The Camera Hacker

Need a great image for your latest design project or newest website? Then stock photography is the answer. Stock photography is images that are sold over and over. The images come in many different forms. Traditional stock photography includes images that are sold for a one-time or limited-time use only. An ad agency needs a photo of a couple for a print ad. They pay the stock photography agency a fee to use that photo one time in their ad. These types of images are very high quality and usually very expensive. They are restricted in their use and have other limitations. Then there is Royalty Free stock photography. These images may not be the same quality but are much less expensive. They may or may not have restrictions on use. They could have no restrictions to use on a website but there may be a fee if you wanted to use it in a print ad or package design.

Digital photography has opened up the field of photography in unprecedented ways. Today, a photographer no longer has to have access to or be a wizard in the darkroom. Instead, he or she needs to master the realm of digital imagery and computer photo manipulation. Because today’s images are already in a digital format, it makes it that much easier to upload and transmit them. This has led to an increasing number of stock photography sites and has allowed those who need the services of a photographer – either as publishers or consumers – to have more choices than ever before. What is Stock Photography? Imagine, for a moment, that you publish a travel magazine, newsletter, or website. You’re running a story on travel in Europe, and you need photography to accompany the story. One way of obtaining those images is to send a staff photographer to Europe to get the Europe shots you need. Another way is to hire a freelance photographer based in Europe to go out and take the Europe shots you w...