I apologize in advance if this may be off topic (I'm new here so I am not quite sure)
But I have sifted through many Stock Photography resources and I have found very little to none, reasonably priced / free stock photo images of masculine men being groomed / or smiling with nice haircuts.
For example, I am trying to find one with a guy getting his hair washed. I found this: http://www.inmagine.com/hana011/hana011071-photo but, $300 for 1 photo? That's crazy.
I had assumed that I'd be able to find salon 'collections' available, similar to how you can find graphic design 'collections' of buttons/backgrounds and other types of resources. But I am starting to learn I may be wrong, and this seems like it is going to be much more difficult / financially burdening than I anticipated.
Free sites like www.sxc.hu are not high quality enough models. (masculine, etc), and have little to none in a Salon type setting.
'Royalty Free' sites like istockphoto or shutterstock are pretty pricy, especially for subscriptions ($200/month?)
Perhaps I am experiencing culture shock and do not understand this environment. If this is the case, if you can link to a good article describing the culture of stock photography as it relates as a resource to graphic design, I'd be very grateful.
If there's a secret I've been missing out on, please share.
If I should just steal images off google search, because the event of legal action against the small salon business I'm doing work for is highly unlikely, I'd love to hear your explanation.
Thanks