Sometimes, stock photography is just what you need to make your advertisement or website jump off the page or screen. However, the image you use and how you use it can make or break your entire design. Though custom professional photography can better capture your specific vision, there are many instances when using stock photos can prove more convenient and equally as effective. To get the most out of your layout, try to avoid the following mistakes when choosing stock photography, or call Dallas photographer, Doug Davis, to create your own custom images, if possible.

Neglecting Your Own Talent

If you have some photography or other artistic talent, then maybe you can put to use for your project. If you’re talented enough to create professional-looking snapshots of your vision, then it might be less expensive, and more rewarding, to customize the page(s) with your own art.

Blending in with the Competition

When you search for images on a stock photography website, the first ones to pop up are usually the most popular, and therefore, likely to be the most used. For your work to be noticed, it has to stand out from your competitors’ sites and advertisements. You can avoid reusing clichéd photos by searching for similar sites in the same industry, and finding a new way to present the same service or product in a new light.

Using Unrelated Images

As professional and unique as your stock image is, it’ll garner the wrong kind of attention if it doesn’t even relate to the content on the page. For some projects, prepackaged stock images might not suffice to reinforce your message, and professional photography and/or videography may be the only way to create a connection between content and image.

Buying the Cheaper (Smaller) Image

Most stock photo sites offer a number of different resolutions for each image. To save money, many people might automatically choose the lowest, cheapest resolution. Depending on the space you need to fill, a low-resolution image might not fit, and enlarging it will make the image seem pixelated and sloppy.

About Doug Davis:

Dallas-based commercial photographer Doug Davis has worked with a wide range of clients, from American Airlines to the Susan B. Komen Foundation. If you need a creative professional photographer or videographer to capture the especially precious events in your life, then contact D-Squared Studios, today at (214) 746-6336.