Stop using stock images!

So when my client that I photographed earlier today was booking the shoot they were telling me how currently they were using stock photography.

Now there is nothing wrong with stock imagery as such, I've just started to submit my work through the fotolia library.  I've only got 3 images there at the moment, and I haven't sold anything yet, but these things take time and I'll be uploading loads more images over the coming weeks.

They'd bought 10 images from I believe iStock (not that I'm singling out iStock by any means, it just happens to be where they bought their images from).  The images they were using were all excellent photos, technically perfect, with pretty models.  The trouble with stock images is that they are kind of generic, and my client was telling me that they were starting to see the same or very similar images on their competitors websites.

It's hard to stand out from the crowd when your rivals are using the same images.

Their solution to this was to call in a professional.  That's me by the way!

Interestingly, and while we're on the subject of standing out from the crowd, it was by doing just that that got me the call to do this job.  I'd met one of the company directors at Business South at the Rose Bowl a few weeks earlier, and we engaged in a conversation about road trips around the USA because of the moose photo on my business card.  Now if I'd  have had my old business card with 'boring' sensible photos on, would we have had that conversation, would I have stood out in his memory and would I have got the gig?  Chances are slim on all counts.

The client had a good idea what he wanted, and infact had printed off some images from iStock for us to use as a guide.  They photos as I said were excellent.  No point trying to re-invent the wheel.  The big difference being that the new photos were of his staff, in his office, and no other bugger would be using the same images.

The end result is that for a relatively small amount of money my client now has (or will when he gets the photos and uploads them) a more original website, original imagery and a better chance of standing out from the crowd.

So if you're guilty of the same stock imagery crime, give a photographer a bell, talk to them, you might be surprised at just how cheaply you can get your own original images done.

I've included a few photos from todays shoot, with the wonderful people from Frontline Telephone Answering Services.  I enjoy my work most days, but today was really quite fun.  There are some good people working at Frontline.  It was a pleasure to shoot them.