Lee Virees Photography

Cheap Stock Photos for Website

As the saying goes, ‘there is no such thing as too many photos’ –cheap stock photos to be exact. In the world through the eyes of the World Wide Web, it pays to be unique to stand out among the crowd of online information. Moreover, it is never enough to use the same image over and over again and it is never pleasing to copy images used by other websites or download a few from the display area of a search engine result. In short, you deserve content that specifically matches the nature of your website as well as your niche. Your content speaks for your site, and hence, you need nothing less than what your site truly deserves: exceptionality and style. See here.

It is never enough to settle for just any photo, which is why there are stock photo websites that will surely fill your fancy. However, it is not that easy. Some sites charge an armful but there are some that are perfectly fine for the thrifty consumer. However, there are certain factors that you need to consider though: image resolution, compatibility, usability, appropriateness, aesthetics, and of course, the cost. Here are some stock photo websites that fit the above criteria while being pocket-friendly:

Pond5 is the World’s Stock Media Marketplace. Finding the site to download social media savvy images for posts is definitely handy. With Pond5, you can narrow down results that match the nature of your niche – it is content rich with more than nine thousand (9,000) stock photos and more than one hundred (100) vector illustrations. Not only that, it also has a collection of footages, audio, after effects, and 3D models that will surely fill all your content needs. The cost for each image heavily depends on the resolution. Costs can range from $2 to $100, but there are also low resolution images that are free. For example, a regular 900X600 to 1800X1200 image can cost around $2, whilst a 7000X5000 image can go high with a range of $10 to $30.
iStockphoto is a haven for royalty free stock photography images. With iStockphoto, you have the power to explore millions of images, illustrations, videos, and music clips at “ridiculously” great prices – not only from your PC or laptop, but from your phone as well. Browse the site through your mobile phone with the iStock app for iPhone/ iPad. Moreover, get the incredible chance to obtain free stock files (photo, illustration, video clip, audio clip) every week. You can pay with credits or subscribe. Six (6) credits for $60 include a package of 6 essential images, 2 signature images, and 1 essential video clip whilst 100 credits for $1,250 includes 150 essential images, 50 signature images, 25 essential video clips, and 8 signature video clips – insanely enough to fill all the content needs of your website.
Fotolia is an image bank with over 41 million images. When it comes to simplicity and usability, Fotolia is an easy choice. The payment plans are incredulously easy. A Pay-As-You-Go plan for one image can go as low as $0.74. In terms of subscription, a one month subscription for five (5) downloads per month starts at $25 (one image at $0.64). For a daily subscription for 25 downloads per day, subscription rate starts at $249. Moreover, if you wish to download more, you can go through Fotolia’s easy monthly plans, the basic 10 medium images or 5 XXL images is at $25. The largest package is at 2,000 medium sized images or 1,000 XXL sized images for $800 (with which you can save up to 84%).
Shutterstock has over 50 million stock photos, illustrations, vectors and videos. With Shutterstock, not only do you get images, audio, and videos but you can also get vectors, icons, footages, and music. Moreover, an average of 400,000 stock images is added every week. To add, free images and vectors are also given every week for free. The most basic plan is $49 for 5 downloads. A one year subscription for 750 images every month can go as low as $199 per month, a six month subscription can go for $224 per month whilst a single month settles for $249.

In conclusion, the best-buy way to get more and spend less is to go for a subscription plan. This way, you can obtain as much content as you want to and get it for a much cheaper price. It pays to get the right content, and it is not feasible to just grab one from the internet. Copyright laws have protected ownership rights and violating such law can have massive consequences. One huge factor why you should use stock photos is that you will have the power to make your website as pleasing as possible with high resolution images. The most you can make from a search engine result is maximum 2000X2000, which is not suitable to use as a slider, image for a post, header, or background. Moreover, stock photos are pre-designed to be suitable for a wide range of niches – you can edit, input your caption, and make it uniquely yours. You can also procure suitable designs with large scale vectors for an ambient feel in your site.

However, you don’t have to spend much for aesthetics. There are cheap stock photos with which you can purchase and use – or even get some for free. Furthermore, there are suitable photo banks where you can get the appropriate content that will satisfy all the image needs in your website. Before settling with a subscription, you can browse the photos first to know which photo bank suits your needs and your niche. One you have identified the stock photo website, you can then settle for a subscription plan that will match the amount of images you will need with the amount of money that you are willing to pay for. It pays to explore your horizons and settle for a stock photo bank where you can make the most from your subscription.

