As much as I love free stuff, sometimes there's just no way around it ... I have to buy an image. I'll get a design or layout concept stuck in my head and I just can't pull away from it even though I cannot find a free photo that conveys the message I want delivered (or reinforced through imagery.) Consequently, I end up opening up my wallet to purchase that oh-so-perfect photo.
Yeah, I really don't like to do that. But, as a I said, sometimes there's just no choice. Especially when you're faced with using an image for commercial purposes as most photographers don't grant those rights through Flickr and other such file sharing websites.
I purchased the clock face image (see to the right) which adorns the cover of my book. I tried several times to take a photo like that but my photography skills didn't allow it to happen in a way that satisfied me. I went shopping at a couple of sites before I found and purchased the image that matched my imagination.
While this can get very expensive, especially if you use purchased images for your blog posts, it can also get you an extremely high quality image that meets your needs.
Shutterstock
My first stop is nearly always Shutterstock (www.Shutterstock.com.) You can get a monthly subscription (that gets expensive for a small-time shop) starting at around $199 per month allowing unlimited monthly downloads or you can buy them as you need them for $9 to $15 per image (depending on the photo count package that you purchase.
A bonus is that with your Shutterstock account, you get a free image every week (once you're logged into your account, go here: www.shutterstock.com/free_image_license.mhtml.) Now don't get too excited. It's not any photo you want, it's a free photo that they select. Every week it's something different and most weeks I cannot use the images given. However, I still download them and put them into my image bank. They are nice, high quality photos (and there's also a free EPS vector image each week) and I might be able to use them some day (like today as the featured image of this blog.)
iStockphoto
Similar to Shutterstock, iStockPhoto (www.istockphoto.com) has monthly and pay-as-you-go plans. Their monthly plan comes in a little below Shutterstock in price with at $166 per month and their pay-as-you-go packages are about the same (ranging from $9 to $15 depending on how many you purchase.) The quality is the same (according to my untrained eye,) but Shutterstock seems to have more photos available for purchase. However, a couple of times iStockPhoto has had the perfect image when Shutterstock did not. It's always good to have choices.
Dreamstime
Dreamstime (www.Dreamstime.com) seems to have a catalog that is partway between Shutterstock and iStockphoto in size. However, they have two rather unique benefits. First, they have a varied pricing plan. Rather than buying the full size image, you can buy smaller versions of an image for less. Of course, there is no set fee per image (as with the previous two,) so sometimes images are cheap and sometimes they're expensive, even in a smaller size. Second, they have a WordPress plugin that allows you to select images to publish on your site directly from within WordPress. If someone clicks on that image (it will link back to Dreamstime) and purchases it, you get a commission.
The Quick Takeaway
Even though they cost a little money (usually $9 to $15 per image,) a purchased photo can often get you the exact photo you need with less time spent browsing the "for free" photo sites. I wouldn't recommend it for all your photo needs unless you have a big budget, but it is nice sometimes.
What places do you recommend for purchasing photos?
Photo Credit: Photo by Aleshyn Andrei courtesy of Shutterstock