Stock photos?

[nikkiARNGwife]

Is this the new trend? I've been browsing another gallery and it seems I'm seeing this more and more. Does anyone else just not get this? I mean..they're pretty pages..but I don't see myself printing a page like that out for an album or something. I guess it's just for the art of it? But is that really scrapbooking? I'm genuinely curious about this.

[ditzyscrap]

I've used stock photos (or borrowed photos) and printed out the pages...mostly for pages that I wanted to scrap but didn't have any photos for them.

But, it's not something that I do regularly.

[nikkiARNGwife]

Yeah I've used one now and again like if I had a particular page in mind and no photo to scrap..but I'm seeing whole galleries that are full of stock photos and it just makes me curious as to why I guess.

[Leila]

I use stock photos on occasions when I simply do not have a photo to fit a kit/page idea. My "Boots" page has a stock photo, as does my "Dream Girls" page. I loved the kits but lacked the photos to fit, so I went and found them. IMO, in cases like that, it's no different that scrapping a friend's photos over your own.

Now, would I do it all the time? Nah, scrapbooking is about preserving memories. I can't really preserve the memory of an event with pictures someone else took, can I?

Of course, that doesn't mean that what others are doing with stock photos isn't scrapbooking. I mean, there are still some people who say that digital scrapbooking isn't scrapbooking.

Oh, and I know one girl who uses stock photos for every page since she isn't willing to put her kids pictures on the net. Well, she makes two versions of each page and posts the stock photo version online.

[nikkiARNGwife]

I hope my post didn't sound snarky...b/c I didn't mean for it to lol...I mean people can scrap how/why they want to..It just makes me curious...but I guess some people look at this as more of an artform than like traditional scrapping. I guess I'm just looking at it from my viewpoint of wanting pages of family etc. and I don't really see me wanting albums full of pages of strangers kwim? But if you're just in it for the art I can see that.

[Leila]

I hope my post didn't sound snarky...b/c I didn't mean for it to lol...I mean people can scrap how/why they want to..It just makes me curious...but I guess some people look at this as more of an artform than like traditional scrapping. I guess I'm just looking at it from my viewpoint of wanting pages of family etc. and I don't really see me wanting albums full of pages of strangers kwim? But if you're just in it for the art I can see that.

Oh no! You didn't sound snarky in the least!

I wonder if it is all stock photos though. The quality of photography in the digi-world is well above average, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of those stock photos aren't stock at all.

[Paula]

I don't understand why some people use stock photos either. I don't see it as a way to preserve the memories. I can see the use of stock photos for CT LOs that you don't have photos that fit, but I would never do that.

[NettieB]

I do it - (1) when I have a CT kit for which I have no photos, usually the girl ones! and can't hit someone else up quick enough, and (2) when there is something I'd like to journal about and know my skills are lacking photo wise to accompany it. Like sushi - my photos are less than good, but stock photos? they rock!

But I totally understand privacy wise why there are complete galleries of stock photos, and would assume those photos would be switched out for family photos for memory books.

[ColleenSwerb]

To each his own I suppose. I've done it before and I'm sure I'll do it again. Especially for stories that I want to tell, but don't have a photo.

[ajf9597]

I haven't used them, but I can see where they would come in handy. If I did use them I wouldn't print out the page. Although one of my fav LO's that someone did is with a stock photo and I wish I could get a pic like it to copy the LO :)
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/ajf9597/blessedchild-1.jpg

[nikkiARNGwife]

That is really pretty :)

[rochelle789]

I've used a stock photo for a layout I did about my office supply obsession. I was really pleased with the layout and felt I documented something about my life. So, I can see why people might use stock photos in certain circumstances.

What I don't get though is getting pictures of people from a google search and using them in a layout. I've seen several that have cited google as the source of their image and although it's possible, I highly doubt they all obtained permission to use those images.

[Stacey42]

I guess it would depend on the photo for me. If I was doing an AAM page I'd probably use some for some of my interests. I'm not so good at food photos & would rather use a great photo of pizza than one of my badly lit ones. :) Or maybe a wall of yarn. Things I would like to show but have no way of getting photos of, like my hometown deli or my first car.

