THE STOCK MARKET

LAURIE STILL SHOOTS STOCK FOR A NUMBER OF CLIENTS. THERE IS ALWAYS A MARKET FOR NEW SUBJECTS, HE SAYS…

Natural history stock photography – is it worth it?

It’s tough, going out and shooting stock, because you think it’s declining… But I won’t stop. Last week, I was photographing a wood meadow in North Yorkshire. Twelve years ago it was a barley field and now you’ve got great crested newts and grass snakes, and I discovered a beetle on an elder leaf that’s nationally rare, and all these animals have just moved into this habitat. It’s the brainchild of a couple who own this piece of land and wondered, “what are we going to do with this field? We’ll plant a wood meadow.” I first got in touch because I had a commission in 2017 from BBC Wildlife magazine to go down and shoot it. With any commissioned work, it’s always been the case that I’ll push for a condition that I get access to the stock, so you’re kind of getting subsidized to photograph stuff that you do anyway.