Cheap Stock Photos

5 Critical Tips on Choosing the Right Cheap Stock Images

Sun Shadow
Are you having a tough time choosing the right images for your creative projects? Unless you have an excellent photographer, this is a pretty difficult task. Finding the right cheap stock images in this century takes a lot more than just time and patience. You need to know important tips to make a wise decision. Here are some things you should remember when making a choice among millions of photos.

By all means, avoid clichéd images. Clichéd images create a false perception to your target readers. They do not represent your brand well or complement your message. Any message you are trying to get across will be undermined by the lack of visual content. To find unique images, take the time to browse through the deeper pages of the search results.
Make your choices personal. Choosing the right images entail a personal touch. Instead of still images of objects, it is recommended to use photos of people and animals. It allows users to feel connected to the content.
Keep your cheap stock images relevant. Your images should not contain out of date technology, fashion and others. You do not want to reflect irrelevant items with your company. Be sure to pick the most up to date images in the market. For instance, a person holding a Smartphone should be used rather than a photo of someone using an antenna phone.
Choose the right colors. Do you want to create a professional look and feel to your creative projects? If you do, be sure to pick the colors carefully. All your images should convey the same tone to create a consistency with your brand or a series of other images in your design.
Choose the right orientation. Images come in two ways – landscape and portrait. The portrait has greater height than width just like the portraits you see in museums, offices and homes. On the other hand, the landscape image has greater width than height. In short, it is the opposite of the portrait. Test your image to check which orientation best suits your design. Download the watermarked version of the image you want to use first before you purchase it to make sure you are choosing the right image.

Many stock image websites offer cheap stock images. They include iStock, Shutterstock, Dollar Photo Club and many more. They are also great sources of professional stock photography, which you can use for your personal or business’ website, promotional posts and social media. If you have anything that requires imagery you do not already have, make sure to use the above tips. They will help make sure that you and your brand looks best.

Adobe Stock Free Photos

Adobe Stock Free Photos: This Is What Professionals Do

Adobe provides a lot of hidden gems with what they offer. Many of them are not as easy to find as they should be. Throughout the years, Adobe has made a big impact on the digital world. As the creators of Photoshop, they have enjoyed being the one company that every other digital photo manipulation software company aspires to.

Last year, Adobe launched their Adobe Stock offering, try Adobe stock now. For those of us who knew what was going on, it came as no surprise. For the rest the world, it came as a shocker. You see, before this time, Adobe was not a part of the world of stock photos.

Adobe and the Big Six

For the longest time, Adobe had nothing to do with the Big Six. The Big Six is a nickname that was used for the six biggest companies in the stock photo agency industry – namely, iStock, Dreamstime, Shutterstock, Fotolia, StockFresh and BigStock. Adobe was nowhere to be found.

Technically, Adobe is still not part of the Big Six. However, they made a shrewd move which makes them part of the Big Six. In December 2014, Adobe paid Fotolia $800 million in cash and bought the agency. If you compare Fotolia’s library to Adobe’s library, you find that they are identical. You’ll also find that Adobe will direct you to Fotolia’s website if you wish to contribute to the library. The only indication on Fotolia’s website that has any connection to Adobe is a little red Adobe logo on the upper left corner of Fotolia’s home page. Fotolia has been allowed to exist as its own, separate business entity since the merger.

In the World of Expensive Photos, “Free” Is a Relief

When you look at some of these bigger stock websites, you’ll find that you’ll need pay between $10 and $15 per photo for an on-demand service. You could get them cheaper – if you subscribe with one of their larger packages. However, many people don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend every single month on stock photos. Furthermore, they don’t need 750 stock images per month, either.

In the world of expensive photos, “free” is a relief. Yet that is exactly what Adobe is offering. Previous to launching Adobe Stock, Adobe had the Creative Cloud. The Creative Cloud is how Adobe turned their products into services. Now, if you wish to have access to their lineup of software titles, including Adobe Stock, you’ll need to create a Creative Cloud account.

Do you remember how I said that there’re more hidden gems to Adobe than meets the eye? Here’s one of them.

