Celebrating Awkwardness

Stock photography, much like people, is sometimes just weird and awkward. You can be the judge on whether the awkwardness is intentional or not. Not to say that these pictures don't have value, they most definitely do. At some point, you will have a dire need for a weird image that has elegantly captured true awkwardness.

These stock photos can be funny, especially if you create a context which adds to the awkwardness. Let's take a look at a few images and revel in their awkwardness.

© Radius. Image #600-00954712.

Bananas in a suitcase. I guess chimpanzees pack light. Or maybe this is a conceptual image about the importance of potassium. If you only pack one thing, pack bananas.

© Tips RM. Image #561GAG00228.

 Ummm. Professional women's wrestling has gotten out of hand.

© EyeCandy Images. Image #EC123203.

Buying turtlenecks is risky business. There was clearly a slight miscalculation of neck length here. Or maybe this is just Green Man's girlfriend.

© Zefa RF. Image #42-17225681.

Wow! This guy sure loves slightly out-of-date technology.

© Superstock. Image #1150-1032.

If he is willing to wear a swimsuit like that, it's not surprising that he somehow got tangled up with a chair. There is no way that ended well . . .for either of them.

That's probably plenty of awkwardness to get us through the day. Feel free to comment and give your interpretations.  

Know Your Background

With ever increasing speeds and capabilities, web pages are more open to complex and creative design. Web designers no longer have to rely on solid, monochrome backgrounds. There has also been a trend towards making the background the main visual element.

The background sets the mood and the body delivers the message. So, the background can be a little more adventurous, while the content best remains simple and without too much visual distraction. Stock photography sites provide a plethora of backgrounds for web and graphic designers.

Below are some examples of stock backgrounds. Enjoy!

© Zefa RF. Image #42-17622892.

© InsideOutPix. Image #42-18839210.

© Corbis RF. Image #UTX063.

© Aflo Relax. Image #AFR-IJ-11905.

© Moodboard Premium. Image #15260011.

© Tips RM. Image #263LDG00935.

© Glowimages. Image #101-5699462.

Bodacious 80's Photos

This doesn't need a whole lot of explanation. Enjoy these "most non-heinous" (to quote Bill and Ted) stock images that pay homage to the raddest of decades, the 1980's.

© ImageZoo. Image #JRO0043.

© Corbis RF. Image #CB011929.

© Imagesource. Image #IE111-073.

© Superstock. Image #1195-301.

© Superstock. Image #200-1881B.

© Rubberball. Image #A03249.

© Radius. Image #600-00917105.

© Superstock. Image #172-6526C.

© Radius. Image #600-00917057.

© 81a. Image #81A-00003577-001.

Eyeing Over Poured Milk

Pour and splash shots are common stock photography images. They are exactly what the sound like. They are photos of a liquid being poured or splashed. It sounds simplistic, but it is a difficult moment to capture and the results are often intriguing and visually appealing. Photographing a liquid frozen in midair captures a moment that is normally so brief that our eyes barely process it.

These images can be almost hypnotizing to look at, especially the pour shot, smoother brother of the splash. In particular, the milk pour can be very appealing. Milk seems to have just the right consistency for the perfect pour. Below are stock photos of perfectly done milk pours. Get your cookies ready!

© Glowimages RF. Image #GWF108007.

© Radius. Image #600-01718151.

© Purestock. Image #1574R-011017.

© Imagebroker RF. Image #IBXKIM01170543.

© Stockfood. Image #683368.

Sweet kicks!

As promised, we are back with some more football images. This time we are focusing on soccer images. We don't discriminate. There's no reason American football and the rest of the world football can't coexist. Football harmony; believe in it.

Stock photography has generally done a better job of capturing genuine looking soccer images than it has with football. There is a very large selection of high quality soccer images. This is largely due in part to the global popularity of the game and the ever growing global thinking of photographers and stock photo websites.

Another reason for this wider selection is the fact that soccer is relatively uniform. Soccer exists at a variety of levels and looks very similar throughout. Whether you are a casual Sunday league player or the striker for an English Premiere team, you don't look that different. Sure, the pros may have a little on you in the skills department, but your equipment and uniform are not going to be far off.

Whatever the reason may be, there are some very realistic soccer images to choose from. We have selected a handful of our favorites soccer action shots.

© Blue Jean Images. Image #BJI0033_0016.