[nikkiARNGwife]

I guess it would depend on the photo for me. If I was doing an AAM page I'd probably use some for some of my interests. I'm not so good at food photos & would rather use a great photo of pizza than one of my badly lit ones. :) Or maybe a wall of yarn. Things I would like to show but have no way of getting photos of, like my hometown deli or my first car.

I totally understand this and have done it myself...I'm just curious about the galleries I see that are full of stock photos of children or other people. For me, I just wouldn't be interested in making pages like that of strangers...but like I said, I guess it makes sense if you just like doing this for the artsy side.

[ColleenSwerb]

Or like Nettie said. There are lots of people out there who love to scrapbook but are VERY weary of putting pictures of themselves or their kids on the internet. So they make a page with their photo to put in their books, and then swap the photo out for a stock photo to post on the web. Best of both worlds.

[Tracie Stroud]

Or like Nettie said. There are lots of people out there who love to scrapbook but are VERY weary of putting pictures of themselves or their kids on the internet. So they make a page with their photo to put in their books, and then swap the photo out for a stock photo to post on the web. Best of both worlds.

Ahhh! Lightbulb! That totally makes sense! I never thought of that.

[nikkiARNGwife]

Or like Nettie said. There are lots of people out there who love to scrapbook but are VERY weary of putting pictures of themselves or their kids on the internet. So they make a page with their photo to put in their books, and then swap the photo out for a stock photo to post on the web. Best of both worlds.

That makes sense too...I think I'm too lazy for that lol

[sammi]

That makes sense too...I think I'm too lazy for that lol

Me too... ;)

[rachaelsscraps]

I would much rather use someone I know (whether personal or online)'s photos for a page- that way they can have the page after and I wasn't creating it with a photo of some unknown person. kwim? If I had to use X kit for a CT and didn't have any photos to fit with it, I mean.... otherwise I wouldn't make the page or buy the kit- to me, scrapbooking is about keeping memories (mostly of my son & family), so I wouldn't be able to get into doing a page with another person's photos...

(I do understand using stock photos if you don't want to post photos of your own kids online, though. That does make sense to me- making 2 copies- 1 for the galleries & 1 for your own albums...)

[Jennilyn]

Or like Nettie said. There are lots of people out there who love to scrapbook but are VERY weary of putting pictures of themselves or their kids on the internet. So they make a page with their photo to put in their books, and then swap the photo out for a stock photo to post on the web. Best of both worlds.

That's what I was going to say! :)

[lizzyfizzy]

and i think that there are truly just a lot of people who do this for fun. as an artistic release. they have no intention of making memories for their family, printing books, etc.

[emmasmommy]

and i think that there are truly just a lot of people who do this for fun. as an artistic release. they have no intention of making memories for their family, printing books, etc.


I fit into this category...granted I don't use stock photos unless it's for an inantimate object...but I don't digiscrap because I want it for books. In fact, I've only printed out 6 pages of all of the pages I've done. It's definitely an artistic release for me and I definitely am preserving my families memories, but, I know quite a few people who don't actually print out layouts. I had a hard time understanding why people would want to use stock photos of other people's kids but after seeing the whole protection point...I can definitely see that now.

[pewtertm]

I've used stock photos on occasion, but in general, they are scenic shots from places I went when I was younger but have no pictures of. When my parents divorced, the photos albums were broken up...plus alot of our pics were on slides, which my father kept. I won't go into details here...would be WAY OT, but I have no contact with my father or his side of the family, so those photos aren't available to me. So I have resorted to using stock photos from some places to scrap about old vacations.

[mnm_y2]

I think that a lot of us do this for VERY different reasons. For me - since I started scrapbooking, I have a mindset of having my albums, yearly, in chronological order and it's been harder for me to get out of that mindset and do "other" stuff. In the 3 years of digiscrapping, I have actually learned to not scrap chronologically, but in the end that's how my layouts are.

I also see some galleries where the same picture is scrapped multiple times. I've used the same picture more than once, but what I'm talking about is when it's just the same pic used over and over... 5+ times. I think to myself... WHY are you scrapping the same picture over and over again?? To me it's like wasted time because another picture could've been used and gotten a little bit closer to being "current"... and then I remember, that that's ME. I am the one that wants to be current and wants to scrap every single picture, and wouldn't really have a use for 5 pages using the same pic..but that's me and not everyone else. And , not everyone prints their pages either.

