Keep up with key trends in Licensing as 500px’s Art Director & Creative Research Lead, Karen Biilmann, analyzes common threads and current themes throughout our Contributors’ photography submissions. From landscape, nature, and animals, here’s what’s trending in some of the most popular genres in the 500px collection.

In this Licensing roundup, our sample size highlights trends within Contributor content shot with popular camera brands: Canon, Nikon, and Sony.

Canon

The top three locations for Canon users in this sample were the United States, the UK, and Italy. The most popular categories for Canon users were landscape, nature, and animals.

Landscape:

view of an alpine mountain landscape near Mont Bla by Björn Fischer on 500px.com


view of an alpine mountain landscape near Mont Bla‘ by Bjorn Fischer

Shot on:
Canon EOS 5D Mark III
With a:
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Using:
200mm | ƒ/8 | 1/1250s | ISO 100

What we love:
The subject matter is minimal, accentuating the concept of the triumphant mountaineer. Bjorn keeps the crop tight, only featuring the peak of this mountain summit. While it appears to only be a fraction of the mountain, the sheer scale of this feat is magnified with the comparison of the man standing in the distance.

Nature:

autumn by Omar Tursi? on 500px.com


Autumn‘ by Omar Tursic

Shot on:
Canon EOS 6D
Using:
35mm | ƒ/1.8 | 1/100s | ISO 1000

What we love:
What better way to showcase nature than by accentuating the rich colours and textures created through the change in seasons. Omar challenges us to look at the subject of the image through a first-person perspective and invites us to remember the crunch of autumn leaves or the fresh smell that lingers in a fall forest. He keeps the focus of his image sharp, allowing the details in the background to drop off—keeping the image simple and concise.

Animals:

Little bat by Kristýna Kvapilová on 500px.com


Little bat‘ by Kristyna Kvapilova

Shot on:
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
With:
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Using:
85mm | ƒ/1.8 | 1/400s | ISO 400

What we love:
Kristyna uses dramatic, deep tones and vignetting to help accentuate this bug-eyed pup. Playing on the resemblance of a bat, with big ears and black, shiny eyes, this dog pokes its nose through the leaves, inquisitive yet shy. The darker, cool-toned greens help to drive the viewer’s eye toward the warmer brown and gold tones featured on the dog. The dog has been framed in a way that provides ideal negative space for potential buyer messaging on the left-hand side of the image.

Nikon

Nikon saw similar trends, with top Contributors coming in from the U.S., Spain, and Italy. Popular categories also remained similar for Nikon-specific users—landscape, nature, and animals.

Landscape:

Suspension by Concetto Galati on 500px.com


Suspension‘ by Concetto Galati

Shot on:
Nikon D810
With:
50.0 mm f/1.8
Using:
50mm | ƒ/9 | 177s | ISO 64

What we love:
With a long exposure, Concetto melts the colors into one another as the movement in the water and clouds are blurred together, accentuating the dark objects in the center of the frame. With the muted palette, the landscape appears minimal, creating a striking image that encourages calm and ease as you float around the landscape.

Nature:

Toadstool by Yusun Chung on 500px.com


Toadstool‘ by Yusun Chung

Shot on:
Nikon D750
With:
Tamron 24-70mm f2.8
Using:
30mm | ƒ/f2.8 | 1/640s | ISO 250

What we love:
Keeping the background tones dark and limited really lets the red on this toadstool pop. Not only does it catch your eye, but the soft backdrop lends itself well to amplifying the texture and details on the mushroom.

Animals:

Muuu...dy by Mattia Albertin on 500px.com


Muuu…dy‘ by Mattia Albertin

Shot on:
Nikon D5300
With:
11.0-16.0 mm f/2.8
Using:
11mm | ƒ/2.8 | 1/320s | ISO 100

What we love:
With the highland cow taking the photography world by storm, we can’t help but love this long-haired, horned beauty. The warmer tones in this image lend well to the moodier aesthetic of this Italian hillside. The highland cow pokes its nose out just far enough to provide a slight fisheye effect, forcing the viewer to hone in on what makes this cow a show stopper.

Sony

This pattern continues with Sony users. Top locations in this sample were the U.S., Germany, and Italy, and the top categories for Sony-specific Contributors continued to be landscape, nature, and animals.

Landscape:

Streda de Frea by Vito Miribung on 500px.com


Streda de Frea‘ by Vito Miribung

Shot on:
Sony Alpha a99 II
With:
Sony 70-200mm F2.8 G (SAL70200G)
Using:
135mm | ƒ/5 | 0/1s | ISO 100

What we love:
Lighting is fundamental in this image, with the mountain casting a deep shadow over the majority of the image. The warm rays of the sun cling to a small section of the road, winding through the dense forest. It creates drama while leading your eye through the image.

Nature:

Back view of a young woman in a field of wheat by Sol Vazquez Cantero on 500px.com


Back view of a young woman in a field of wheat‘ by Sol Vazquez Cantero

Shot on:
Sony Alpha a7 II
With:
Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS
Using:
28mm | ƒ/7.1 | 1/1000s | ISO 400

What we love:
Sol submerges the subject in nature, keeping the shot simple with three true elements: the crop, the sky, and the model with their hat. The colors incorporated in the image are complementary, with yellows, blues, and reds helping to isolate and bring attention to the various elements in the image. The photo highlights simplicity in subject matter, the fundamentals of crop growths, and celebrates the use of primary colors.

Animals:

What were you sayin'? by Micha? Logaciuk on 500px.com


What were you sayin’?‘ by Michal Logaciuk

Shot on:
Sony Alpha a7
Using:
50mm | ƒ/1.8 | 1/1000s | ISO 1600

What we love:
The energy and character that Michal was able to capture in this little parrot is what excites us most when we look at this image. Incorporating elements that animate these critters is what helps to add feeling the image, allowing for a wider audience to relate to the content. The warm, golden tones also add to the positive demeanor suggested in this parrot, even in the presence of a seemingly-smiling beak.

Want to see more of what’s trending in Licensing? Check out the 500px collection.