… for Random Weirdness

Tip #619: Five Tips to Better Stock Media

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The secret is in how you do your search.

This article, written by Terin Izil, first appeared in Pond5.com. This is an excerpt.

Stock video sites have millions of clips. So why does it feel like you’re getting the same five clips over and over? Here’s a few tips to keep your results fresh and help you find exactly what you’re looking for.

Keywords Are Key

Start by writing down your main keyword and a list of secondary keywords. Keep your main keyword, but rotate in the secondary ones to see different results. Good words to include on that secondary list include: aerial, establishing shot, timelapse, hyperlapse, handheld, loop, and cinemagraph.

Follow Artists You Like

Like someone’s style? Check out the rest of their portfolio.

A Visually Similar Search is Worth 1,000 Words

This is especially helpful if you are trying to match shots or styles.

Filter, Filter, Filter

If you’re looking for a needle in a haystack (or even if you’re not), it helps to weed out the results that don’t belong. If you know the resolution, number of people, or if you want commercial or editorial, you can easily narrow down the results with a filter.

Then Filter Again by Budget

You might not know your exact budget, but you can probably figure out what your maximum is. Set a filter to that so you don’t see anything unrealistic for your project.