Hiring a photographer is expensive, costing both time and money. But, stock photography is far cheaper, but it does have two major disadvantages to hireling a photographer. First, you do not own a stock photo, you “rent” or by the right to use them. Second, you may not find the exact image you want. However, finding an image that is close, is doable. With so many sites and options, there is a multitude of possibilities.

SIZES
Stock photography is available in a multitude of sizes and resolutions, ranging from 100×100 pixels all the way up to 4000 pixels. Of course the higher the resolution the higher the cost.

PRICES
The cost of stock photography is often proportional to the resolution of the image. Obviously, the bigger the image, the greater the cost. Also, the website you choose to purchase the stock photo from will very the cost. Some websites charge more than others, but you usually get what you pay for.

ROYALTY FREE & RIGHTS-MANAGED
When purchasing stock images there are two basic licenses. Royalty free images can be used and modified in any way, but you cannot exclusively own the image, which means your competition could also buy the mage and use it. Rights-managed images are “rented” for a specific amount of time, and for a specific use. Rights-managed photographs are significantly more expensive, but they guarantee a certain amount of safely during the “rented” period of time. Also a Rights Managed Image usually can be used for larger runs.

WHERE TO GO
StockXchange
GettyImages
iStockphoto
Life Acrchives
Every Stock Photo
Morgue File
Shudderstock
Library of Congress
Corbis
Comstock
Jupiter
Stockvault