National Geographic comes out this month with its "Photo Gallery," CD-ROMs filled with GEOGRAPHIC-type photos, taken by present and former GEOGRAPHIC photographers like Chris Johns. The pics can be used by the public, for making greeting cards, banners, calendars, family newsletters and so forth. (The photos aren't to be used for commercial purposes unless you obtain special permission.) Discount stores already feature make-your-own greeting card kiosks. Countless CD-Rom companies sell disks that offer greeting-card-style photos for such use. As we head down the information highway, it's becoming more obvious that a stock photographer should carry two cameras: one to make cliches that will sell to CD-ROM companies (they're not going to go away), and the other camera to use for highly specific photos that would never sell on a cliche disc, but would bring in big bucks when the photographer makes the right match with a buyer looking for that specific subject area. -RE

Back to PhotoSource International Home Page