My advice is to take into consideration the fact that images are bought because they are going to be used for a purpose.
For a project I'm working on (an illustrated directory), I look for images that will provide an imaginative representation of a website - but the vast majority of the stock I see is totally inappropriate. Surely, it would pay stock image producers to target particular subject areas and produce stock images that would be useful for those niches.
To explain: I've just posted this message on another forum. It illustrates how a potential stock buyer might have a use for stock images:
"I'm near to completing an illustrated directory for products that involves product suppliers creating imaginative artwork (480by400 pixels) to represent their websites.
As most product suppliers aren't very good at producing artwork themselves I need to provide them with a comprehensive directory of sources of help and inspiration.
I am providing links to all the stock images suppliers but I'd like to be able to put them in touch with creative artwork designers who can create customised artworks for them (using their own and/or purchased stock images). What is the best way to do this? How can I arrange this so that I can be sure that all artworks in my illustrated directory have appropriate permissions?
I'm not looking to earn commissions on these artworks as I see the contribution of the images as being a big plus and I'd like to do everything I can to promote the work of the artwork designers and let them receive the full price for their work.
Comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated"
Peter Small
[email protected]