how to find great photos
The choice of photo can make or break a promotional piece. It can say “tacky and dated”, “professional and generic” or “innovative and current”.
There are several ways to find images to use legally, depending on your budget, the topic and how close is has to match what you have in mind.
Your Own Photos: By doing your own
photography, you then have the ultimate control over the content and own the
full rights over your work. Of course, you'll need a decent camera, some technical
knowledge, a keen eye, as well as a photo-retouching software; but it's really
worth it.
Free Stock Photo: yes, it exists. The usage conditions vary from company
to company, but for most of them, a credit note on the photo or an email to
the author (mostly designers and amateur photographers) is enough to use them.
The quality varies greatly but you can find amazing photos. Look for stock.schng
or similar sites.
Google Images (or other search engines): Those images are almost all copyrighted but are excellent for inspiration.If you want to use an image, you have to contact the author of the site the photo displaying the photo.
Stock Photo Collections: ranging from $60 for 10,000 photos to $500 for 100, those collections are a hit and miss. Some are lower-resolution (fine for web but not for print); some are dated (who wants a photo of someone talking on a huge cell-phone?), low-quality photos while some others are surprisingly good. The quality of their search tool can make them useful or just another coaster on your desk.
Online Stock Photo (such as Masterfile, ComStock & GettyOne): Those images come in 2 types: Royalty-Free or Rights-Managed. Royalty-Free means that you pay once and then use it at will on any printed or online work. They range for a few dollars per image to $500 and more per image (depending on the company and the resolution). They tend to be of much better quality than the large-volume stock photo collections. Rights-Managed means that you pay for a restricted use of the image. You can't repurpose or reuse the image. The advantage of a Rights-Managed photo is that its use is controlled and is not likely to appear in your competitor's brochure.
Commisionned Photos: Stock photo is fine when you want something somewhat generic. But when you want something very specific or to show a brand, you have to hire a photographer. This way, you get exactly what you want, the way you want. Expect to pay between $800 to $1200 for a day's worth of photos.