© Aflo Score. Image #SC-035033.

© Aflo Sport. Image #AFS-IB-04705.

© Imagesource. Image #IS004-043.

© Blend RF. Image #BLD072655.

 P.S. Good luck to Wigan this week vs. Manchester City!

Football Season is Back!

If you aren’t excited about football season yet, maybe this will get you going. Stock photos of sports, especially football, have not traditionally been that spectacular. They often looked too much like stock photography. The players didn’t look quite right. They had numbers or equipment that didn’t seem to match their position.

But things have changed. There is more of a focus on producing genuine looking images. Photographers are often using athletes instead of models. There are also a growing number of images of actual athletes in action. What better way to make it look real than to have it be real! Thankfully, this type of content is becoming more widespread and available.

Today, we will focus on American football. These are just a few examples of really good football stock images. Don’t worry, soccer fans. We haven’t forgotten you. You are next on the list.

© Corbis RF. Image #42-16674141.

© Stock Connection. Image #VAM05-1027.

© Visions of America RF. Image #VOA3-0255.

© Purestock. Image #1574R-36237.

© Old Visuals. Image #EV003557.

Who Loves Ya, Baby?

No, this is a not a tribute to Telly Savalas, but he did share a similar hairstyle with many of these models. We are talking about babies. Babies are a popular subject in stock photography. They can be used in a lot of different ways.

Obviously, baby images can be used for things about babies, but they can also be used to show humor, health, innocence, happiness and a slew of other concepts. We'll just focus on the funny side of baby pictures for now. You could also call it the cute side, but they go hand in hand.

Babies are capable of showing a lot of emotion in their face. Sometimes their facial expressions don't make the most sense in the world, but that's part of the appeal. We have seen the same expressions in ourselves and in people around us. To see it coming from a baby who seemingly wouldn't know what making that face even means is always entertaining. It really must be a universal language.

As we have covered before, cute and cuddly sells. Cute and funny definitely sells, and babies are the perfect combination of both. You see them being used this way on greeting cards and in advertisements all the time. Babies can be difficult models to work with, but with stock imagery, photographers get to shoot hundreds of photos and get the perfect shot. This is a luxury  that a parent at home would very rarely get, which is why most of your childhood pictures have a sibling blurring through them or one kid with his eyes closed.

Enough talk, let's get to the photos! We have chosen some of the funniest/cute baby pictures we could find. Now, I should point out that the sad babies below aren't funny so much as so cute that you can't help but laugh.

© Inspirestock. Image #ISP0800349.

© Blend RF. Image #BLD040943.

© Imagebroker RF. Image #IBXALO00294134.

© Designpics. Image #1801130.

© Corbis RF. Image #42-17880825.

Fill in the Blank

Designers are busy people with busier schedules and strict deadlines. They may not always have time to alter images drastically to add text. Stock photography to the rescue!

 Copy space images are a staple on most stock photo sites. Whether it's someone holding a blank sign or business card, or an image with just the right amount of clear blue sky, many of these images are tailored for text to be added. These images are out there just waiting for you to fill in the blank.

Rather than go on and on about how much they can help you, let's just take a look at some copy space images.

© 81a. Image 81A-00004282-001.

© Quickimage RM. Image #QP01100002156

© Clover Images. Image #11021006278

© Glowimages RF. Image #GWW60726241

© Tetra. Image #TI0601432

Diversify Your Portfolio

As media and technology shrink the world, they are growing our audience. As users of stock photography, this means our audience is becoming increasingly diverse. We have to think beyond our own country and have a multicultural view.

© ImageZoo. Image #MFR0020.

The stock photo industry has generally kept up with this trend and has plenty of quality, multicultural imagery. Not every image has to have “we are the world” feel, but playing to the diversity of your audience surely cannot hurt.

Be sure to include images that appeal to your diversity within your market as well as images that give you a global appearance. Don’t force it, but be conscious of it. It should come natural if you are reflecting the real world.


When it comes to which images you pick, there a lot of variables to consider, but there a few things you can count on. You should be able to find stock images that use models that have ambiguous ethnicities. This gives you a multicultural feel without being over the top. You can also count on being able to find a model for any ethnicity you can come up with.

© FStop. Image #665021.

 So, think global! The stock photos you use can be the face of your company. Make them diverse so they appeal to your expanding, multicultural audience.