Beware of Stock Suprises

Way back when, I used to order stock photography after looking through a stock book (that always included a lot of pictures of girls in bikinis because—duhh—most art directors were men). Then, I would call a stock house representative and describe what I was kind of image I was looking for (sometimes referencing something from the aforementioned stock book). They would go through their files, and pull out a bunch of slides (sometimes larger format, but usually just 35 mm slides) that roughly matched my description. And then, they would FedEx me those slides. Most of the time the stock house gave me something I could work with. After sending out the chosen slide to the printer, I would then FedEx the whole stack of slides back to the stock house. That was considered high-speed turnaround in the late-1980s.

So when the first royalty-free stock photo CDs came out they were a revelation (and a revolution). For the first time, designers had photography at their fingertips. Ready to drop into a layout and send out to a client and then out to a printer. The problem was the images on those first few disks were way over used by pretty much everyone. I saw the same images everywhere on everything. And the quality of the images on those first few disks was a bit iffy. But, it was a lot cheaper and a whole lot easier than ordering slides from New York (seems like all the stock houses were located in New York).

Anyway, royalty-free stock has gotten a lot more abundant and a lot better quality. And, now that it is online, super fast. But super easy comes with a hidden cost. With tight deadlines and stock sites that feature images shot worldwide, sometimes that perfect image is really not quite so perfect. Like this ad featured in a Politico story. The image is dramatic. Except for one minor problem (or maybe two). Those troops are wearing Russian uniforms. And those planes are MiGs. Not exactly the troops that I am assuming (never assume anything with the Trump White House) they are trying to support.

So beware of pretty pictures. And read those descriptions carefully. And pay attention to the contributors locations. Because the chances that some photographer in Eastern Europe has taken a dramatic picture of American troops is probably nil.