Stock photography is a great idea. I don’t have to be in the right place and time to have a great photo, I don’t have to be a photographer, I don’t have to hire a photographer and I don’t even have to take a photo to have one!
Stock photography sites like stock.xchng with amateur stock photography are even a better idea. There are thousands of photos out there, many of them of quality that will suit many purposes and they are free or affordable to anyone.
So, why do I hate stock photos (in web design)? I absolutely dislike the professional-office type of stock photos. You must have seen hundreds of those pretty models of both genders wearing suits etc, staring at some charts or their laptops, and having absolutely nothing in common with real life in offices around the world (well, most of them)? And they are most probably on blue background, because blue is so professional. And what’s most terrifying, people use them on their websites.
Well, this is why I hate stock photography.
5.
SP
I agree, but we’ve all had that client that doesn’t have an aesthetic bone in their body.
4.
Piotr Godek
Well, there are unobtrusive means and ways of education.
3.
SP
“Pressuring” a client is a good way to lose the contract.
2.
Piotr Godek
Yes, the best we can do is educate. Because if more and more clients choose good stock photography, it has a chance of becoming a standard. And today poor stock photography is a standard, and this is why some people choose it.
1.
David Crawford
Totally agree. But you get what you pay for. If you skip over istock and go to veer or getty, you are going to get a lot better images which feel more real and more visually appealing.
Sadly there will never be a time when clients don’t enjoy the crappy stock photos, but the best we can do is pressure them to make the right choices.