Digital photography has opened up the field of photography in unprecedented ways. Today, a photographer no longer has to have access to or be a wizard in the darkroom. Instead, he or she needs to master the realm of digital imagery and computer photo manipulation. Because today’s images are already in a digital format, it makes it that much easier to upload and transmit them. This has led to an increasing number of stock photography sites and has allowed those who need the services of a photographer – either as publishers or consumers – to have more choices than ever before.
What is Stock Photography?
Imagine, for a moment, that you publish a travel magazine, newsletter, or website. You’re running a story on travel in Europe, and you need photography to accompany the story. One way of obtaining those images is to send a staff photographer to Europe to get the Europe shots you need. Another way is to hire a freelance photographer based in Europe to go out and take the Europe shots you want. Each of those options is incredibly expensive. The third approach is to purchase stock photography. These are images that a photographer already has,...