How do you find the press images of a reality show?

May 14, 2013 12:59 PM

I'd like to find high resolution versions of publicity photos from certain reality shows: Buck Wild, Duck Dynasty, Call of the Wildman, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Moonshiners. Obviously, the press is given access to these images so I wonder if any of those high resolution images are available to the public.

I know I can find web quality JPEGs on the websites of these shows, but I'd like to find high quality TIFFs or something like that.

posted by clockworkjoe to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

When I was a newspaper features editor, I often obtained press images by tracking down the production companies for shows. (Frequently listed on the show's Wikipedia page.) Some of the big companies/studios had password-protected media download sites that we used -- setting up an account often required a phone call or filling out an online form to be screen for legitimacy. Other times we'd get images distributed though the AP wire. If you are not a member of the media or are not using these images in a journalistic capacity, you should take time to read the copyright restrictions associated with images made available for use by the media.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 1:30 PM on May 14, 2013

Best answer: I don't have time to search for all the shows you're interested in, but Buckwild (no space in the name) airs on MTV, so I googled "MTV Media," which led me to MTV's press website. That, in turn, led to the MTV media page for Buckwild. I suspect that MTV expects news outlets that need higher-resolution images than those made available to call or email either of the two press contacts listed on the show's media page. If I had time to track down an image, I'd just email one of the contacts. If I were on deadline, I'd call them both, then email both if neither answered the phone.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 1:35 PM on May 14, 2013

On that MTV media page, did you check the "assets" tab? That seems to be where the print-resolution jpegs live (my impression is that TIFF files are an anachronism, but I haven't had much to do with print recently). No idea about the non-MTV shows.
posted by pullayup at 3:39 PM on May 14, 2013

Take at look at Everett Collection. The production companies aren't going to help you, but you might be able to get something from MTV's media people, if you're a member of the press or an entertainment blogger.
posted by Ideefixe at 3:40 PM on May 14, 2013

Best answer: If you hit a dead end with the production companies, another tack you could take is Google's image search "Larger than..." size filter. By specifying "larger than 4/6/8 megapixels" you can turn up higher-than-screen-resolution images (3000x2000, in this case) at large on the internet.
posted by pullayup at 3:48 PM on May 14, 2013