How to Chose Stock Photography for your Web Site

How to Chose Stock Photography for your Web Site So youve decided to take the plunge. You know that stockphotography is an effective tool for your web business, but where doyou start and how do you choose the stock photo thats right for you.Here are some tips to get you started so that you are happy with yourchoice.

1. Decide where you want to purchase your stock photography.There are large agencies and small independent photographers. While theagencies will have more to chose from and sometimes lower prices anindependent photographer will offer more personalized service andopportunities for you to have custom work done, if that is what youneed.

2. Dont go in expecting to find an exact image that is in yourhead, a large agency or an independent photographer will not have theman in a blue suit, holding a cell phone, next to the white blinds norwill they have the beach landscape with the green and white stripedchair. You need to have a clear idea in your head of the message thatyou want to convey and search for an image that creates the messagethat you want. (If you want something specific youll have to pay for aphotography to shoot to your specifications.)

3. Make use of a free comp image to try out the image and makesure that it fits with your project or web design. Most stock agenciesoffer some sort of free comp image for position only so that you canmake sure that you like what youre going to buy. Please use thisoption, if available, and make sure that the image is going to conveythe message that you want it to.

4. Pay for what you need. Dont pay for a 300 dpi image for aweb design, and dont buy a 72 dpi image for something you intend toprint. Make sure that the agency or independent photographer offers atleast a printable and a web version of every photo. Buy only the sizeimage that you need for your job.

5. How much do you want to pay and for how long to you want touse the image? This comes down to royalty free or rights managed. Ifyou dont want the chance of your competitor using the same image or youplan to use the image on or for a product you may want to look atrights managed. This will cost you more but it will lessen the chanceof your competitor using the same image. Keep in mind that if youreusing the image for an extended period of time you will have to pay forthe use of the image every year or so. If you dont feel that yourcompetitor using the same image is a threat or you dont have the moneyfor rights managed photos look into royalty free photography. Thisproduct is also great if youre planning to use the images for anextended period of time.

I hope these tips help to get you started in choosing stockphotography for your web site, business, or product. Remember to shoparound and look for what you need. Also if an agency or photographerdoesnt have what you need ask, you may be surprised how helpful theycan be even for specific requests.

Terms Used The In The Stock Photography Business
So you are a small business person or web designer and you want to purchase some stock photography for your website. Great. Photography is a wonderful way to improve the emotional impact of your site. But there are a few terms unique to the stock photography business that you should know.
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