How to make ONE stock image go further
SCStockshop sponsored this blog post. The opinions and text are all mine. Affiliate links are also included in this post for your convenience.
We’ve all seen the stock photography rage that has been going on since the genius Shay Cochrane had this brilliant idea to provide stock photography to businesses without the cost of a custom session. Her idea was incredible and it wasn’t long before there were tons of other stock photographers out there offering their own style of photography into the mix.
When I first started this business, I literally used the last $10 we had to purchase the domain name so I know what it’s like to start a business on a very tight budget. I know that having great photography is incredibly important for any business but not everyone is able to drop a lot of money on a bunch of different options right from the start. But what if I told you that you could just purchase ONE image and make it go super far? Today I’m going to show you how!
We are going to take this image above from Shay’s SCStockshop and see just how many uses we can get out of it!
I just spent about 10 minutes doing different crops and came up with 24 different ways to crop this one single image. I’m certain I could have gotten even more crops out of this if I had just spent a bit more time on it. Friends, this is over 3 weeks of Instagram posts if you were to post once a day.
Here are some tips to get the most our of one image:
Turn the image in different directions
Don’t be afraid to turn and rotate the image to get different crops out of it. You can see from my examples above that some of these are simply turned a different direction and it gives the image a whole new feel.
Paint white over anything you’d like to remove from the image
Shay has given permission to crop your images and paint out anything you’d like hidden in the image. In my example below, after I turned the image the keyboard doesn’t necessarily work in that direction so I used my color picker tool and a paint brush to cover it up.
Zoom in & out
Zoom in for really close details. This is especially great for seeing the details in the flowers.
Also, zoom out to get a larger chunk of what you’d like to focus on.
White space is a great thing
Don’t be afraid of white unused space. This is great for adding quotes or text over it for sale announcements, encouraging quotes, or anything you’d like to share!
Love this idea Lauren. Sometimes the simple ones are the best! Thanks
You’re very welcome!
I actually purchased this same image (and I love it) but I wasn’t aware that you could actually paint over certain elements of the images from Shay. Here is her usage agreement (in part) “Purchaser may crop the image and overlay the image with text or pdfs of product designs as fits Purchaser’s needs, but Purchaser may not otherwise alter, edit or manipulate the image.” – I understand that to mean you CAN’T take out things. Did she give you special permission?
Wondering again because I have this image, too.
Thank you!
Hi Emily,
Yes! Shay has given permission for this use. She also did a post similar to this sponsored post that you can see right here where she also explains that this is acceptable use.
So amazingly helpful! Thank you!!! I’m sure I would never have come up with that on my own!
This is a really helpful post. Thank you!
Lauren, I love this! Thanks so much for this idea. I purchased one of Shay’s stock photos last fall. I think it’s time for another as a spring gift to all the readers of my blog! 🙂 Now I have so many ideas on what to do with it! I didn’t even think of using white paint to cover it up. What are you using to crop and paint? Thank you for sharing this!
Hi Karen,
You’re so welcome!
I am using Photoshop to paint the white over that section.
Oh my goodness! This is brilliant! I never would’ve thought of this! Thank you so much for sharing! I’m going to look at stock photography in a whole new light now!
What a great idea!!! I have several of Shay’s pics to work with, too.
Brilliant!
Wow that was crazy on time and super helpful . I just purchased a set of images that I love but now see so much more potential out of. I love the polished look of the imagery and good images often cost money but I find myself later going back and using them for other things great reminder to keep track of those purchases and utilize them to the fullest. That reminds me o didn’t record that purchase in my business planner. Loving that tool it’s taken on a life of its own I even created stickers and add in sheets for it . Since the install in January I have learned so much from you all and I’m loving my site it’s gotten so many compliments .
It’s amazing how such a simple idea will change how I do things from now on. Thanks!
Brilliant! I honestly never thought to do that before. Thank you for this post.. may God continue to bless your craft. You always challenge and inspire me Lauren 🙂
We love getting your emails and this is definitely another favorite for me. Not that I hadn’t thought about it, just reminded me to actually DO it! And yes, Shay has some great stock photos!
Appreciate your both!
Love this! Thank you.
Seriously, this is so great and helpful!!! Thank you so much for sharing.
I really liked this post, it really helps to opens up my imagination..
Hi Lauren:
This is a great tip. I will start playing with some of my stock photos.
Yaritza, Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it!