I need to find pictures of individuals in action, in sports, (it could
be one person, or multiple persons in action).  I am not interested in
posed pictures, posters for sale, etc).  I will not be using those
exact pictures or characters, I will use them as examples to use for
illustrations.   I do not expect to get these pictures for free, but
at the same time I do not need a long term expensive
commitment\contract with a photo supplier, I want examples, I do not
want to buy images).  Where do the sports writers and newspapers,
etc., get there photos from, should I use those services, are they
expensive?

For example:  
  A soccer player kicking the ball into a goal/net, with the defender
    attempting to block\catch the ball.
  A tennis player gettting ready to serve, he is looking up at the ball 
    overhead, racket starting to head for the ball
  A football player, crossing over the goal line, protecting the ball with one
    hand, pushing off an opposing team member with his other hand.
  A basketball player rising above the others to dunk the ball.
  A hockey player who has just shot the puck into the net and the goalie just
    missing it.
  A baseball player who has just swing the bat and made contact with the 
    ball.  
  A golfer who has just swing the club, and it is still overhead.
  
Etc., etc.

This is the first time that I am using this service.  I have no idea
of how hard it will be for you to find what I am looking for, or how
much time would be involved.  If you feel that more money from me
would get me better results, then please tell me this up front rather
then have me go through this twice, and most likly duplicate costs to
me.

Thanks

---

Request for Question Clarification by livioflores-ga on 22 Oct 2004 19:51 PDT

Thank you for asking us!!

I need the following clarification:
Do you want the images (for example a list of links that lead you to
the images) or you want to contact photographers?

Regards.
livoiflores-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 23 Oct 2004 04:33 PDT

Hello louwho-ga,

Thanks for giving Google Answers a try.  There are quite a number of
researchers out here, so you may have several of us asking for some
clarifications, like this one and the one above.

It would help to understand a bit more clearly what you're after. 
There are TONS of images available on the web, like the soccer action
photos at this link:


http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=soccer+action


If these are what you need, I'd be happy to provide additional links
for other sports, and show you how to search for photos on any topic
of interest to you.

However, if you're looking to license professional photos for your own
use, then you'll have to turn to a commercial service for this.  There
are many out there, at varying degrees of complexity, quality and
cost.

Give us a bit more information about what type of sources would best
suit your needs. and we'll see what we can do.

Thanks.

pafalafa-ga

---

Clarification of Question by louwho-ga on 23 Oct 2004 07:03 PDT

I am not sure that I am doing this correctly.  At the top of this page it says
"you cannot modify or comment".  Is this because I am here, or,
someone is is answering?

Is this where I would reply to the two requests for clarification?

I do not want to buy photos from photographers, I do not need that
many, I will not be using those exact photos\scenes, and I cannot
afford their prices.

I see that there are online places that you can search for photos, but
when I do a search for american football\NFL type, I get more soccer
pictures then football pictures.  Also, I am not sure that all the
pictures are available to me, that without joining and paying a fee
that I will not see all the availble pictures.  Are there particular
sites that I should join that will give me better access, for a
limited time, and\or for little money?

I want to pick the pictures, not have someone pick for me, I just need
to find them.

The google link that I was pointed to does not have the quality or
type of photos that I am looking for, (I do not want group poses of
kids holding up a football or trophie, or pictures of footballs, or
pictures of the entire field, etc)

They say that asking the correct question. the right way, (worded
exactly right), can always produce the results that you are looking
for.  Perhaps beside your assistance in finding these photos, I also
need to find out how to find what I want on the internet, (how to
phrase my questions).  Will it cost me more if you also point me to
the right book\page\article\whatever, that will help me in future
searches, (not just photos)?

Thanks

Hello louwho-ga,


One of the best sources for images on the web has always been Getty
Images.  Recently, they upgraded their site search function so that it
is quite easy now to zero in on just the type of pictures you're
looking for.

Let's use football (American style!) as an example.  First, head to Getty at:


http://creative.gettyimages.com/source/home/home.aspx


From their home page, select "Editorial", since that's the category
that includes sports:


http://editorial.gettyimages.com/ms_gins/source/home/home.aspx?pg=1


and then click on the "More Search Options" to go to the advanced interface:


http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/searchAdvanced.aspx



On this page, enter [ football ] in the "Search" box, and use the
other boxes to target your search.  For instance, selecting "United
States" from the country list will get you American football photos.

You could also enter a date range, if that is of interest, or even
include a team name in your search terms.

Clicking "Search" will take you to your first results page.  But don't
despair if you don't see the type of pictures you want yet.

At the top of the page, you'll see some choices that look like this:


View results by:
    
All Images      
Events      
People      
Keywords      
Photographers 

Click on [ Keywords ] and you'll be taken to a page with more options like these:

Most Frequent Keywords  

One Person (5557)  Running (1882)  stadium (1682)  
Two People (1228)  Passing (595)  Outdoors (453)  
Three People (315)  Medium Group of People (314)  Tackling (307)  
Standing (251)  Celebrating (229)  Stadium General View (229)  

 

By Alphabet   

A Announcing (13)  applauding (7)  arriving (13)  
Audience (4)  Award Trophy (8)  Awards Ceremony (3)  

B Bench (1)  Black (11)  Black Tie (2)  
Blocking (60)  Boots (3)  

etc...

Lots and lots of choices here.

Here's where the chossing gets quite specific -- you want pictures of
"Tackling", then just select it off the keyword list, and you've got
307 of 'em.

Clicking on any individual picture will bring up a larger version of
the picture that you can use for the example purposes you had in mind.
 You can also purchase images from Getty if you're interested in
making licensed use of the actual photos from their site.

I trust that the new Getty Images search functions should fully meet
your needs for a highly-targeted search, now and in the future.

But before rating this answer, please let me know if you need any
additional information .  Just post a Request for Clarification, and
I'll be glad to assist you further.


All the best, 

pafalafa-ga



search strategy -- Used bookmarked sites for Photographs.

http://creative.gettyimages.com/source/home/home.aspx

hello seeker
try
www.alamy.com
Quick delivery 
Low cost compared to big giants :-)
Hassle free licensing .Royalty free images are there ,u can use it the way u like 
regards
u can ask them to find these pics for you free of cost :-)
luttu-ga

I know nothing about the legality of using these pictures for anything
other than your personal enjoyment, but the place I always look as a
fan is yahoo.com.  Click on Sports to the right of Info.  You can then
choose the major leagues of various (US) sports - NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL
(no action at the moment, unfortunately), NCAA football, Golf, NASCAR,
Tennis, World Soccer and more.   Once you choose your sport, scroll
down along the right.  There will usually be a Photo Highlight, then a
link for that league or sport's photo gallery.  They keep some number
of days' worth of photos there.  Some good action shots are included. 
I suggest looking frequently, since they post pictures as games are
being played.  You can also look at individual teams' websites.  They
vary hugely in what they show, but there is some wonderful photography
out there.

I agree with aj999, I always use http://sports.yahoo.com/top/gallery

The closer the date is to the date of the game the more pictures there
are.  Games that have been played already and have had some time pass
will contain less pictures as they get filtered out.  Games being
played as you search or games on the same date tend to have a lot of
action shots.

www.istockphoto.com is my favorite. You can't beat their value and I
have always managed to find what I want.