How to Save Big Bucks in Purchasing High Quality Stock
Photos.
Author's Name: Evan D. Owen

A picture is worth a thousand...dollars!
How to Save Big Bucks in Purchasing High Quality Stock
Photos.
by Evan D. Owen

Pictures and graphics are one of the most important elements
that a company uses to create brand awareness and
communicate its message. Ever wonder where those images
come from? The general term for these images is "stock
photos" and the evolution of digital photography has caused
a revolution within the stock photo industry. In our
business of selling trade show displays and designing
graphics for these displays we are constantly challenged
with how to develop a graphical message that is suitable for
trade show graphics. Trade show graphics are considered
large format printing and it has its own set of challenges,
especially when it comes to finding high resolution photos
that when printed look presentable. Many of you have
probably taken an old 35 mm picture and blown it up to a
poster size graphic only to see the quality deteriorate that
it only looks good when your fifteen feet away. Imagine
taking that same picture and making it 7 feet tall by 10
feet wide. Yikes!

If you're the likes or Nike or McDonalds it's no big deal to
arrange professional photographers to take high resolution
digital photos for any type of ad campaign, brochure or
billboard. If you're the average small business in America
then you have a bit of a challenge finding images that won't
break the bank account. For most of our clients this is
where the "Sticker Shock" of buying stock images comes into
play.

So how does one get high resolution images for displays?
Before the turn of the century, that is the year 2000, the
world of stock photography was dominated by a few industry
giants like Getty Images and Corbis and still today these
two companies can supply you with just about anything. For
example, let's say you want a high resolution picture of
"Britain's two man bob sleigh team, competing at
international sporting event, 1948, St. Moritz,
Switzerland". You'll have to get this type of image from
one of the major suppliers. In fact here's the link for
this image on Getty.

Britain's two man bob sleigh team image

There are two types of images in the stock photography
world. The bob sleigh image is "Rights Managed" which means
you have to detail how, where and when you'll be using this
image for marketing or advertising purposes. For a trade
show display this image would cost you anywhere from $975.00
- $1350.00 per year for one display. This is where the
sticker shock happens! The other type of image is called
"Royalty Free" which means you can use it for most things
and only have to pay a flat fee. There are lots of
variations in "Royalty Free" so make sure you understand the
conditions of using the photograph. "Royalty Free" images
are usually priced in the range of $180.00 - $350.00.
Sounds pretty good until you realize that you may need 10
photos to achieve the design you want.

What if there was a way to reduce that pricing to $10.00 per
image? Almost sounds to good to be true, but it isn't.
Digital cameras and the Internet have completely
revolutionized the way high resolution images are being
bought and sold and this new segment is called "Microstock".
Microstock photo websites are where individuals can buy and
sell their high quality images. The average consumer can
easily purchase a professional level digital camera and with
a little training can create all kinds of unique images to
sell, especially when you use your photography skills along
with the power of some photo editing software like
PhotoShop. The two best known Microstock photo websites are
iStockPhoto and ShutterStock. Both of these sites offer
hundreds of thousands of high quality photos for large
format printing purposes. These images are still "Royalty
Free", but "Extended" licenses are available when you print
large quantities of brochures or other marketing materials.

If you purchased "Royalty Free" photos from one of the major
industry websites then the photos in the design could easily
range from $1980.00 - $3850.00. If you purchased "Rights
Managed" photos you would spend $10,750.00 - $14,850.00.

This cost savings has gotten the attention of the "big guys"
to the extent that iStockPhoto was recently purchased by
Getty Images for $50 million dollars.

So if you need high quality high resolution photos for Trade
Show Displays, Exhibits or Booths or any other large format
printing job make sure to check out all your options
including the Microstock world.


The complete article is available at:
http://www.smashhitdisplays.com/Trade-Show-Articles-News-Tips-Suggestions/2006/March/How-To-Save-Big-Bucks-When-Purchasing-High-Quality-Stock-Photos.htm


Evan D. Owen, President, http://www.smashhitdisplays.com
Founded in 2003, A Smash Hit! Trade Show Displays is a
leading Internet distributor of trade show display products
primarily servicing North America. As a wholesaler we can
offer display products at half the price as local suppliers.
We offer full graphics design, printing and can work on
displays as small as tabletop units to larger island style
displays.