<p><strong>All of us have seen Stock Photography but perhaps some of us aren’t quite sure what it actually is. To explain the phenomenon of stock photography let’s use the following guidelines:</strong></p> <p><strong>1)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If you take a photo of a person in real life, who is perhaps doing something or perhaps just sitting there like a lump…that is REAL photography.</strong></p> <p><strong>2)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If you see an image on a big fancy corporate website that looks like this:</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/4506/mp900422730.jpg" width="342" height="342" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /><strong>Zombies? Who said anything about Zombies?</strong></p> <p><strong>That is stock photography. </strong>It is an image that was created in a studio or on a photo-set that features people that don’t look like real people and posing in a manner that real people never pose…<strong>that is stock photography</strong>.</p> <p>You won’t see these people on our<strong> “Blog-View”</strong> and you won’t see them on our website and you won’t see them inside <strong><a href="http://www.arizonapawnshops.com">Glendale Pawn and Jewelry.</a> </strong>Because they aren’t <strong>REAL</strong>. They are professional models that have been hired to put forth an image in order to make you somehow feel inadequate enough that you will buy whatever the company is selling…so you can be just like the “Zombies” in the stock photography image.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>So how does gpawn know this to be true?</strong></p> <p>Because gpawn is a “refugee” from the corporate marketing world and he used to be responsible for creating these “Plastic people cheering in a boardroom” images and the associated marketing campaigns that use such images.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/9564/mp900441047.jpg" width="346" height="346" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /><strong>“Hooray! We’re cheering because the Art Director told us to!”</strong></p> <p>Trust me O’ loyal blog readers…it’s kind of like making sausage…the end result can be pretty good, but you do <strong>NOT </strong>want to see the manufacturing process.</p> <p>So what’s the difference between <strong><a href="http://www.arizonapawnshops.com">Glendale Pawn and Jewelry</a> </strong>and the huge mega-corporations that use these ridiculous images to manipulate the viewers? Well, to begin with we’re <strong>REAL PEOPLE</strong> who care a <strong>GREAT DEAL</strong> about our customers and our community. We don’t need to present ourselves as something we’re not, because we’re very happy with helping people every day and striving &nbsp;to do the best job that we can for our customers.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/7187/mp900443211.jpg" width="365" height="242" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /><strong>Never before has scratching an itch become so dramatic...perhaps he should see a doctor?</strong></p> <p>We’re quite confident that the people that come through our door or shop online at our website <strong><a href="http://www.arizonapawnshops.com">www.arizonapawnshops.com</a></strong> really don’t care about “visual solutions, branded content, long-copy ad text, value propositions or calls to action.” Our customers need some quick cash to fix the air conditioner or to get some bills paid in a hurry, they have too much “stuff” and need us to buy it so they can gain some room around the house or they are consumer-savvy enough to know that they can save a bundle of money on some really great merchandise by shopping at <strong><a href="http://www.arizonapawnshops.com">Glendale Pawn and Jewelry.</a></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>So what’s the moral of all this classic “gpawn-ranting”?</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Well, if you’re thinking of doing business with a company that uses a stock photo like this on their website or print advertising:</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/2678/mp900422113.jpg" width="345" height="322" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /><strong>We don't know how to turn on the computer...<span style="text-decoration: underline;">so we shall strike a pose</span>!</strong></p><p>Please come see us first…you’ll have a much better “Turbo-charged, value added brand experience that defines the true impact of social currency” What does that phrase really mean?...Absolutely nothing…gpawn just made it up but you <strong>KNOW</strong> somewhere in a marketing team meeting&nbsp; somebody is using a similar phrase at this exact moment.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>We’re real people…you’re real people…<span style="text-decoration: underline;">we’re here to help</span>…we think that’s all that really matters.</strong></p> <p><em>(The more astute readers of our blog may have noticed that gpawn has indeed used a “stock photo" on a previous post. This is indeed true. Gpawn used a stock photo of a few dollar bills sticking out of an automobile gas tank in order to illustrate the high price of fuel. The reasoning was that it was too hot outside to shoot an original photo and gpawn didn’t have two-dollars cash in his wallet at that particular moment…please forgive us.)</em></p> <p><strong>As always, we’re glad you came by,</strong></p> <p><strong>gpawn</strong></p><p><strong><img src="http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/4360/gpawnavatar.jpg" width="100" height="125" /></strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: medium;"><strong>gpawn's "Pick of the post!"</strong></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>It's hot out...REAL hot. Why pay to air condition the whole place when you always seem to be in one room?<br /></strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://www.arizonapawnshops.com/everything-else/341367-1-window-air-conditioning-unit"><img src="http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/7181/3413671.jpg" width="383" height="287" /></a><br /></strong></p>