A word of advice though - Thomas’ Tip # 6 states that you can shoot pretty much anything, which is fine for your own photos, but anything that you are selling for commercial purposes… well, it’s not true there. 

• ISO Setting - Shoot at the lowest possible ISO setting
• Shoot at higher shutter speeds - If you do take long exposures, experiment a little with different ISO / shutter speed combinations to see what works best for your camera.
• Digital Zoom - Turn it off. I have never seen a need to use this feature.
• Lighting - Can you control the lighting in your setting? If so, add more light to the scene (but avoid using the flash).
• Equipment - Are you using a point & shoot camera? If so you might want to consider upgrading to a Digital SLR. The main reason (for noise, that is - there are plenty of other reasons) is the sensor size of your typical dSLR is over 8 times the size of many consumer model cameras (Canon D30 22.7mm x 15.1 vs. Nikon Coolpix 7.2 mm x 5.3 mm)

Fixing Photos

If you have already photographed the perfect shot, but find it has a bit too much noise, there is bit of help available. Programs like Adobe PhotoShop & Adobe Elements have “Despeckle” or “Remove Noise & Dust” filters in them. But be careful with them. Over use of them can result in removal of sharp edges, leading to an overall blurry look to your photo. We’ll look at this in depth in a future tutorial.

Another alternative is noise removal software. Programs like Noise Ninja and Neat Image specialize in removing Noise. Below is a detail of our original noisy image. Rollover the photo to view Noise Ninja’s default noise removal settings. It does a nice job at noise removal, while still maintaining sharp areas.

How to Clean Your Digital SLR
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Digital Cameras
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1. Using the Pen tool, draw a work path around the area of the image you want to show.


2. When you are finished open the Paths palette, and save the “work path” as a path. From this point if you are creating the path to export it to a page layout program see the note below “Clipping Path”.
3. Now, if you are using the path to copy the cropped image out of this file to paste into another, then highlight the name of the path you are working (in the path pallet) and from the path pallet menu select “Make Selection...”. You can then copy and past this into any other PhotoShop document.
   

   Alternatively, if you just wanted to delete the background, us the above method to create a selection. You can then go to the “Select” menu and choose “Select Inverse”. You can now paint, fill or adjust the background without affecting the cropped object.

Tip, I’d recommend saving the file without deleting your paths. You never know when you may need to go back into a file and retouch a certain area.

Clipping Path

1. Choose Clipping Path from the Paths palette menu, set the following options, and click OK:


• For Path, choose the path you want to save (If you have more than one).
• For Flatness, leave the flatness value blank to print the image using the printer’s default value.
2. If you plan to print the file using process colors, be sure to convert the file to CMYK mode.
3. Save the file in either a Tiff or EPS format.

Tutorial reprinted with permission. Courtesy of StockRiot.com.

On the Stock side of the table, all of the images set up in your stock albums are added to the stock database. You set the price for the images. You re also in charge of collecting & maintaining all model & property releases.

Image price range: Photographer defined
Commission on stock sales: 81.75% (85% minus a 3.25% processing fee).
Commission on print/gift sales: 81.75% of marked up price (85% minus a 3.25% processing fee).
www.photostockplus.com.

Image price range: User Set (minimum $20) or as a preferred options they have set sizes & prices from 99¢ - $4.99
Commission nonexclusive: 85%
www.shutterpoint.com.

www.dreamstime.com.