[Becca Bonneville]

I also see some galleries where the same picture is scrapped multiple times. I've used the same picture more than once, but what I'm talking about is when it's just the same pic used over and over... 5+ times. I think to myself... WHY are you scrapping the same picture over and over again?? To me it's like wasted time because another picture could've been used and gotten a little bit closer to being "current"... and then I remember, that that's ME. I am the one that wants to be current and wants to scrap every single picture, and wouldn't really have a use for 5 pages using the same pic..but that's me and not everyone else. And , not everyone prints their pages either.

I am one who will use the same photo several times. The reason is my daughter is not one to take photos. At all. I try like heck and will maybe get two decent photos out of 100. As soon as she sees my camera she takes off. So sometimes I don't have the option of using another photo but I need to get a CT page done so I will reuse one. When I do use one again, I do try to crop it at a different angle or something to make it seem somewhat different but that doesn't always work either.

[DawnMarch]

I guess some people look at this as more of an artform than like traditional scrapping.

I think this is a lot of it. It's sort of like painters who choose to paint from a stock photo, rather than paint from a model or scene in front of them. They just want something pretty (or whatever) to create their art from - it doesn't have to be something personal to them.

I am with you, though, I scrapbook for the memories, so I would only use stock for those things/places that are important to a particular page and for which I don't have a photo.

[crystalbella77]

I should not get started on this at all.....but it aggravates me. I can see using them sometimes, but most of these are copyrighted photos that people are stealing just to make better LO's and they get tons of attention for them.

I have used one or two in the past but they were ones I had permission to use, but to use stolen photos on every single page is wrong IMO.

[mnm_y2]

But what does that attention that those LO's get end up with? I think it comes back to that we could have different reasons for scrapbooking. I scrap pretty much everything and I print pretty much everything as well, and stick them into albums just like my old paper pages. That's what I do this for. If you see my gallery - the majority of my layouts have zero comments on them. I am happy to get comments on them, but that's not why I do this.

There are people that might not be scrapping for the reasons I do. They might do it to just post out there and to use it as an art form as someone has mentioned.

Now, as far as the photos not being used with permission, I guess I don't even know what to say about that one - because I don't really use photos and wouldn't even know the steps to get permission and all that stuff... I know my family knows what I do and I've got "their" permission to use my photos... oh, and the ones I have used from a cousin's myspace - I did ask her too LOL.

[SeattleSheri]

I should not get started on this at all.....but it aggravates me. I can see using them sometimes, but most of these are copyrighted photos that people are stealing just to make better LO's and they get tons of attention for them.

I have used one or two in the past but they were ones I had permission to use, but to use stolen photos on every single page is wrong IMO.
I completely agree! I am much more impressed by pages where someone scraps their own photos (or that of a friend). Don't get me wrong, I think some of the pages with stock photography are beautiful. I'm proud of the fact that I use my own photos.

I can completely understand the aspect of doing this as an artistic release. That is definitely a large part of why I do it.

Personally, I'm not concerned about using my childrens' photos in pages and posting them online (that's just me). Nothing is print quality from a 600x600 image and most of the time there are elements, etc covering the photos. In addition to the fact, that it's just easier to steal photos from a photographer's website than it is a scrap page, lol.

Interesting topic!

[ColleenSwerb]

I should not get started on this at all.....but it aggravates me. I can see using them sometimes, but most of these are copyrighted photos that people are stealing just to make better LO's and they get tons of attention for them.

I have used one or two in the past but they were ones I had permission to use, but to use stolen photos on every single page is wrong IMO.

Well there is a difference between stock photos, and photos that are used without permission. If they are from a stock photo website, they can be used in any manner you wish, it doesn't make them stolen.

I find it interesting that you find it so aggravating. You scrap for your reasons, everyone else scraps for theirs. Why worry about it?

