You’ve all seen them. Most of us use them. Some even look pretty cool: stock photography. But as I develop a my new website, danstevenerickson.com, I’m going to swear off stock photos for good.
I’m currently in the process of developing my new website: danstevenerickson.com. I’m doing something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m breaking the mold of the “blogger’s” website. In fact, I’ll no longer “blog” at my website. Sure, I’ll include a blogroll called “news” that I’’ll occasionally update, but I’ll do most of my “blog” writing here.
As a former blogger, I played the game. I wrote 3–5 posts a week, offered an ebook and a newsletter, used lots of links, SEO, and of course, pretty pictures. Everybody knows where you get pretty pictures for blogs. Pexels, Pixabay, or a number of other stock photo sites.
There was something that never sat right with me using stock photos. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Lot’s of the photos are great, even awesome. I can find photos of anything in the world. What’s the problem? Two things:
- Cardboard: Even some of the best stock photos have a cardboard aesthetic to them. They all start to look similar. That, and every blogger known to humankind uses them. I can’t count the amount of times I saw the exact same photo I’d used on my blog on others’ blogs…
