Should you use stock photography?
I recently met a content marketing expert whose opinion was categorically ‘no’, and most photographers would agree with her. While commissioned photography would always be my first choice, this isn’t always possible due to budget constraints.
My view is yes, it’s perfectly OK to use library photos, but be creative. The trick when using stock photography is to use the right keywords.
When I typed ‘stock photography’ into an online picture library, the images that came up were mostly of cameras, photos and people holding a camera – similar to these shown below.
These don’t really float my boat. As my regular readers know, I like background patterns and I also like the colour blue – and I sometimes prefer photos to give a hint of what the article is about rather than state the obvious. I much prefer this picture (keywords were ‘blue light through lens’).
What do you think? Do you prefer seeing straightforward no-nonsense images or would you rather see something more oblique?