[newfiemountiewife]

To each their own, I say! I don't scrap with stock pics, but I have thousands of pics to choose from. Perhaps others don't have kids or are uncomfortable putting their kids on the internet?

Whatever floats their boat, we all scrap for our own reasons, and I don't think there's anything wrong with it, if that's what you're into!

[Joan]

they can be used in any manner you wishThat's not entirely true. There is a TOU, and it differs for different photographers, agencies, etc. Using them to scrap for yourself is generally just fine, the TOUs are usually more about commerial purposes, but I would urge everyone to know the TOU of any stock photos they use.

As for it bothering people, I have to agree with you, Col. Everyone scraps for their own purposes, and I don't think it's our place to judge that some scrapbooking is more valid than others. Yes, using photos that you have no permission to use is a whole other thing, but we're talking about stock photos here, and if that's what someone wants to scrap to further their creativity and abilities, then more power to them. :)

These sorts of topics have been coming up a lot on different boards, and I'd like to echo a sentiment posted by one of my favourite scrappers in one of those threads: there seems to be so much negativity to differing styles, what people scrap, how they scrap it, etc. and I'd love it if we all focused that energy on the many positive reasons we do this instead of worrying about what everyone else is doing. (not her exact words... my words, but same sorta idea)

Not trying to sound snarky myself here. I hope that's not how it comes off. It's just something I've been thinking about a lot for some time now.

[ColleenSwerb]

Oh you're right Joan, my statement was incorrect. You can't use them ANY way you wish, you're right. Thanks for correcting me :)

[Joan]

Oh you're right Joan, my statement was incorrect. You can't use them ANY way you wish, you're right. Thanks for correcting me :)Hope that didn't sound all analetentive, correction-nazi like, lol. I just figure with no shortage of aspiring photographers and designers around here, it's probably a good thing to have a heads up on. :)

[SamaraGugler]

I also see some galleries where the same picture is scrapped multiple times. I've used the same picture more than once, but what I'm talking about is when it's just the same pic used over and over... 5+ times. I think to myself... WHY are you scrapping the same picture over and over again?? To me it's like wasted time because another picture could've been used and gotten a little bit closer to being "current"... and then I remember, that that's ME. I am the one that wants to be current and wants to scrap every single picture, and wouldn't really have a use for 5 pages using the same pic..but that's me and not everyone else. And , not everyone prints their pages either.

That would be me!!! LOL

[ColleenSwerb]

No! Not at all Joan! No worries. I shouldn't have made such a blanket statement anyway. :)

[krystalhartley]

Word.
These sorts of topics have been coming up a lot on different boards, and I'd like to echo a sentiment posted by one of my favourite scrappers in one of those threads: there seems to be so much negativity to differing styles, what people scrap, how they scrap it, etc. and I'd love it if we all focused that energy on the many positive reasons we do this instead of worrying about what everyone else is doing. (not her exact words... my words, but same sorta idea).

I do get what Crystal was saying, too, though. There are plenty of people that do use digi scrapping as a creative outlet that has absolutely nothing to do with memory preservation, and that is 100% cool. Those same people are generally the people who also absolutely live for recognition, validation, comments, etc. and that is 100% cool with me, too. So, it then becomes a source of contention when people use copyrighted photos without permission to up the wow factor on their already awesome pages. The page posted earlier in this thread, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong), actually violated the original photographer's TOU by using it that way and it was a page that received lots of notoriety and accolades in the digi community.

When comparing galleries for CT selection, designers will often look at the photography, and if they aren't aware of the copyright infringement will probably favor the gallery with the professional photos.


So, while we don't all scrap for comments or recognition or coveted CT spots, some people do. The ones playing by the "rules" (ie not using copyrighted photos without permission) feel a disadvantage to those who disregard the rules. And just as it's not our prerogative to tell people WHY they scrap, we also cannot tell them how they should feel about the issues that affect those reasons.

[nikkiARNGwife]

I certainly didn't mean anything against people who scrap with stock photos...I just know when I'm drawn to a layout and click on it to get a closer view and then the photo is obviously a stock photo, I just get curious. I guess b/c I look at it from the standpoint of why I scrap and it's hard for me to "get" why you'd spend so much time and effort on a page when it's not someone you know in real life.

