Most of December, I was traveling for two back-to-back photo expeditions — one in Bali and one in Thailand.
As you saw over the last few weeks, I looked to these stock photos as my inspiration while I was traveling and shooting for stock: 
I didn’t take any of these photos, above. They’re all stock photos I found online that sell well. However, I did take the following photos, which I’m going to submit as stock. All of these I took using the above photos as inspiration. 
Monkey family in the Monkey Forest in Ubud, Bali Goal: To capture a monkey family interacting, portraying “togetherness.” 
Rice paddy in the Sidemen Rice Fields, Bali Goal: To capture an iconic Balinese rice paddy, using the lines artistically, and going for simplicity with no distractions. 
Handcrafted lights in the Sunday night market, Chiang Mai, Thailand Goal: To photograph a craft simply in the busy market, without distractions or people in the shot. Bonus goal: Use color and depth of field artistically. 
Single water lily in the Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden, Thailand Goal: Get a simple flower photo that portrays both “lily” and “Asia.” As you can see, the point is not to copy anyone else’s photos. You want to take your own photos… to add your own point of view when you set out to take stock shots. But you also want to keep in mind what’s selling and try to take that. I’ll submit these four, along with a handful of other shots I took in Bali and Thailand to stock… and I’ll let you know which ones get in. Happy New Year! Here’s to more travels, better photos, and more stock sales in 2012. Your Weekly Breakfast Dish The latest from your Breakfast StockClub Facebook Page Breakfast Stock Club readers are a well-traveled bunch! When I asked where you were headed this year, here’s what people on the Breakfast StockClub Facebook Page said: From Carol Cole-Frowe: Machu Picchu From Theresa Richardson: Grand Canyon and Las Vegas From Rich Haslam: I’m headed for Vietnam in June. Can’t wait to see your stock photos for some ideas. From Deidre McConnell: Virgin Islands over the holidays. Then hopefully Ecuador in Feb… From Elizabeth Coughlan: England, then Italy, starting on Friday. From Connie Hamel Bratt: Mazatlan in January From Kim Wilson: Venice for Carnival in Feburary From Kelley Denz: Ecuador in Feburary From Caroline Maryan: Seoul, South Korea for the winter. Macchu Picchu in March! Then, sometime in April or May, Tuscany, to learn Italian. 🙂 Gotta love this life!!! From Beverly Hart: Scotland and England in June. From Deborah Kolb: Venice, Rome, London,Paris,Kauai, Colorado, Wisconsin! Going to be looking for your Images!! From Caroline Maryan: Forgot to include Shanghai in February!