Stock images or real photos?

[Sharon]

I am helping my employer revamp our brand/website. We're working with a company that is doing most of the leg work. The first draft they published featured stock images (images of people on their laptop etc) and my boss wasn't a fan and is thinking that getting professional shots of our employees would be better.

What's your take? Do you think stock images are fine to use or can you tell if real pictures of actual workers and is it worth the extra effort to do those?

 

[Laifot]

I am helping my employer revamp our brand/website. We're working with a company that is doing most of the leg work. The first draft they published featured stock images (images of people on their laptop etc) and my boss wasn't a fan and is thinking that getting professional shots of our employees would be better.

What's your take? Do you think stock images are fine to use or can you tell if real pictures of actual workers and is it worth the extra effort to do those?

I work for a hardware selling company, and i say that professional shoots are way better, sometimes you'd wanna impress your clients with more clean shots rather than the actual workers without being "unreal".

 

[Demon_skeith]

I also agree in doing the professional images, that way you know they are legal to use and should look a lot better, plus represent what is going on at the company.

 

[Sharon]

@Laifot @Demon_skeith

I appreciate the feedback you guys. I have a call scheduled with my CEO on Wednesday so I'll bring this up again so I can help coordinate. I think the extra work will be worth it in the end.

 

[Ash]

It honestly depends a bit on the actual stock images. With some of them, they definitely look off and will make your site look weird. But the ones that are a bit more expensive will look more natural and work well.

It probably is just easier to get some snaps of your coworkers.

 

[Sharon]

So we've decided to just use stock images for now and we'll get professional shots done at a later time. We're pressed for time as we are still being optimistic shooting for a launch date of April 1st.

 

[Page]

I just use stock

 

[Sharon]

Just a quick update... we're using stock photos for generic photos like computers, desks, etc. For the actual people my boss wants to feature us employees. I'm taking lead on acquiring those but I'm not getting a lot of volunteers. lol

 

[nomad]

Back in 2013 when I had just started writing online, I was using my own photo but later I found that a lot of photos were being stolen. Therefore, I stopped using real photos, I now use free photo sites.