But you know I think it also just shows how diverse digital can be...I never really paper scrapped but I bet you don't see paper scrappers who use stock photos very often. It's just interesting to see where digital has been and where it's going. kwim?

[nikkiARNGwife]

Word.


I do get what Crystal was saying, too, though. There are plenty of people that do use digi scrapping as a creative outlet that has absolutely nothing to do with memory preservation, and that is 100% cool. Those same people are generally the people who also absolutely live for recognition, validation, comments, etc. and that is 100% cool with me, too. So, it then becomes a source of contention when people use copyrighted photos without permission to up the wow factor on their already awesome pages. The page posted earlier in this thread, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong), actually violated the original photographer's TOU by using it that way and it was a page that received lots of notoriety and accolades in the digi community.

When comparing galleries for CT selection, designers will often look at the photography, and if they aren't aware of the copyright infringement will probably favor the gallery with the professional photos.


So, while we don't all scrap for comments or recognition or coveted CT spots, some people do. The ones playing by the "rules" (ie not using copyrighted photos without permission) feel a disadvantage to those who disregard the rules. And just as it's not our prerogative to tell people WHY they scrap, we also cannot tell them how they should feel about the issues that affect those reasons.

Ooh well said..this makes total sense!

[NettieB]

Great topic, Nikki! and thanks for your thoughts, Ladies! Krystal - amazing imput.

[Joan]

It wasn't my intention to give the impression that I think it's okay to use copyrighted photos, so I hope that wasn't the case. I did mention that in my post. The original subject here is stock photos, and that's what I based my post on.

If people feel strongly about the copyrighted photos, maybe give the photographer a heads up and let them deal with it? Again, not saying I think it's right they do it in the first place.

[Paula]

Well, I can see people using stock photos for CT LOs that they don't have photos for such as a mom of boys scrapping a girl LO. I can also see using stock photos for AAM pages like photos of possessions, food, places etc.

My point was that I scrap for the memories and that I wouldn't use stock photos just to scrap. I'm like Jamie though - I have TONS of photos and lots of family to keep me busy! LOL

[newfiemountiewife]

Tsk. Tsk. Joan, that avatar is nasty :p

[crystalbella77]

Thank you Krystal for wording everything much much better than me! That's why I love ya! :D

[crystalbella77]

oh and I should say, that I don't care why people scrap and to each his own. :) I am a fan of many many styles of scrapping and if you looked at my full gallery or saw my faves folder you would know that. :)

The only thing that bothers me is that I have heard numerous designers say that they look at photos when choosing CT and then you see their CT using stock photos and/or copyrighted photos. That just upsets me because I scrap for me and although I am not the best photographer I hate that I could have or have been skipped over because of it..kwim?

I totally understand using some stock photos now and again though, so I hope that I didn't come acroos wrong or upset anyone in what I said. :( It's just something that I think gets over looked and is allowed more than it should be (the actual use of copyrighted photos) and I find it upsetting.

[Angie4b1g]

Didn't someone win a big contest at DST using an Anne Geddes photo (definitely not ok).

In that case, it bothers me. Because it's definitely not a level playing field.

[crystalbella77]

Didn't someone win a big contest at DST using an Anne Geddes photo (definitely not ok).

In that case, it bothers me. Because it's definitely not a level playing field.

YES! This is when it bothers me!!!

[ColleenSwerb]

Um, yea, I didn't know about that. That's not cool. :glare:

[nanienamou]

How can you tell that the photo is really a stock photo?

This is the first time that i hear of this. i must be quite naive, because I thought that all the photos i saw in the galleries were coming from the scrapper's entourage. :huh: I never used stock photos, all the photos that I use come from DH and me, be it child photos, nature, flowers, etc.

Now that I think of it, I really was naive, lol! :p

[crystalbella77]

How can you tell that the photo is really a stock photo?

You can tell on some because they are famous photographers...like Anne Geddes. Most of the time you can find something in the credits that says "Photo by so and so"

[Joan]

There was a thread at DST a long time ago where it was claimed that Anne Geddes had been contacted and she is okay with people using her photos in scrapbooking. I suppose maybe it came in the fallout of the contest thing? Anyway, I think in the thread they said she had it in her TOU that it was okay. I find that kind of hard to believe, but who knows.

