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We often get asked “how can I increase my sales?”. While many factors could play a role, one way is by making sure you’re uploading often enough with a cross section of images that appeal to changing seasons. Ultimately, this means uploading content throughout the winter, spring, summer and autumn months.

But how could this increase your sales?

Most customers will make sure the content they license appeals to the season it will be when their project goes live. For instance, if a UK company needs to license an image for a July cover, they probably won’t be looking at winter images.

If you look at your collection and notice you upload less images say from the summer, this is something to work on. By uploading content for all seasons and not having any gaps, you’re increasing your chance of a sale.

There’s no sell-by date on pictures

For some publishers, Christmas projects could start as early as April. This means the content you created in December could be relevant for our customers now while they prepare their 2021 Christmas campaign.

I once assisted on a Christmas photoshoot, in March, which seems crazy, but you have to put yourself in the shoes of the customer if you want to increase your sales.

If you think you’ve left it too late to upload your shots that were taken a few months ago, you’re mistaken – you should definitely upload them. No matter what genre of photography you do, you need to make sure your collection has content taken throughout the year to cover all seasons.

Here are some tips for capturing the seasons to get you inspired.

Spring – an eye opener

Spring brings with it sunshine, beautiful flowers and an array of new wildlife. As animals become more active, ponds, nature reserves, and canals offer great photo opportunities.

However, over the years climate change has affected the weather. Dry places are becoming even drier, and areas with high rainfall are getting wetter, particularly in the spring months. When we think of climate change we picture melting ice and polar bears, but there are many animals, people, and places seeing the effects.

It’s important that as creatives we try to inspire change, and photographing the effects of climate change can help. If you’re seeing the effects of climate change in your area, then make sure to document it. Here’s a Climate Crisis collection to inspire you.

Summer – longer days

If you like your sleep, you may have to like it a little less in the summer because I personally think the best times to photograph in the summer months are when the sun rises and sets. That can be as early as 5:30am and as late as 10:30pm depending on where you are.

Known as the golden hour, you’ll have glowing, warm hues to play with. For more inspiration, check out this blog on golden hour imagery.

Autumn – a magical time of the year favoured by many landscape photographers

As the leaves go crispy and orange, venture to a woodland area and use the earthy tones for a perfect background. Fallen leaves also make fun props for portraits. If you’re an animal or wildlife photographer, try to get low when shooting so the golden hues on the ground are included in your shot – this will add pops of colour to your photo.

The monarch butterfly migrates from the US and Canada to central Mexico between September to October – if you’re near the states, keep an eye out in Autumn for these butterflies!

Winter – weather dependant

Your winter could look very different depending on where you are. If winter months often mean scarfs, hats and a cold breeze, you might be greeted with frost and mist in the mornings, which make for great photos when out on an early stroll.

Maybe you’re lucky and see warmer weather in winter? Even so, there will still be plenty of photo opportunities. In Australia, you’ll be greeted with less of a northerly wind and the swell will be smoother – making it easier for surfers to catch a wave – so they’ll be plenty of opportunities to get some action shots.

With less daylight in winter, you might decide to shoot in the evening once it’s dark. The winter season in the Arctic lasts from late September to late March, and the Arctic sky is dark enough for the northern lights to be visible in the right conditions during this period (this should be on your tick list). Check out our After Hours collection for inspiration.

Every season offers great photo opportunities if you know where to look. One of the key things you should be doing as an 17�Թ����� contributor is getting out and photographing as much as you can come rain or shine, and uploading all year round.

If you do photograph any of the shoot suggestions above, we’d love to see. Upload your shots to , tag @alamycontent and we‘ll share them!

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