The very innovative John Lepp recently wrote about stock photo's, in his blog: The Naked Idea.
John makes some excellent points about transparency and trust in his blog. Using genuine photo's is certainly ideal, however, for many organizations it is simply not an option.
Perhaps you're organization deals with sensitive issues like spousal abuse, or perhaps your resources simply don't allow for a professional photographer. There are any number of legitimate reasons that an organization can not use a professional photograph or obtain a photograph that is specific to their marketing device.
John mentions an inexpensive stock photo service called, istockphoto. As John notes, this extremely popular service is relatively inexpensive and as a result there is some potential that your donors will see photographs you've used in other places.
Free Photo Alternatives
I have recently worked on some projects for smaller organizations who required photographs and did not have adequate photographic resources within their organization. I enjoy taking photo's. I'm not all that good, but I enjoy it. I keep my photo's on a website called "Flickr". Flickr is full of fabulous amateur (and some professional) photographers. Many of these fine folks apply a "creative commons license" to their photographs, allowing people to use their photographs for non-commercial purposes. Flickr allows users to search the site for photo's that have creative commons licenses.
On my recent projects I've run searches for photo's specific to my needs. It could be a location, situation etc. etc. I've found some tremendous resources. Using the Flickr site, I emailed the photographers and asked permission to use their photo's for the charity I represented. Each time, the photographer was delighted to provide use of the photo (with appropriate attribution) at no cost.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS!
- It's important to note that different creative commons licenses have different restrictions. Be sure you email the photographer and ask for permission - even if they have the most generous creative commons license. It's just polite.
- If the subject of the photo is a person or several people, be sure to inquire about who those people are and their contact information... and obtain their permission! Individuals may have consented to have their photograph on Flickr, but that doesn't mean they will want their likeness associated with your charity.
- Allow a couple weeks for a response. Although many Flickr users log on daily, some do so infrequently and it may take some time for a response.
- Be specific about how you will use the photo. If you want to use it in several items or for a long period of time - be sure to inform the photographer of your intent and get their specific permission in writing.
- Finally - THANK them.. and offer to send them a copy (or link if it's online) of the product so they can see how their generosity has helped you.
I have never had anyone say no to my request for use of their photo and I've found some incredibly stunning and relevant photo's. Who knows - if you find someone local, they may well volunteer to take some specific photo's for you!
Thanks Laurie for your kind words as well - for the great advice about Flickr - something I had not considered before but definitely consider next time I'm digging around for that perfect "free"(ish) image. Cheers. John
Posted by: John Lepp | August 07, 2008 at 03:56 PM