Ruth Black’s love affair with photography began as a kid, taking snaps of her family for the cherished family photo albums. It wasn’t until 2008, after having left her job at a bank and while raising her two children, that she became a Shutterstock contributor. Eventually she turned photography, her hobby and self-proclaimed obsession, into a career she loves. What’s more, she also combined photography with another passion: baking. Focusing her lens on delicious baked treats, Black has become a star photographer of the ever-popular cupcake.

Ruth Black

Black’s sophisticated and shabby-chic photographs of cupcakes are visually appealing and pair well with messages about life’s joys, such as birthdays, holidays, and love. Black pays attention to details, employing beautiful crockery and table props. To capture her engaging shots, Black did away with her compact camera and now shoots with a Canon 7D, fitted with a Canon 100mm macro lens. Her technical skills and talent set her work apart, creating delectable and usable imagery for designers.
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You can tell by his retro styling and touches of humor that photographer Holbox puts on his “director’s” cap when on set. His fond memories of childhood, along with the “visions of the future” conjured by the 1970’s cinematic directors, inform his well-liked portraits in his Shutterstock portfolio.

Portrait of the photographer.

Holbox (who prefers to go by his nickname) is based in Spain, has been a Shutterstock contributor since 2008, and has over 11,000 images on his portfolio. His 25 years of experience in photography is essential for exploring his themes, concepts and to direct the models.

He explains, “I’m a little ‘movie’ director on my shoots. Before each one I explain to the model what’s running through my mind and try to be sure that the model captures the meaning of my story. Then I just let them act, as if in the movie. If I see there is something special, I ask the model to repeat it and improve the results.”

What he produces are enigmatic characters, whose comical situations or poses add a witty and playful spin to the overall final image. The results liven up the portraiture options available to download on Shutterstock. Continue reading ‘Featured Contributor: Retro-Hip Portraits by Holbox’ »

Meet the man behind the frogs. Illustrator Julien Tromeur creates 3D illustrations that are among the most popular illustrations on Shutterstock. Among his best-selling images are dozens of pictures featuring 3D cartoon frogs, a fun-loving character that our customers can’t get enough of. Tromeur, who lives in Paris, has been a Shutterstock contributor since 2006 and has about 12,000 images in our collection. We asked him a few questions about his success.

Q: How did you get started in stock illustrations?

A: I started doing 3D characters in my free time while working as a web and 3D artist (product design mostly). My real passion was cartoony characters.

Q: How do you decide which images to create and submit to Shutterstock?

A: I try to have fun. I think it’s silly to copy the others, you have to find what makes you happy. In the long run you have to have your style and your niche, this is how you become good at what you do, it’s the best way to survive. Continue reading ‘Featured Contributor: The Zany 3D Cartoons of Julien Tromeur’ »

Shutterstock is proud to present Shutterstars. Each month we will tell fun, compelling stories about successful designers. This month, we feature Fish Out of Water Design with Charlene Codner, the agency’s Chief Creative Officer and Owner and their five tips for designers.

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You can tell by his photos that photographer Sergey Uryadnikov isn’t afraid to get close to large animals. Hailing from Saint Petersburg, Russia, Uryadnikov has been a Shutterstock contributor since 2010. He’s traveled to more than 30 countries as a nature photographer, and his photos have won contests, and earned him many fans among Shutterstock customers.

Here’s a selection of his images, with some notes from Sergey himself. You can view his whole Shutterstock portfolio here.
Continue reading ‘Contributor Spotlight: Breathtaking Nature Photos from Sergey Uryadnikov’ »

Todd Klassy

Todd Klassy

• Medium: Photography
• Shutterstock contributor since: 2010
• Location: Havre, Montana
• Number of images on Shutterstock: 97
• Artist’s favorite image
• Customers’ favorite image

When we asked Todd Klassy for insights into his Shutterstock photos, we expected some basic answers about cameras and locations. But we got a lot more. Here’s a Q&A with Todd in which he shares his insight into what makes a good photograph, and his fondness for photographing vanishing America scenery.

Continue reading ‘Contributor Spotlight: Todd Klassy’s Photos of Vanishing America’ »

Shutterstock is proud to present a new series, Shutterstars, which will tell fun, compelling stories about successful designers. Our first subject is Debbie Millman, president of the design division at Sterling Brands and a former AIGA president.

Continue reading ‘Shutterstars: Advice From a Design Maven, Featuring Debbie Millman’ »

They look like photographs, but look again. These detailed, cinematic landscapes are actually a blend of 3D renderings and illustrations.

Larry Jacobsen

These images are by Larry Jacobsen, a Shutterstock contributor based in the mountains of Southern California. Jacobsen is a freelance artist who has been contributing his images to Shutterstock since 2005, where they’re popular with customers worldwide.

Jacobsen creates the images by rendering elements such as mountains, trees and buildings with Vue3D software. For images with wildlife, he usually hand-paints the animals using a graphics tablet and Photoshop. Then he puts these different elements on separate layers in Photoshop Elements, where he assembles his final composition.

“I’m interested in creating a well designed, realistic, representational style of the western United States,” he says. “I like the land features and coastline of the western part of the United States, with its mountains, streams, lakes, deserts, and rocky coastline and most of all, its rocks.”

Below are some of Jacobsen’s favorite Shutterstock images. To see more of his work, view his portfolio.
Continue reading ‘Meet a Shutterstock Contributor: Larry Jacobsen’ »

Alan Benge

Sometimes the simplest images are also the most meaningful. Queensland, Australia-based Alan Benge, a Shutterstock contributor since 2009, creates vector illustrations that convey a sense of place. His images of cities, streets and countrysides are popular with customers, probably for travel-related uses.

Continue reading ‘Meet a Shutterstock Contributor: Alan Benge’ »

Binkski

Some artists are as talented at illustration as they are at photography, and use their abilities to create lush, immersive photo illustrations. To see what we mean, look no further than Binkski (no, not Banksy!), a U.K.-based photo-illustrator who contributes his work to Shutterstock. Binkski’s sweeping portfolio includes beautiful conceptual photos, simple and versatile vector illustrations, and even a few 3D renderings— a mix that’s very popular with customers.
Continue reading ‘Meet a Shutterstock Contributor: Binkski’ »