The Tampa Bay Times photo archive features Times photos that have appeared in print or online. This includes photos published in the Tampa Bay Times and St. Petersburg Times, as well as photos from the Evening-Independent, the afternoon newspaper that was acquired by the Times in 1986.
I have two options for photos: "Buy Reprints" and "License Image." What's the difference?
Photo reprints are for personal use only, and are not to be used for any other purpose. If you wanted to republish a photo in print or online, you would choose "License Image".
After performing a search click on the thumbnail of the image you wish to purchase. A larger version of the image will be displayed with a button labeled 'Buy Reprints' at the top or bottom of the image. Upon clicking the 'Buy Reprints' button you will be directed over to the Tampa Bay Times photo store where you can select the type of products (prints, mugs, stamps, ...) you would like, add them to your shopping cart and proceed to checkout.
Once you click the "License Image" option for a photo, you will be presented with a menu of choices to the right of the image. This will allow you to provide the necessary details on how you wish to use the image. Once that is done, you will be presented with a licensing fee, which can be paid with a credit card. Upon payment, you will be able to download a high-resolution version of the image.
If you are not satisfied for any reason with the final product, you may return your purchase for a replacement or refund within 30 days of receipt. Unless the item is damaged the return shipping is your responsibility. *In the case of Custom Stamps and Stickers, only complete sheets can be returned. Incomplete sheets will not be accepted. Visit the following site for greater detail on return policy.
Most of the images currently in the archive cover the period from 1990 to the present. In addition to those, there are thousands of historical images, the vast majority of which cover the period from 1960 to 1989. About 5% of the historical photos were taken before 1960, with most of those coming from the 1940s and 1950s. There are a few photos from prior to 1940.
All of these images come from the archives of the Tampa Bay Times. The images from 1990 to present were already in digital format, but the historical photos were not. The Times contracted with a company to take its collection of over 1,000,000 photographic prints and digitize them. The process of adding these photos to the archive is ongoing and will continue for several years at least.
Are there any photos that are not being entered into this archive?
Yes. Over the years the Times has acquired many images from wire services such as the Associated Press, as well as handout photos from individuals or organizations. These images do not belong to the Times and are not being entered into this archive.
There are a number of college and professional sports photos for which we can offer licensing but not reprints. This is a copyright-related issue. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Why is there so little information on some of the older photos?
Most of the historical photos were scanned and captioned by an outside vendor. They transcribed whatever was on the back of the photo. In some cases, there was no info on the back of the photo, or it was not very legible. In those cases, they used the name of whatever folder the photos came out of as the caption.
I found some misspellings or other errors in a photo caption. What should I do?
Because of the way the caption info was entered, there will be transcription errors in some of the historical photos. Please send an e-mail to photosales@tampabay.com with information about the error. Please include the misspelling and/or the barcode ID of the photo (found directly above the caption) so that we can find the error and make the necessary changes.
If you find that your search is returning too many (or too few) search results, please click the Help button right next to the search box. You'll find many helpful hints there.
How do I order back issues of the Tampa Bay Times?
You can order back issues by contacting the Customer Service department at 727-893-8111 or by writing to 490 1st Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701. Email orders are not taken. Charges vary.