-time job to help fund my studies. I had absolutely no idea it would take off like it has. I was just having fun!”

Make every stock photo flawless

The Yuri Arcurs method is simple: be meticulous and make technically flawless images with a clear message. “It’s sort of a different approach to photography than other people take,” he says. “Many people have a stylistic area they want to fill out. I just want to take very good images that will satisfy a client. So I pursued sales.
 I didn’t have the baggage of an ‘artistic vision’ to distract me from that goal.”

Arcurs reckons he was teased a lot in the beginning. He shot stock images that while good looking, were very plain. “I took the money shots, completely non-artistic,” he shrugs.

Despite his modesty, Arcurs’s stock photos aren’t completely without artistic vision. His images have a signature style – a look that people can usually spot straight away. “If I had to describe it, I’d say it’s very clean. I’m very careful about what’s in the background. I build up my images in layers, and make sure they fit together. This is where most people fail as stock photographers, I think. You have to manage all the layers in your composition, even the blurred background, so it doesn’t interrupt the message of your picture.”

Arcurs reckons this is also the hardest thing to teach. “It becomes intuitive over time, but to get there you have to have a natural feeling for composition. I think and perceive the world as built-in layers, and if you talk to the big photojournalists, they say the same thing. When you see them constantly moving around, you may wonder what they’re doing. This is them finding different angles, rearranging the layers.”

Stock photos: a style that works

Arcurs also aims to give his stock photos a bright, fresh look by shooting in high key. This is where he expresses his creative side, he says, and it’s a look that also happens to sell.

“People pay good money for the high-key style. Too many stock photographers don’t stop and think about who is buying their images. People criticise me for not being artistic because all my images are bright and shot against white backgrounds. That’s fine, but if you sit down and analyse your audience you’ll understand that this is what they want. This is what sells. We want to serve the client with fast food. So if you want to succeed at this you need to accept that microstock is a fast-food restaurant; it’s not gourmet.”

To read the rest of this interview with Yuri, check out this month's issue of Digital Camera magazine.

Via: Photo Radar