Do You Use Stock Photos??

Heres my questions:
Why do you use it?

• Photo Manipulation?
  
• Web Sites?
  
• Magazines?
  
• Framing?
  

What type of file?

• .GIF
  
• .JPEG
  
• .TIFF
  
• .PDF
  

Do you pay for it?

• Yes
  
• No
  

If yes, for what period of time do you pay for it?

• When you need it?
  
• Weekly?
  
• Monthly?
  
• Annually?
  

How much would/do you pay for it?

• $5 - $10
  
• $11 - $20
  
• $21 - $30
  
• $31 - $40
  
• Other
  

What have been your experiences been when using it?

• Poor
  
• Okay
  
• Good
  
• Great
  

If you could specifiy one thing that you would like to change about stock photography what would it be? (i.e Larger photos, etc.)

Just wondering folks.

Yep. But, I only use one service. PhotoSpin.

from my experience, most are EXTREMELY over priced. PhotoSpin is awesome. By far the best pricing. Selection is limited at times, but it grows monthly, which is nice.

I get the catalogs for about a trillion other services, and I've done business with a few.

to answer the rest.

why?Photo, Web and Layout help

what? .TIFF

$ Yes

$ Annually - depending on the dealer

$? way more than any of your choices!

experiences - poor and great. no inbetween, typically.

I have photo cds. they are pretty expensive though... 150-300 bucks a piece. pictures are great and the amount or pics are outstanding but, unlike online stock sites there isnt any updates.... id probably do online stock photos now instead of cds because of the price and lack of updates. anyway you do it stock photos are sweet =P

So only two people use stock photography? Is everyone else just taking their photos illegally??

1. I think a lot of people aren't into answering questionaires on this forum.

2. I get the impression that many people on this forum do a lot of their graphics from scratch and don't use a lot of photography in their work.

3. There's also probably a fair mix here of those who shoot their own stuff vs. buy their own stuff vs. steal their own stuff.

As to your posted questions...

I am a newbie in the world of graphic design. I have my own decent little digital camera that I plan to put to good use as I develop my talents as a designer. I shoot video professionally for a CBS News affiliate and am confident in my shooting abilities, but I would imagine that a time will come when I will need a shot for commercial purposes that I can't take myself and will have no option but to pay for it to avoid any legal ramifications down the road. I would want a JPEG or TIFF. I would pay whatever I felt was justified according to the scope of the project I was working on. And I wouldn't buy any stock photography in advance until I actually needed it. But I would want it at my fingertips, ready to buy and download instantly when the time arrives.