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Choosing Stock Photos For Your Header - A Web Designer's View

If you're thinking of creating your own header for your Web site, you are able to really benefit from knowing how a graphic designer thinks when selecting photos.

Stock photos can be found from a number of Internet sites and services. The cost and quality vary considerably, but for the majority of us, inexpensive stock photos are all we'll ever need. Two typical stock photo sites are Dreamstime.com and BigStockPhoto.com, but there are many more.

Incidentally, not long ago i was browsing a well-known, glossy magazine and recognized a regular photo I'd seen the day before on Dreamstime.com. So, you don't have to stress about the caliber of inexpensive stock photos; the big magazines rely on them!

Why don't we see how I would approach finding suitable photos for my client's header...

First, I'll ask my client regarding their business: their typical audience, as well as their market's gender and age bracket. I'll also want to know about the mood or feeling my client wants for the Site. Using the solutions to these questions I can choose photos using the appropriate colours and ambience.

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For example, a spa will need tranquil colours, usually light blues and pale greens, and photos of blissed-out people (typically women) getting a massage or facial. They might use smooth stones, a leaf or a flower to convey a Zen atmosphere.

A children's daycare on the other hand, will want primary colours (red, yellow, blue) and photos of energetic, happy kids. They may use clipart balloons, crayons or foundations in the header or the navigation.

Note: Clipart objects, people, backgrounds, buttons, badges, icons, cartoons along with other images can also be found on stock photo sites.

Now I will visit two or three stock photo sites and choose photos according to my client's criteria and my own requirements for the header. (The net designer's requirements are just as essential as the client's requirements.)

To locate appropriate photos, I'll enter keywords into the search box. This is almost an art in itself. For any spa site, I might start with the most general term "spa," and end up with phrases like "happy woman massage," "massage stones," "tranquility, "wellness," "candles," "spa products," etc.

When I'm choosing photos, I'm automatically running them through my internal filter:

1. Performs this photo possess the right colours? Or will I have to modify them in Photoshop?

While colours could be changed in Photoshop, I will first try to find photos with the right colours. However, basically find the perfect photo, however the shirt is wrong, I will definitely consider changing the colours in Photoshop.

If the colours for that Site have not yet been determined, I may base the shades for that header (and also the site) on the photo. Designers often do this, especially if they are only using one photo in the header. Pulling the colours in the photo will almost always guarantee that the Web site will look pulled together.

2. Would be the people in this photo facing the direction I would like these to face in the header? People (and objects with a "front" like a car or even a teapot) should face toward the middle of the header or straight ahead. Note: Flipping over a photo can result in a strange looking image due to the play of sunshine and shadow.

3. Can I crop this photo to focus it better about them? Many photos have more potential when they're cropped in tight to the subject, often even some of the subject: a woman's eyes, the stitching on the baseball, half a golf club on a tee, the bow of a canoe, brightly coloured rain slickers hanging on hooks, a rustic mailbox. Take a look at art magazines or book covers for ideas.

4. Is this photo portrait or landscape style? Portrait style is tall, instead of wide. Landscape style is the opposite. In a shallow header, landscape-style photos will fit better. A portrait-style photo will have to be reduced considerably in dimensions to suit a shallow header and may not work at all. But it might work if cropped in near to the subject (see #3 above).

5. Can I use this photo because the entire header? To use a photo for the whole header, you will need to be able to have a slice of the image that tells a story: a lone tree inside a field, a mountain climber with arms upraised on a mountain vista, a jogger on a stretch of deserted beach.

6. Will I need to find several photos to inform the story? If I use multiple photos can they look good together? Will the photos blend well right into a montage or can they look better as a row of person photos? Either way, I'm going to be looking for photos that complement one another and have fairly neutral colours (unless I'm planning to deliberately emphasize some aspect in the photos).

Finally, basically look for a photo near to what I want, but not quite right, I'll perform a few things. I'll locate the photographer's portfolio and check to see if he or she has taken similar photos, maybe utilizing the same model or scene. Often this will open up a whole realm of photos that I may have overlooked.

I'll also employ the "similar photos" tool which brings up a load of photos concentrating on the same keywords to the one chosen. Not the keywords I entered to obtain the photo originally, but keywords the photographer gave once they uploaded the photograph to the site. This can open another arena of photos. Sometimes these paths lead nowhere, however they are always worth an attempt once the photo is near to, but not quite, right.

I still won't buy any photos at this time. I'll simply add the photos I've chosen to a lightbox and email it to my client to provide them an opportunity to comment on the photos and veto ones that don't fit their vision for the header. After my client has finished evaluating the photos, hopefully I'll still have some really good ones for the header.

I still won't buy any photos. Instead I'll make use of the "comp" versions of the photos to create the header. These versions are adequately sized to make use of in the header, however they possess a watermark on them. Basically intend to slice or crop the photo I'm able to still see what that will seem like around the comp. Basically plan to make use of the whole photo as the header, I will make use of the comp to produce a miniature header, so I can see how it will look.

I will buy the photos once I'm satisfied I have the best photo or the right combination of photos for that header.

Now you know a few of the thoughts a graphic designer like me experiences while choosing photos. Hopefully, you should use these suggestions to choose good photos for your own header.