No.  All photos on this site must be purchased before you use them for any purpose.  A royalty-free photo is one that can be purchased at a fixed price and used for a wide variety of purposes.  To purchase a scan of an image, go to the page containing the image you want and click "Add to Cart" next to the scan size you want.  When you are ready to purchase the images, go to your shopping cart and click on "Paypal" or "Check/Money Order."

 

Are there any restrictions on the use of images that I purchase?
Yes. The prints and framed images can only be hung on a wall and can not be reproduced. There is a wider range of uses for the downloadable image files, but there are restrictions. The primary restrictions are outlined below:

 

- You may not make individual photographic prints or artistic prints or posters of any kind from the digital files.

- You may not reproduce the images in calendars, screen saver programs, or photographic books.

- You may not reproduce any image more than 50,000 times, regardless of use.

 

For a full explanation of our image restrictions and acceptable uses, please read our Licensing Agreement. This agreement must be read before making a purchase. If you wish to use any images for purposes not permitted in our licensing agreement, please contact us about a rights managed licesnse.  If you have questions about whether a given use is permitted, please contact us.

 

What format are the photos in?
All photos are in JPEG format. They were scanned and adjusted in TIFF format and then saved to JPEG before being uploaded to the web. The higher resolution images (1800 & 5300 pixel) are saved as level 10 jpegs in Photoshop. This produces a very high quality image that is virtually indistinguishable from a .tiff image. If you need to alter the image after downloading, you should save it as a .tiff or other lossless image file. Saving repeatedly as jpegs can begin to degrade image quality.

 

The film images were scanned in using Digital Ice software, which fixes the majority of dust spots and scratches. All digital images have been checked for dust spots.  It is, however, possible that there will still be dust spots or scratches on the image. It is also possible that there will be a small black border on the image that needs to be cropped out. It is recommended that images be checked after purchase at 100% (or greater) zoom to check for any problems. Any imperfections can generally be fixed very easily using Photoshop or other imaging software. However, at your requst, we can fix any problems free of charge.

 

All photos are adjusted to some extent, using the Levels, Curves, Saturation, and Sharpness controls in Photoshop or Lightroom. However, no major adjustments have been made, in order to allow the customer to further optimize the image as needed for their individual use. Almost all of the hi-res (5300 pixels) images will need further sharpening. If you would like us to optimize the image for you based on your intended output, we can do so for an extra $50. Simply purchase the image you would like and then let us know that you would like us to optimize it. If you want, you can send us an ICC profile for the intended output device. Since all of our monitors are color calibrated, we can ensure good results for most any output device if you are able to send an ICC profile.

 

Most of the images on this site were taken using a 35mm film camera mounted firmly on a tripod. The newest images (about 800) have been taken with a 12.7 Mega-pixel Canon EOS 5D digital camera.  The large digital files are 4368 pixels wide compared to 5300 pixels for film.  However, the digital images are actually of higher quality, since they have no grain.  If you want to search for only digital images, include the term "digital" in your image search.

 

Most of the images shot on film were taken with Fuji Provia 100F and Fuji Velvia 100F film. This is the finest grained film on the market and produces the highest-resolution images possible with 35mm. Some of the older images were taken with Agfa RSX II 50 film. This is not as fine grained as the Fuji 100F films, but still produces good results. Some of the oldest photos were taken with various Kodak 100 ASA films. These do not produce as high of quality images and therefore are not available in the large, 5300 pixel size. If you would like such an image at this size, please contact us. Also, if you find that an image you purchased at 5300 pixels is overly grainy, you can contact us. If it turns out this image was taken on a film that is grainier than a standard ASA 50 professional slide film, we can refund your money. Due to the large number of images available on the site, some of the lower quality images may have inadvertantly been made available at the largest size.

 

How do I purchase a print?
If you want a print, we recommend first going to http://www.gcollier.com, where you can quickly browse through a selection of Grant's best images.  However, if you want a print from http://www.coloradopics.com, go to the image you want and select the size and framing option under "Prints and Products:"

 

Do you offer refunds or exchanges?
Once your purchase is made we can not offer a refund or exchange, except under the following conditions: (a) if the scan is noticeably out of focus or overly grainy (see above), or has serious dust spots or scratches that can not be repaired, we will provide a full refund. (b) if a physical print arrives damaged, you can ship it back to us (at our cost) and we will replace it free of charge.

 

Yes, the smaller images were created directly from the larger scans and will therefore match the appearance of the larger scans.  The only difference is that the larger images will not be as sharp and will likely need further sharpening.

 

Premium images are images that Grant is reserving for his own use in books, calendars, etc.  He wants to limit the use of these images, at least until he has published them himself.  They are currently only available at the smallest sizes on this site and at a higher price of $150.  If you are interested in using these images at larger sizes or if you'd like to purchase scans of any of the images at: http://www.gcollier.com, please contact us about a rights managed license.  To search for only premium images, include the term "premium" in your search.