Stock photography tends to make thing too generic.

Taking the time to craft something from scratch may take more time but the authors heart is in it.

Thank you for the feedback and I appreciate your perspective as a photographer. I centainly uderstand the financial implications for photographers and am not advocating that we should not use the resource. I just have noticed lately the number of custom shoots we have done has deceased significantly over the past 3-5 years. Some of this I attribute to the proliferation of stock, some I attribute to us not being stronger in support of ideas. I agree that stock photos are not only necessary, but vital in today’s market. I just think that stock should be used in support of the idea, not in place of it. In this sense it benefits both creative, photographer and more importantly the client. Thanks for reading!

Very insightful blog. I understand the reality of the situation you post. the downside is that as creative people we are allowing the tools drive the artistry instead of it being intrinsic in of itself. As a photographer, I have created my own photoshop’d versions of the truth, but lately, I have been experimenting with trying to emulate what can be done in editing tools. An example is an Ink Series I created that many believed was heavily edited.

The reality of the situation is that (PDN article) many photographers make a significant % of earnings in stock photography. Perhaps we need to go back to basics and stop trying to commoditize the art.