http://www.imagezmade.com/photos-advertising/
An Alternative To Stock Photos Websites
If you work in advertising, graphic design, web design, or media, you know what painful it can be to find a quick perfect photo for your project.
Of course, stock photo is an option that may suit many. But I think there are a lot of us who are craving for a viable alternative. A place where you may find a photo just the way you want it, fast, convenient and cheap.
Nowadays, there are many websites on the internet that offer stock photos. That’s
pre-made photos that you can buy to use for presentations, brochures, website, poster, magazine, etc.
So, you need a photo, but you don’t have the money or the time to spend on a real photo session. So you go to an online image bank, you spend several hours searching something similar to what you originally had in mind. You rarely find your perfect photo, but you are willing to make a compromise. Or let’s say you are forced to make a compromise (remember you don’t have the cash nor the time). So you buy yourself a so-so photo, then you realize it’s not as cheap as you thought, it doesn’t have the nice clear resolution you needed, and damn it* it’s only vertical! “What about that landscape banner I have to design? Well… what can I do? There’s nothing else I can do, because there’s no other option…” Or, is it?
Divided by 2
Before revealing you the other magic way of dealing with such nasty situations, let me do a recap of the stock photo market in general.
Mainly, you may divide the market in two: high priced collections and low cost collections.
The high priced collections are basically formed of two giants: Getty Images and Corbis, the latter owned by Mr. Bill Gates himself.
They are offering reasonable quality photos, that of course are split in two:
Royalty free: reasonable priced photo, it’s yours forever…, but not ONLY yours. So you can see your photo in your competitor’s campaign as well. (believe me, it happened)
The quality and the resolution are usually low.
Rights managed: reasonable priced photos, but… only for a month or so. And ONLY if you want to use the photo on a small brochure printed in not too many copies. Because you pay for each poster, online banner, outdoor or flyer you use. So the same photo used for a 3 months campaign including posters, outdoors, flyers, online… can empty your pockets with more then 10.000 $. The good news is that you can freely use your photo on the radio 
Enough with the giants! Now let’s go to the low-cost companies. They include, iStock, Dreamstime, Shutterstock, etc. Now of course, isn’t it wonderful to buy a photo for 1 buck? It is marvelous! That is possible because usually they are selling credits, and with credits you can buy photos. And it is also possible because the photos are at least questionable in terms of both quality and resolution. Of course, now and then, you will find some nice photos, but it’s like finding a needle in a haystack. So, if you are a photoshop master and you are working on a online project for example, where you don’t necessary need high-rez images, then you might just do your job with these kind of low-cost collections.
The alternative
Luckily, there is an other way. In 2009, a group of advertising people, professional photographers and art directors set up a website called Imagamma. Here you complete an online brief, upload some references and in 48 hours you receive the desired photo. No more searching, no more compromises. All images come in high resolution, you can choose both vertical and horizontal format for the same photo.
Besides, you will own the photo exclusively, regardless of usage or media plan. You pay only once and that’s it!
Of course, there is a drawback: you cannot see your photo BEFORE. But, at your first order you don’t have to pay anything in advance. So you decide whether you are willing to pay the photo only AFTER you see the photo. So practically there is no risk.
Conclusion
Maybe there is a strange new way of thinking advertising images, but if this website will succeed, it will lead the way to many changes in industry. Until that at least all of us will have a viable alternative to stock photos websites.
You can visit the website at www.imagamma.com
About the Author
Ionut Vlad – art director, graphic designer, web designer for nearly a decade in companies like BBDO, Saatchi&Saatchi, Lowe&Partners.
I also own a small company that handles big online projects 
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