I hate to see questions on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn asking for the best places to buy photos for a presentation. The obvious, at least to me, answer is to look through your own photos. Here are 3 reasons:
- You should be the expert at what you are talking about. If you can find photos online, maybe you are not the one who should be speaking about a topic. I guess I can speak about vacationing in Rome…even though I’ve never been there…just by getting a bunch of photos that others have taken! I don’t do that. I only speak about topics I really know about based upon first hand experience.
- It’s also silly to project an image that others may have seen before. Smiling faces around a office table look phony and usually silly. How many meeting have you ever attended where everybody is good looking, smiling, and seem to be intense…at the same time?
- Assuming you are not a professional photographer, the audience does not expect perfect pictures. They come to hear you, not necessarily admire your photographic skill.
Take pictures whenever you can, you never know when you can use them for an upcoming speech.
Incidentally, I took the photo of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden several years ago. I was in the perfect place at the perfect time. So when I speak about garden photography I know that nobody has has this shot exactly the way I got it. It isn’t the best photo ever taken at the BBG, but it’s pretty good. 🙂