How to Get Photoshop for Free

get-photoshop-for-free

It used to be that Photoshop would cost anyone around $1000 to purchase. That gave the purchaser unlimited free use of that one version. It didn’t include updates or upgrades to newer versions. That all changed with the Creative Cloud. Now you can get access to Photoshop for much, much cheaper. In fact, you can get Photoshop for free.

Here’s how to do it. You may notice that Adobe Stock wants you to sign up for 10 images per month for $49.99. That comes out to about $10 per image, making 10 free images worth about $100. Here’s the kicker.

When you add software to your Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, you’ll notice that Photoshop will cost you about $20 per month. However, when you pair that with Adobe Stock – the $49.99 package – that same package drops to $29.99. It goes straight from $50 at $30 – a difference of $20.

In other words, you can be paying $50 for Adobe Stock by itself or you can be paying $50 for Adobe Stock and Photoshop. That makes Photoshop legally free, straight from the company.

This deal doesn’t just apply to Photoshop. It applies to any one of their software offerings. Simply add one of their software titles to your Adobe Stock subscription and enjoy your discount.

The Best Advantage of Using Adobe Stock

adobe-stock-homepage

The best advantage of using Adobe Stock doesn’t stop with the discount. Here’s yet another hidden gem and a major advantage of using Adobe Stock with Photoshop.

In the past, when you used Photoshop, you had to import your photos. It could be a photo you took yourself with your camera, or could be a photo that you purchased from another stock photo agency. More likely than not, more people imported photos from another stock photo agency. This meant that they had to go to their stock photo website, search for a photo, purchase it, license it, download it and then import it directly into Photoshop. The entire process could take you 10 to 15 minutes for just one photo.

So what’s the difference? When you use Photoshop with Adobe Stock, you can go through that entire process in less than half the time. Adobe Stock has been integrated into every single one of the software titles that Adobe offers. That means that you don’t have to leave the program to search for your photo. You have access to the entire library right there within the program. Furthermore, when you choose your photo, it automatically gets imported into your program. You don’t need to save it to your computer, figure out where you saved it, and then import it. Everything has been streamlined, thanks to Adobe.

Cheap Stock Photos

Using Cheap Stock Images in eLearning

Byadmin | On November 13,15 | 0 Comment

The best thing about cheap stock photos is that you can use them anywhere. You have the license to use them in any project for as long as you please. Aside from a business site, blog or marketing campaign, cheap photos can also be used in one the fastest growing educational tools in the world – eLearning. Check here. Thanks to cheap stock photo sites, eLearning professionals can now download and use them on their courses without spending too much of their project budget.

Create a character to guide learners throughout the eLearning course. A consistent character creates a sense of immersion while giving your audience guidance and support. Fortunately, cheap stock photo sites has a myriad of model images with releases that you can use as character legally. When choosing a character, make sure it is relevant and relatable to your audience.
Integrate cheap photos with great detail. Download and use a clickable image that offers great details in order to make complicated matter easier to understand for your audience. If you are teaching about a subject matter that involves steps or a procedure, feature an image that gives your audience an overview of that specific task.
Develop engaging and immersive scenarios. Create interactive eLearning scenarios with stock photos cheap to help your audience learn about real world applications of your subject matter. You can use a different stock photo cheap for each screen and have your audience to make a choice that will take them to the next photo. This makes your eLearning course more engaging and exciting.
Use cheap stock images as metaphors to illustrate a boring or complex topic. There will be times when you will face complex or boring topics in your eLearning career. You want to be able to convey your message clearly to avoid confusion and to make your course fun to boost information retention. Metaphorical cheap photos is the solution to this predicament.
Boost emotional connection with attractive cheap stock photos. Sometimes, cheap photos are all you need to make a connection with your audience. The key is being compelling and making that image trigger an emotion to help your audience absorb information more effectively. This way, you can minimize your text usage to create an emotional connection make the eLearning experience inspiring and powerful.

These tips can give you the power to design fun and effective eLearning courses that will benefit you and your audience. Learners are not entirely in favor of reading heavy text eLearning materials. These materials will not help them achieve their goals either – even if they are highly informative and well-written. So, why not include cheap stock images? After all, they enhance the overall value of your eLearning course.