Technology Explained, Practice
Daniela Bowker
Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! ...

When you hear the term 'high-res' thrown about with such abandon when it comes to images for web use, have you ever stopped to think just how big or how high quality and image meant for the web needs to be?

Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! Saving images for the web
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring

There's an assumption that high-contrast images are more dynamic, more compelling, more inviting. Have a go at some low-contrast photography. You might surprise yourself with the results.

Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring
Feature Articles, Theory
Daniela Bowker
Seeking balance in your photos

Balance doesn't mean symmetry; it means an internal consistency and tension within your photos. And it's a vital element of composition. 

Seeking balance in your photos
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Training your photographic luck

Great photos might be down to a little bit of luck, but most of that 'luck' you make yourself. Don't believe us? Read on...

Training your photographic luck
Feature Articles, Practice
Daniela Bowker
The ups and downs and ins and outs of ...

Photographing buildings doesn't have to mean wide-angle lenses and fretting about correcting for the keystone effect. Any lens, and angle. Don't believe us? Let us show you!

The ups and downs and ins and outs of photographing buildings

eiffel tower

All new photos.com

Screen shot 2011-01-11 at 18.36.39

Getty Images launched a brand new version of photos.com today. It might’ve been going since 2003, but the big bosses decided that it needed a bit of an overhaul. There are now 2.5 million royalty-free images available for download on the site. So that’s just a few, then.

The target market is very much small businesses and individuals, and it caters to those who might need to lay their hands on an image in a hurry and not have to sell a kidney to pay for it. You can pay to download a single image, or a bundle of five, 10, 25, or 50 images over the course of a year. The larger the bundle, the cheaper each image. (A single image for print purposes costs £4.99, whereas one image works out at £1.80 if you buy a bundle of 50. The US equivalents are $7.99 and $2.70.)

Or there’s a subscription plan. Pay £649 (US$988) and be able to download 100 images every week for a year; £199 (US$299) covers three months and it’s £369 (US$549) for six months. The plans are tailored to a whole heap of different countries, too.

I can see this being heaven-sent for students completing their dissertations or small businesses looking for imagery to put in their marketing literature. Yeah, I had a poke about, which is ludicrously easy, and they had some suitably obscure pictures as well as less brain-wrackingly odd ones, from autoclaves to the Eiffel Tower.

All over at Photos.com