The Top Stock Photography Websites

Product Reviews

The stock photography industry started in the 1920s, by H. Armstrong Roberts . At that time, it was primarily a way for professional photographers to market the duds from commercial photography shoots.  But since then, it has taken off and many people (including me) frequently use these high quality photos for professional use on print collateral, blogs and websites. Images most requested are common landmarks; conceptual and major events that can be used and reused for commercial design purposes.

There are several sites that provide these photographs in a multitude of categories. Each site has a repository for these various categories that allows for creative design assignments.  The compilation of this repository reflects just how important imagery is to every medium.  Here are just a few of the top, highly-used sites that will surely fulfill all your stock photography needs.

Thanks to Top Ten Reviews from TechMedia Network, showcases the 2013 Stock Photography Service Comparisons and what they offer its consumers.
Although this listing is quite helpful, these are my top picks due to availability, quality and pricing.

getty images Top Stock Photography Sites For Royalty Free ImagesA leader in digital multimedia resource that includes:

  1. royalty-free stock photography;
  2. editorial images;
  3. video; and
  4. music.

Image pricing depends on what type of licensing you want and prices for royalty-free images, footage clips, etc. are based on file size.  They have a broad range of editorial images as well.

shutter stock Top Stock Photography Sites For Royalty Free ImagesShutterstock is one of the leading global image marketplace headquartered in New York City.  They have an extensive library of royalty-free stock photos, vectors, and illustrations available by subscription and a la carte.  You can browse the library for free.  This great news as Shutterstock adds over 100+ images to its library each day.

istockphoto Top Stock Photography Sites For Royalty Free Images   Known for the Internet’s “original member-generated image and design community,” reputation iStockphoto offers millions of royalty-free photographs, vector illustrations, video footage, audio tracks and Flash files from over 70,000 worldwide artists. Talk about impressive. And the smaller photos you need for blogs or as thumbnails on a document,  can be as low as $1.oo!

  Yes, we all know that 123rf boasts about their 19,484,862 Royalty Stock photos!  But what most people don’t know is that there’s a fairly large, evolving database that houses several images FOR FREE!  They have a wide variety of commercial and editorial images, video footage, audio clips, logo designs and illustrations that are easy on the eyes and your wallet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creating Great Content In a Time Crunch

All Posts, Content & Copywriting, Infographics, Marketing, Social Media

What’s Trending…
Choose a topic currently trending in your industry or that of your client.  Yahoo! and the various Social Media outlets are great sources for quick, current topics.

Keep A Stash
When the clock is not your friend, you need to have a reserve that you can quickly draw from.  Try to jot down some topics and/or write a few lines about a particular topic so that when your back is against the wall, you don’t need to waste time trying coming up with new ideas.

Change The Format
Rather than being “informative” and using the written method, choose to do an instructional video on a topic you have adequate knowledge of.  This can be a very effective and engaging form of blogging.  You can also choose to create a quick Infographic as another great way to convey key information in a visually pleasing and quick manner.

Quality vs. Quantity
Writing about something you are passionate about or have adequate knowledge about is a sure way to write well.  But to produce this kind of blog, don’t get caught up in the 700+ words of your average, well-researched blog post.  Stick to what you know and convey it in a confident and concise manner.  Direct, key points work best.

Use Imagery to Fill White Space
Using relevant imagery to support your topic is a great way to fill up the white space of your blog.  In your spare time search for & purchase various images on iStockphoto or 123rf and keep a reserve that you can quickly draw from.

End with a Call to Action
Calls to Action take a little more pressure off the writer and puts some of the onus on the reader.  It’s another great way to engage your readership by creating dialogue about your blog and hopefully a following.

Save Editing For Last
Once you start to write, write-write-write!  Don’t stop to correct, edit or add hyperlinks, images or anything else. Save the clean up work for last.

Last Words
These simple steps will allow you to create a quick yet informative blog in a fraction of the time.  Remember folks, you’re not going for a Pulitzer.  So do what’s needed, do it well and then click post.