# Stock photos (lame rant) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 21, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005 "2005-11-21T00:57:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/41 "2005-11-22T11:30:35Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > (snip)…(snip) Oh, BTW, bondage. Now **that** was funny. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/42 "2005-11-22T11:42:09Z")
Wow. I have never seen anyone crash and burn so completely before. OP: “Some things suck. Like this.” BBF: “Oh puhleeze! You’re saying that everything in the universe is hell and life isn’t worth living? Frog! Typewriter! Cotton candy! Handkerchief!” OP: “?” BBF: “Burble burble ad nauseum” Somebody here needs some fresh air. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/43 "2005-11-22T12:46:48Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Wow. I have never seen anyone crash and burn so completely before. > > OP: “Some things suck. Like this.” > > BBF: “Oh puhleeze! You’re saying that everything in the universe is hell and life isn’t worth living? Frog! Typewriter! Cotton candy! Handkerchief!” > > OP: “?” > > BBF: “Burble burble ad nauseum” > > Somebody here needs some fresh air. And the prize for “first person to make me LOL today” goes to… ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/44 "2005-11-22T13:28:34Z")
Now, now, let’s not be too hasty. After all: Frog! Typewriter! _Circus peanuts!_ So maybe Boo Boo Foo has a point here. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/45 "2005-11-22T13:32:25Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > … maybe Boo Boo Foo has a point here. Behind the rabbit? ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/46 "2005-11-22T15:10:19Z")
> [@Boo Boo Foo](#): > > I guess it says I’m just as pathetic. No, not “just as.” Are you trying to catch up with **andrewdt85** for most embarrassing performance this week? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/47 "2005-11-22T15:16:36Z")
> [@](#): > > by **Boo Boo Foo** > CuckooRex, this is a fucking whine piece and nothing more. It’s all about getting on the net and milking sympathy for all you’re worth from a bunch of strangers you’ll never meet. Whoa! Guys!!! Gals! … … … Boo Boo just figured out what the **fucking** point of the _PIT_ was! Man, boy am I glad we got that out fo the way. I though he’d never figure it out. I mean, what kind of dingus goes around insulting people for complaining about the endless nuisances and crap that goes on in the place set aside specifically for it? Who, I ask who? Who?! Well, actually BBF does. What a whiny bastard. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/48 "2005-11-22T17:00:05Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > And you’re whining about a guy whining about his job. What does that say about you? That he owns his own business. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/49 "2005-11-22T17:15:18Z")
I worked for several years for one of the ‘big two’ stock photo agencies. In the early days of the RF business, my company could only sell what the photographers we’re willing to give to them. Once the industry consolidated and the stock companies had enough leverage to dictate subject, composition and style to the photographers, the agencies had lots of usage info as the bulk of the business by then was coming as individual sales via the web. Quite simply, the have the photographers shoot more of what’s already selling and less of the stuff that’s not. My company had a large department that did nothing but take customer input and watch trends so they could make all sorts of content decisions. I suggest that you write or call to make your complaints known. One complaint won’t change the direction of the entire industry, but I know they take that input very seriously. Every month or so, we could pull reports of what images were selling best. It was sad, sad stuff. The way it worked generally was this: the crappy photos that we were embarrassed to have to use in our own catalogs were invariably the most purchased. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/50 "2005-11-22T18:47:09Z")
> [@Pork Rind](#): > > Every month or so, we could pull reports of what images were selling best. It was sad, sad stuff. The way it worked generally was this: the crappy photos that we were embarrassed to have to use in our own catalogs were invariably the most purchased. Can I ask what they were? My guiess is that it’s going to be a ton of handshakes, multicultural business meetings, attractive non-Asian Indian phone support workers, and young executives “looking up to the future” against a backdrop of skyscrapers. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/51 "2005-11-22T18:56:21Z")
Thanks for the input, **Pork Rind.** I’ll be sure to pass along my concerns to the Powers That Be. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/52 "2005-11-22T19:37:45Z")
