Life is a bowl of cherries - photos of groups of things

© yasonya/Crestock

The growing emphasis on healthy eating has led to many uses for images of fresh fruit and vegetables. These images are found in diet books and websites as well as in packaging for juices, in adverts for mainstream grocery stores and as prints on health food store walls.

© aguirre_mar/Crestock

1. Buy the freshest fruit and flowers available. Concentrate on the color and shapes rather than how the fruit will taste... the ripest fruit isn't necessarily the prettiest!
2. Polish the apples, citrus and plums with a soft cloth. Don't buy organic produce for props because it won't be waxed like those that make supermarket fruit look appetizing.
3. Rather than a formal arrangement of flowers from a florist, go casual, concentrating on the blooms and the light to add mood to the shot.

© Brebca/Crestock

© ingridhs/Crestock

By the judicious placing of props, you can turn a flowery still life into a holiday symbol.

It's not only images of traditional still life objects that find some success but collections of almost anything. The desire to collect and to organize is a universal human trait and the results can make for great shots for wall décor as well as for many other uses depending upon the subject.

© loskutnikov/Crestock

© dmstudio/Crestock

Rather than a collection of different objects, a grouping of the same item can create a colorful graphic that can be more visually appealing than a single object. A single coffee bean is difficult to photograph in an interesting fashion but a frame filled with luscious roasted beans is compelling.

© kasia75/Crestock

© kasia75/Crestock

When you photograph single objects that might have appeal as wall art, create a series that the user can gather into a group. A single image of shells framed together creates a group.

© clearviewstock/Crestock

© loskutnikov/Crestock

Not only are images with repeating themes visually compelling, they can be strong concept images, as the clocks above are for 'time'.

A popular image both as a vector and photo collage shows many representative but different items on the same theme. A hardware store or construction business would download such an image of hammers, nails, pliers and other similar tools to use on their web site.

© 5xinc/Crestock

© 5xinc/Crestock

Several of the images from the construction vector by 5xinc have been repurposed as part of a graph.

Either a single object or a mix of the images in a collage from the single download are then used by the buyer. Good themes to explore for these types of groupings are:

1. Medical: stethoscope, first aid kit (Tip: don't use a red cross or red crescent; these symbols are trademarked)
2. Construction trades
3. Education
4. Hardware store objects
5. Retail signs: "Sale", "Half Off" etc
6. Tools of any trade or profession

© snokid/Crestock

© fuzzbone/Crestock

Adding a human element to a collection of fruit adds a dramatic and romantic flare to an image.

The best selling collections are of groups of people. Next week I'll write about what it takes to get great group shots of people without spending a lot of money.

Ellen has over thirty years of experience in the stock business gained at such organizations as Dreamstime, UpperCut Images, Workbookstock, Corbis, Getty (Stone), The Image Bank (Artville) and the creative agency, After-Image, she started in Los Angeles at the beginning of her career. Having been directly involved in the creation of four major stock photography collections, Ellen offers her decades of experience to assist photographers seeking success in stock photography.

@ellenboughn ellenboughn www.ellenboughn.com/blog