Sean Nel (also known as Forgiss on various forums and websites on the internet) is one of the leaders of a new breed of stock photographer. Always willing to help a fellow photographer and ready to jump into any project at a moment’s notice, we thought we would try and get into the mind of this image maker:

SN: Ooh… started some time ago with my sister who studied photography. I borrowed her camera to shoot sporting events at school and sell the images to the athletes. From there I went to study Theology, and worked as a missionary in Ukraine where I met my wife. Few twists and turns later we were running our own internet businesses and getting sucked into the “Rat Race”. Decided to retire before I die in an office, and became full time stock photographers. Shooting and traveling for a living.

PL: Sounds romantic, is it?

SN: Yes, it does sound that way, and sometimes it is, but a lot of it is admin, not shooting. Booking, scouting, visa’s… finding models, finding internet access, driving, traveling… It’s nice for a while, but at some point you don’t want to wash your clothes in a Laundromat, and want a potted plant to take care of that is your own. I think we actually shoot for less than 5% of the time. Mind you… it really is great to visit amazing places with my wife at my side…

PL: What do you carry with you [equipment wise] while traveling around like this?

SN: Equipment? Well, we shoot exclusively canon (but any PhaseOne sponsors out there should not be put off by this!) and most kit is carried in one or two backpacks from Lowepro. We shoot Canon 5D with a few 580EX flash units, 24-70 f/2.8 L as the walk around lens, but also carry a 17-40 f/4 L and a 70-200mm f/4 L. A 50mm macro lens is in a side pocket but generally we use the Kenko extension tubes on the L lenses to get some working distance.

We have a bunch of CF cards, but everything gets dumped on two 80gb portable HD that run of a set of penlights [AA size batteries] and we carry two notebook computers with us, one PC-based, one Mac-based but switching everything over to Mac soon. 2 portable 200gb HD for the notebooks finishes off the kit. Oh, and two tripods, a Velbon and a Manfrotto.

PL: That’s a lot to carry around?

SN: Yep, but we tend to carry that just on main travels (city to city) for day to day shooting, we have two Crumpler slingbags (Ben’s Pizza Bag) that carry a body and a lens, and maybe a hard drive. We decide what we want to shoot today, and take only what’s needed.

Recently we also started recording video of our shoots for a short Podcast we do… hopefully that will also take off at some point

PL: Ok, lets get down to technique: How do you do it?

SN: Well… basically I think we just get lucky! The thing is to keep on trying and practicing. Gary Player (Famous South African golfer) used to say: “… the more you practice, the luckier you get!” and I think that more or less sums up how we shoot.

I must confess that lately I have come to the conclusion that the “Rules of Photography” is really more of a guideline… There is just too much to cover in a one paragraph answer! Maybe one important thing that I have learnt in the last two years is not to overthink a shot, and just keep it simple… That, and the fact that a R10 white cardboard works just as well as a R900 reflector.

PL: Ok… Give us your most valuable tip.

SN: Lenshood… Always shoot with a lenshood!

PL: If somebody wants to follow in your footsteps… what to do?

SN: First: go see a head doctor! Seriously though, this is another industry. It’s not the way it used to be, technology has changed the way the world works, so flow with it. Be ready to learn something new from the old dogs and the new kids. Never claim to be the best. Always humble yourself and try to learn from rejected images and those that don’t sell. Tomorrow is another day, shoot it again.

Stock image buyers do not care how good you think it is, if it doesn’t fit the creative brief, they are not going to buy it, so quit sulking about it. Shoot what sells, but NEVER stop shooting what you love (even if nobody buys it, it still looks great on the refrigerator door!)