Get Ready for the FIFA World Cup

Just one of many World Cup-themed images on Polylooks

This year sees one of the biggest events in the global sporting calendar – the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The last World Cup, Germany 2006, saw an estimated cumulative television audience of 30 billion people world-wide and was attended by more than 18,000 media representatives. So this year publishers, bloggers and advertisers will be looking for football-related stock photo images to accompany their stories. Photographers – get your cameras out because image buyers will want soccer shots. Buyers – make sure you know about image rights!

Don’t Stray Offside

Images of real sportspeople can come with expensive copyright costs and restrictions, so generic football stock images and illustrations will be in demand, especially with the rise in bloggers and Web publishers since 2006. Around 900,000 blogs are posted in any given 24-hour period.

Though the event is a way off, creative agencies and sports-related professionals around the world will need photos for marketing materials imminently, so photographers are advised to start thinking about stock photography earlier rather than later.

But it is essential that bloggers, advertisers and publishers only use images which they have the right to use, according to online photo agency Polylooks. The company recently surveyed the UK’s creative industries – heavy users of images – and found that the vast majority were ignorant of stock photography image rights. Many are using images without consent and many don’t even feel guilty!

And when it comes to sports image rights and their value compared to standard stock images, users can end up in hot legal water.

Norbert Weber, Product Manager at Polylooks, advises: “There is still a great deal of confusion when it comes to using photos or illustrations that photographers and artists have made available for sale online. Many people who should be paying for the right to use images are not doing so due to a lack of understanding on industry rules and terminologies.”

Top Tips for Football Photos

Polylooks contains hundreds of football-related stock images, so users can be assured that they’re permitted to use those images without infringing any copyright and attracting the attention of photo agency lawyers. These stock images include players, fans, stadia, officials and other peripheral elements of the “Beautiful Game”. Polylooks’ intuitive filters also ensure that image users can select football stock photos by colour scheme and emotion, and it promises to be a colourful tournament!

A Picture of Christmas

At this time of year the demand for stock images relating to Christmas and other winter scenes shoots up. With such a wide range of royalty free images available, how can publishers, bloggers and private stock image users make sure that they find the right stock photos?

Polylooks.co.uk alone has nearly 10,000 stock images tagged with the word ‘Christmas’ and almost 12,000 labelled

Polylooks' library contains 206 images of snowmen

‘winter’. Filtering out the right royalty free images for you is made simple, however, by colour scheme options and emotion.

Think of the three most prominent colours we associate with Christmas; red, white and green. These tend to be the most popular choices for those who buy photos from Polylooks, but you may be after something more sentimental – like black and white images. In which case, use the colour code in conjunction with the ‘emotion’ drop-down menu to find the right look-and-feel for you.

Tagged Up

Tags are incredibly important in the selection of royalty free stock images. These help narrow down the search, so you could be looking for a Christmas tree, but do you want it covered in decorations? Inside or outside? Star on top? Lights? Entering keywords helps refine the search.

Do you want to use a stock photo or royalty free illustrations? A lot of Polylooks’ customers tend to buy royalty free illustrations for winter use as opposed to buying photos online. Artwork often makes for a more fun image in step with the festive period than stock photos.

Picture This!

Whatever your Christmas stock image needs, you’ll find it at Polylooks.co.uk. We’ve got a multitude of mince pies, Christmas trees, presents, Nativity scenes, Santas and even 206 snowmen to boot! Most of Polylooks’ stock image contributors are from Europe, so our images have a distinctly European feel.

For more on selecting royalty free images read our recent post on stock image selection best practice.

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Golden Brown: Capturing Autumn’s Glory

“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun,” – this is how the poet John Keats captured autumn in words.  With golden leaves, ripened fruit and long shadows, autumn is also a fantastic season to capture on camera. Added to this we have colourful events, like Halloween and Guy Faulkes’ Night.

At this time of year publishers want pictures of autumnal scenes; yellow leaves, lingering sunsets, illuminated pumpkins. Polylooks has an extensive store of images for publishers to find their ideal shot to best encapsulate the season of autumn in all its glory. Have a search through www.polylooks.co.uk to find your perfect image. On Polylooks you can also search by colour scheme and emotion, which helps you slender down your options.

If you’re a professional or keen amateur photographer, you’ll already know how great autumn looks through a lens. Why not submit your pictures to Polylooks? There are three main types that really grab publishers’ attention:

An Autumnal Landscape

Landscape: The ghostly mists and playful colours of autumn make a forest or parkland scene perfect for publishers. Pick a clear day to get an atmospheric shot.

A Seasonal Portrait Shot

Portrait: Autumn is fun! Why not shoot families or children enjoying the crunchy leaves or dressing up for Halloween? Remember, if taking pictures of people you need the express permission of all identifiable persons in the image in the form of a model release.

 

Composition: Autumn is synonymous with the richness of harvest: apples, pears, nuts. Creating a composition of the

A Composition

season’s bounty could make an attractive photo for potential buyers.

We hope you enjoy autumn. Whether you’re searching for images for publishing and merchandise use, or a photographer thinking of getting into microstock photography, visit Polylooks.co.uk and see what we have on offer.

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