Stock vs. Original Photography

Pictures tell stories. Stories enliven your brand. There’s no doubt visuals will tie into nearly every piece of collateral your company creates, so the question…

Pictures tell stories. Stories enliven your brand. There’s no doubt visuals will tie into nearly every piece of collateral your company creates, so the question is: where does one turn to find great imagery?

STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY
Your first option is to peruse the many sources of stock photos. Some great websites include iStock, Shutterstock, and Getty Images. These places are loaded with hundreds of thousands of images, all organized by specific tags. You can search and find nearly any photo you’d need for many situations, and you either pay a membership fee or a set price for the rights to use these images.

While using stock photography is most often less expensive than shooting your own, costs can add up quick when you’re stuck scouring the interwebs for photos that might accomplish your goals. So while you may be saving on price, you may also be skimping on quality.

There’s good:

There’s bad:

And there’s weird:

The problem with stock photography is that it’s created with mass consumers in mind — a group of people decides “this” specific image would be useful to a wide array of people. The result is a lot of generic — some amazing and some hilarious — photography that may be in use by other entities.

 

ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHY
There’s no denying shooting original photography requires more time and effort, but that upfront investment almost always leads to a superior final product — and one that can be repurposed for trade-show exhibits, websites, catalogs, and any other promotional materials.

The beauty is how much control original photography affords. You can choose a photographer based on the style you want, provide a contact sheet that details the types of shots that need to be captured, and even be onsite to art direct the shoot.

This is especially handy when you have a highly specific message or unique campaign concept. See the image below. There are nearly endless amounts of stock photos, but you’ll not likely find something along the lines of this “Please don’t text and drive” message from Land Rover.

WHEN TO CHOOSE STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY:
– Smaller budget
– Tighter time frame
– Your message/brand doesn’t need a “face”
– Unspecific offering (typically service industries)

WHEN TO CHOOSE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHY:
– Show personality/personnel of your brand
– Specific messaging
– Featuring unique products/processes
– High-scale or long-term initiatives

Oftentimes, with a little flexible creativity, you can make stock photography work for your needs — we do it for clients all the time. But should the opportunity accommodate original photography, the end result will be something you’re truly proud of and will want to show off.

Want to know a third imagery option? Check out our SOON TO COME blog post about the power of 3D illustrations.