Stock Photography: Professional Images and Techniques

Born in Bonn, Germany during World War II, author of Stock photography: Professional Techniques and Images, Ulrike Welsch became interested in photography at an early age. While working in a local drug store, she was given the duty of processing film in the darkroom. Fascinated with photography and an eager student, Welsch was taught the fine art of printing by a master printer. As the first female staff photographer in Boston at the Boston Herald Traveler, she quickly advanced to the Boston Globe. Covering the Robert Kennedy funeral, Vietnam War demonstrations and a papal visit were some of her most challenging assignments. She completed a project for National Geographic and collected distinguished awards for her work as a photojournalist. Welsch has chosen more than fifty of her most compelling images to discuss in Stock Photography: Professional Techniques and Images. Accompanying each black and white or colored image is an in-depth discussion by the author explaining settings, composition, mood and equipment and why and how each element was chosen and used. I find her willingness to discuss so deeply and thoroughly her intimate thoughts of the images and their making, refreshing and helpful. If you are a seasoned photographer this book may help you find a new way of seeing or connecting with your subjects. If you are a beginner, the insight Welsch offers is invaluable. Her revelations concerning her thinking and reasoning as she shot the image and printed it, is really a learning experience for readers. Dispersed with her disclosures about her work are facts like how to get started in stock photography, a description of a photographer's evolution and how to handle necessary technicalities such as how to get subjects to sign model releases. Welsch allows readers to see how the mind of a successful photographer works. She is willing to share everything, technically and emotionally, about her images and the making of them.