Cheesy stock photography makes designers sad…
This post popped up on my Facebook feed this week. Although I’m not a parent I found it quite humourous as it poked fun at cheesy stock photography. As a designer cheesy stock photos are a pet peeve of mine, and I see them too often. I realise there isn’t always the budget to hire a professional photographer, but you can choose wisely when it comes to stock photos. Sites like iStockphoto and Dreamstime can have their place, but as an alternative why not try New Zealand site mychillybin. I don’t know about you but my friends don’t all have their teeth whitened! At least mychillybin uses New Zealand models in New Zealand locations that look far more natural.
Another site that has some interesting and inexpensive stock photos, and is worth checking out is Creative Market. Don’t just pick the first photo that matches the subject you need. Perhaps try one that has interesting lighting or colours or cropping. Choose one that stands out.
When representing your business, ideally you want photos of your own staff if possible. It makes you look more credible and genuine and you also avoid situations like this where the stock photo has been used numerous times for lots of businesses.
What makes me cringe even more than cheesy stock photos is stolen stock photos that still have the watermark in them. I saw one that had been used in a business Facebook post. Just because you can get it from google images doesn’t make it ok to use. At the risk of sounding judgemental it is also not a great look for your business.
For more useful tips about avoiding cheesy stock photography check out this cool blog by Paul Boag.
If you do have the budget for professional commercial photography that’s awesome. In Taranaki I recommend checking out:
Mark Harris, Pip Guthrie, Sandra Henderson, Mark Bellringer and Photos for You.
Feel free to suggest local photographers you recommend or post a link of a funny stock photo cliche you’ve seen recently.