I never followed the thread through closely, but I do remember there was such a discussion.

[NettieB]

How can you tell that the photo is really a stock photo?

I get my stock photos from the Microsoft Office clip art website (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/FX101321031033.aspx?pid=CL100570201033), to start - which usually refers you out to stock photo sites like iStockPhoto, Fotolia, and others, which all have defined TOUs. So hopefully you can tell it is a stock photo by the credits, which site the photographer, and the host site.

No piracy, like all digi, all the time. :)

[nesser1981]

I'm going to say, I'm not a fan of the stock photo layouts, but the reason I say that is I think those types of layouts are more Digital Art than Digital Scrapbooking and I honestly think there should be 2 different catagories.

[Brooke W]

I'm going to say, I'm not a fan of the stock photo layouts, but the reason I say that is I think those types of layouts are more Digital Art than Digital Scrapbooking and I honestly think there should be 2 different catagories.

I agree with you. There's a comp going on right now in which I see a lot of stock photo use and they are the ones that get the huge oohs and ahs. I think too that it is more digital art than digiscrapping. I give them props for their beautiful pages, but I'd really just love to see what they could do with their own photos and not stand on the work of others.
To each their own on what they use. It's not something I do and frankly it never occurred to me to do so.
This has been an interesting thread, more so because it is something a friend and I've been discussing the past two or three days. I was glad to see someone bring up the subject.

[OrianaVianey]

Well if someone have the need of scrap and is out of pictures feel fee to PM me and I'm provide you of a gazillion royalty free pictures (form ME... LOL)

I have boy (son), girls (step dd), vintage (from 1920's to 1970's), wedding, travels, beach, fashion (I use to work in a magazine and have the pleasure to shoot more tha one fashion show)... you name it!!! LOL

I'm really really really behind on my scrapping ... hehehehe

[EveRecinella]

These sorts of topics have been coming up a lot on different boards, and I'd like to echo a sentiment posted by one of my favourite scrappers in one of those threads: there seems to be so much negativity to differing styles, what people scrap, how they scrap it, etc. and I'd love it if we all focused that energy on the many positive reasons we do this instead of worrying about what everyone else is doing. (not her exact words... my words, but same sorta idea)

Word! I scrap for a plethora of reasons, sometimes for pages for the family, sometimes pages for friends, some times just to create a nice piece of art. Those are MY reasons for scrapping and what I do or use to achieve them really shouldn't matter to anyone else! :thumbup:

[ColleenSwerb]

I'm going to say, I'm not a fan of the stock photo layouts, but the reason I say that is I think those types of layouts are more Digital Art than Digital Scrapbooking and I honestly think there should be 2 different catagories.

I think it's interesting to call them 2 different things, just because you switch out the photo. The ones I've seen in the past weren't exceptionally different aside from the stock photo. Granted, I haven't had time to breathe lately, let alone cruise the galleries and see some of these new stock photo ones, and I couldn't tell you the last time I was over at DST.

[nikkiARNGwife]

I think it's interesting to call them 2 different things, just because you switch out the photo. The ones I've seen in the past weren't exceptionally different aside from the stock photo. Granted, I haven't had time to breathe lately, let alone cruise the galleries and see some of these new stock photo ones, and I couldn't tell you the last time I was over at DST.

I think she means that those pages are the ones you see that are more like the one posted here in this thread...mostly extracted "whimsical" type pages that differ from more "traditional looking" scrapbook pages. Check out GSO at DST...it's pretty much filled with them...a lot are probably real photos b/c there are some really talented folks out there..but a lot of them are stock or "found online" photos. I love the "whimsical" look and wish I were better at it, but I'm not as impressed with a page when I realize it's a professional "found" photo..and yeah, winning a contest with one just ain't right IMO. But yeah..it's just a different style and more "artsy" than say what we all love to do here at SSD..not saying we aren't creating art but most of the pages you see here to me look like more traditional type pages (which I love BTW :) )

[SamaraGugler]

