'Stock photos' for a commercial website

[zazou]

Google is flooded with suggestions so it won't be difficult to find something but I'm curious if anyone here has used those services and why one might be better than the other?

I'm happy to pay for photos, come to think of it I'd prefer to as it would lessen the chances of finding the same pictures on another site.

[WTFH]

Option 1: Somewhere like iStockphoto.
Option 2: If it's something specific, approach a few photographers and see if any of them are interested in earning a bit of cash for a few shots

[d000hg]

MF can pose for photos of realistic IT contractors.

I used iStockPhoto and it seemed good. I suppose when searching for something you could avoid using the first picture or even the first page of pictures to reduce the risk of others using the same one?

[NickFitz]

I suppose when searching for something you could avoid using the first picture or even the first page of pictures to reduce the risk of others using the same one?

Always a risk:

[d000hg]

Who on earth thought a photo of a pretty young blonde girl with tiny deformed feet was a suitable cover for a book about software design? Did they reckon lonely coders would buy it for the prominence of the word "head" next to an attractive girl's face?

Anyway I'll let you know if it's any good in a few days.

[NickFitz]

Who on earth thought a photo of a pretty young blonde girl with tiny deformed feet was a suitable cover for a book about software design? Did they reckon lonely coders would buy it for the prominence of the word "head" next to an attractive girl's face?

Anyway I'll let you know if it's any good in a few days.

It is pretty good, actually. Many people find the GoF book very heavy going - I did the first four times I read it - so the Head First one serves as a good introduction to the subject