Call me crazy, but I think I’m going to take a whack at getting through to **Boo Boo Foo**. Okay, **Boo** , here’s the deal. **Cuckoorex** is working on a document for his company. He needs a picture of, let’s say… a woman in a certain pose. His company has a database of stockphotos which they’ve already bought, so he has to use those, as he has a limited budget. He spends ten minutes looking, and he finds a picture that would be absolutely perfect! Except that there’s an ugly blue filter over the entire thing, that makes it useless for his needs. “Crap!” thinks **Cuckoorex**. “If only they hadn’t put this filter over it! This picture would be much more useful without it, because anyone with the slightest talent in graphical design could have put their own filter over it, if that’s what they wanted.” Unable to use this picture, **Cuckoorex** keeps looking. Twenty minutes later, he finds another perfect picture! Perfect, except that they cropped the model’s eyebrows off. Another photo he can’t use! “Why would they crop the picture like this,” thinks **Cuckoorex** , “When cropping a picture is even easier than applying a filter? Surely the number of graphic designers who could use this picture un-cropped is much, much larger than the number of graphic designers who would want this picture cropped and lack the ability to do it themselves!” **Cuckoorex** keeps looking. Another twenty minutes goes by, and **Cuckoorex** finds a picture that is okay. It’s not exactly what he’s looking for, but it’s not cropped or oddly colored or otherwise retouched, so he can use it. But it’s not really what he wants. He sets it aside, and keeps looking, hoping for a better picture. Another hour later, he gives up, having found no unaltered pictures in the database that are better than his compromise photo. “Well, this was frustrating,” thinks **Cuckoorex**. “I spent two hours looking for a picture I could use, and had to settle on something I don’t really like. If only the people who put together this database wouldn’t edit their pictures! I would have been done in ten minutes, and have been much happier with the final product! Although a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things, I feel the need to vent my frustrations publically, and perhaps find comiseration with people who have faced similar annoyances. I know, I’ll start a pit thread on the SDMB! With such a clear cut, uncontroversial, and relatively obscure complaint, it will no doubt garner few responses, but I’ll feel better for having got it off my chest.” Now, **Boo Boo Foo** , can you see that nothing you’ve said in this thread has the slightest relevance to anything that **Cuckoorex** has actually said? If not, I can try again using smaller words, but I’m not sure it would help. ---
**Author:** ![sj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@sj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sj2)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/53 "2005-11-22T19:52:09Z")
> [@furt](#): > > No, not “just as.” > > Are you trying to catch up with **andrewdt85** for most embarrassing performance this week? I (insert heart symbol) **furt.** and \*\*Miller \*\* is growing on me, too. 😉 And it _is_ a chore to float through thousands of images to find the “right” one. I have done this scores of times for companies that do not have the budget for a designer so they borrow ours. My lame rant: Getting the “perfect” images and then doing a marketing focus group where they talk their sweet time in slamming them into the ground and grinding them with their heels. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@sj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sj2)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/54 "2005-11-22T19:57:15Z")
in my world talk + take…ha ha ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/55 "2005-11-22T19:59:29Z")
That sucks, **Cuckoorex**. But hey! Look on the bright side! At least your not a completely pathetic waste of space an oxygen with a barbed dildo shoved up your ass who has to shit\* on other peoples’ pit threads just to taste what it feels like to be a man. 'Cause that would totally suck. \*I wonder how he shits around the dildo…hmmm… ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/56 "2005-11-22T20:58:38Z")
> [@sj2](#): > > I (insert heart symbol) **furt.** Hey, I just got turned down for a date two hours ago. You can catch me on the rebound… ---
**Author:** ![sj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@sj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sj2)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/57 "2005-11-22T21:31:30Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Hey, I just got turned down for a date two hours ago. You can catch me on the rebound… Well, I’m 7 weeks pregnant, married and a constipated, weepy, vomiting mess…How’s _that_ for sexy?!? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/58 "2005-11-22T21:49:35Z")
> [@sj2](#): > > Well, I’m 7 weeks pregnant, married and a constipated, weepy, vomiting mess…How’s _that_ for sexy?!? 🆒 Rowr! ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/59 "2005-11-22T21:50:35Z")
> [@sj2](#): > > Well, I’m 7 weeks pregnant, married and a constipated, weepy, vomiting mess…How’s _that_ for sexy?!? 🆒 I dig your kink, baby… ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005/60 "2005-11-22T21:51:03Z")
Try [Getty Images.](http://www.gettyimages.com). They do have their share of shitty stock pics, but they also have a lot of very good ones. I’ve been going to them since college for my stock images. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-photos-lame-rant/332005.md?page=4)