I think she means that those pages are the ones you see that are more like the one posted here in this thread...mostly extracted "whimsical" type pages that differ from more "traditional looking" scrapbook pages. Check out GSO at DST...it's pretty much filled with them...a lot are probably real photos b/c there are some really talented folks out there..but a lot of them are stock or "found online" photos. I love the "whimsical" look and wish I were better at it, but I'm not as impressed with a page when I realize it's a professional "found" photo..and yeah, winning a contest with one just ain't right IMO. But yeah..it's just a different style and more "artsy" than say what we all love to do here at SSD..not saying we aren't creating art but most of the pages you see here to me look like more traditional type pages (which I love BTW :) )

Yep!!! I have started writing this post 103213 times and then each time, delete it!! LOL

That's exactly it. The other issue is that so many times these digital artists are NOT putting the photo in their credits. The layouts/art are beautiful, no one is disputing that. The issue is... is the playing field level when someone uses a professional photo (and not all professional photos are STOCK) to win a contest? A few years ago, even CK magazine brought this issue up. Now their contests stipulate that photos must be taken by the person creating the pages.

[nikkiARNGwife]

Right..no crediting the photo if it's not theirs..I think that's mostly what led me to start this thread..b/c I kept seeing pages by the same person and when I clicked on her full gallery..there was like a totally different kid in every page...now I know some of us have a lot of kids..but I'm thinking she doesn't have like 500 of them lol..and not one time did I see a credit as to where she got the photos..so it just made me curious as to how others felt about it.

[newfiemountiewife]

I definitely think if stock photos are used, they should be mentioned, just like you'd mention where you got the papers from, kwim?

[ColleenSwerb]

I definitely think if stock photos are used, they should be mentioned, just like you'd mention where you got the papers from, kwim?

Word.

[alien21xx]

Word.


I do get what Crystal was saying, too, though. There are plenty of people that do use digi scrapping as a creative outlet that has absolutely nothing to do with memory preservation, and that is 100% cool. Those same people are generally the people who also absolutely live for recognition, validation, comments, etc. and that is 100% cool with me, too. So, it then becomes a source of contention when people use copyrighted photos without permission to up the wow factor on their already awesome pages. The page posted earlier in this thread, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong), actually violated the original photographer's TOU by using it that way and it was a page that received lots of notoriety and accolades in the digi community.

When comparing galleries for CT selection, designers will often look at the photography, and if they aren't aware of the copyright infringement will probably favor the gallery with the professional photos.


So, while we don't all scrap for comments or recognition or coveted CT spots, some people do. The ones playing by the "rules" (ie not using copyrighted photos without permission) feel a disadvantage to those who disregard the rules. And just as it's not our prerogative to tell people WHY they scrap, we also cannot tell them how they should feel about the issues that affect those reasons.


I had a few "oh poop" moments in the precious few times I tried out for a CT and didn't get in because there were others who scrapped more glamorous layouts with glamorous professional photos.:(

[switchwiz]

I would wonder if the scrapper(s) using stock photos most of the time simply don't want their pages of family on the web??? but they love to scrap and display their work. or could be they're on a creative team but they have enough family photos to do the pages required. I know I'd have a hard time doing a lot of baby type pages, since the only children I have pics of are my 3 great-nieces and don't have a ready supply of all the pics their mom takes of them....with that being said, I don't use stock photos much unless it's for a themed page for a challenge

[OrianaVianey]

Have you ever though that maybe that person with 500 different children maker the layouts S4H??

[nesser1981]

That's exactly what I meant Nikki.

I think she means that those pages are the ones you see that are more like the one posted here in this thread...mostly extracted "whimsical" type pages that differ from more "traditional looking" scrapbook pages. Check out GSO at DST...it's pretty much filled with them...a lot are probably real photos b/c there are some really talented folks out there..but a lot of them are stock or "found online" photos. I love the "whimsical" look and wish I were better at it, but I'm not as impressed with a page when I realize it's a professional "found" photo..and yeah, winning a contest with one just ain't right IMO. But yeah..it's just a different style and more "artsy" than say what we all love to do here at SSD..not saying we aren't creating art but most of the pages you see here to me look like more traditional type pages (which I love BTW :) )