What exactly IS Stock Photography?
And why should you care?
Everyone in the world who has any contact with civilization has contact with Stock Photography. Virtually every brochure with a smiling face, every sign with a pretty background, a hairdresser working on a client, a group of executives in a heated discussion; most of these images are not created for the advertisement. They are purchased from a stock agency.
http://www.istockphoto.com/ and http://www.shutterstock.com/ are two companies I have some experience with, and they deal very differently from each other. iStockphoto sells subscriptions, where their clients can download 2 or 10 or 100 images a month (depending on their subscription).
Shutterstock allows 25 images per day or a max of 750 per month for a monthly fee. You can subscribe for a month, or any longer period...
The stock agency I am most familiar with is http://www.photoshelter.com/, which is designed by and run by photographers. This company sells individual images to end users, not subscriptions. Find the image you want, and don't worry about cluttering your computer system with extra photos that you have no need for.
I have recently been accepted into PhotoShelter as a contributor. The link here is to my collection, small at first, but it will grow. http://psc.photoshelter.com/user/paynecollection
When you get there, go ahead and sign up - as I post new images, you will be notified. Some new, some fun, some sassy. I photograph what I see and what I feel. Like seniors, there are no gimmicks, just real images, done in a way that pleases.
