To Stock or Not?
Posted on December 24, 2009
I posted a tweet recently and it triggered that thought process in me.
The one that said “weren’t you meant to write a blog post about this?” one. So here I am. And what I want to discuss is twofold; whether we should use stock photos in church material and if so, where can we source them for free. I always like free, especially when it comes to not spending money that could be better spent on God’s kingdom.
So, first things first. Should we be using stock photos in church material? As ever there are several factors to consider:
- How photogenic are your members?
- Are any of them on vulnerable lists and need to maintain privacy?
- If building pictures need to be used is yours suitable?
- Do you have the necessary equipment?
- Do you have the experience?
- Do you have the objects you want pictures of?
And I’m sure there are more I haven’t thought of.
The point here is that whilst you may have the necessary resources and members willing to be photographed i it right to use them? Morally I don’t have any problems and legally I don’t think, except maybe in the case of minors, we should have any issues either.
So should we use stock photos then? Personally it’s a wholehearted yes with a major caveat! That being only if the picture is appropriate. So no using cheesy pictures of Hollywood B-list stars with smiles brighter than the sun if you don’t have people like that in your church.
Once you’ve established you’re going to use stock photos the only remaining question comes down to paid, free or free with limitations. You need to be aware that with stock photos free isn’t always free. In this case free means you are free to use it within the limitations / guidelines set out by the publisher or photographer.
These ‘free’ restrictions could include:
- Usage – as in where it will be placed in your material.
- Duration – how long do you want to use the image for?
- Print Run – not relevant in web terms but when printing brochures, etc
- Territory – some images are restricted to use in limited locations
- Size – how large is your use going to be?
To be fair though, most free stock photo sites are just that – free and even though it isn’t requested it is polite to cite where you got the picture from.
So now we’ve determined acceptability and usage we can finally go find what we want. But where?
- stock.xchng is my all time favourite. Requires a free registration and most images are restriction free. They are definitely the largest out there that I know with >300,00o images. Part of this maybe because they are backed by iStockPhoto one of the larger fee based stock photo sites.
- morgueFile in contrast is probably one of the longer running free stock photo sites having been around since 1996 and certainly is my first stop for images. They’re not as large as stock.xchng with >200,000 images on the site.
- freerange is fairly new to me but still good. They differ in that they aim to provide free stock photos to commercial as well as non-commercial alike. Secondly, they have a small but dedicated team of photographers who take, edit and tag each picture. The emphasis here is definitely on quality not quantity. A free registration is required.
- flickr I couldn’t do a list without including the grand daddy of photo sharing sites. So you’re just as likely to find a nightmare as an ideal picture here but I find flickr is superb when looking for ideas that aren’t easy to pin down such as ‘love’ or ‘tension’. Again a free registration is required to download most pictures and they are typically offered in a range of sizes. I find it best when using images from flickr to drop the author a quick note saying how you plan to use it – so far I’ve not had any negative replies.
- everystockphoto is not a stock photo site per se but a search engine for stock photos. However, unlike it’s title it doesn’t search every site but a limited selection of sites … most of which are free. My advice, use the advanced search and un-check the options you don’t want.
Naturally there are many, many more sites I could list but with the above five I usually find what I want. If these don’t satisfy you then I have one more link that should meet your every need as a designer …
Blue Vertigo – as their entry banner says “more than resources”. I came across this site a few years ago and their links section (see my hotlink) is continually expanding and is constantly checked by their team. The site has an odd way of presenting itself with a static top half and the bottom half scrolls left to right through the links – you’ll also need good eyesight or a larger font as they are quite small.
What sites do you use?
Do you use stock photos? Why or why not?
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5 Responses to “To Stock or Not?”
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I’m not a big fan of church stock photos. I think they can have a place if there is just no way to get the photo locally, or if a church is small and doesn’t have anybody able to do the work/etc.
However, they really strike me as being form over substance. Does your church picnic flyer really need a photo of a 20-year-old couple without a blemish on their skin smiling in the sun? Or could you just use a picture from last year’s picnic? Of course, consent should be obtained whenever people are clearly recognizable in a photo.
One of the biggest criticisms I hear from unbelievers is that Christians are hypocrites. Does using the Madison Avenue playbook really help us out here?
Hi Rich and thanks for the comment – you are right that we don’t need / want the model couple on a picnic flyer but what about a stock photo of a picnic blanket and hamper, etc …?
I guess where one uses them (if at all) has to be carefully thought out.
Sorry to say I don’t get your Madison Ave reference though!
[...] annoy you? Do you think there’s a place for this type of picture? Well here’s a link to a post I wrote as a guest blogger on [...]
I’ve seen stock photos used at our church. Based on how they were used (poorly or not), I think it comes down to this…looking at a photo, I need to see REAL emotion from people that most stock photos can’t convey. If there are 5 photos on a brochure and one is a stock photo, I can tell which is the stock photo just by the quality of the photo.
That being said, I say use stock photos for non-people photos. But if you want to encourage people to attend an event, don’t put a nameless face on the projection screen.
Chris – you are right. Those “cheesy grins” and “ultra white smiles” are a dead giveaway.
I like the distinction you draw and stock photos of non-human items is a good shout.