A conceptual image is sometimes a better choice to finish out a design than a specific image is.  It is more open-ended and allows for more possibilities for matching your content.

For instance, if you were hunting for a specific travel image for a Florida location, you might have a large or small amount of royalty free images to choose from depending on how famous the location is.  And if you did find an image from the location you wished to hype in your ad, article, or blog, it might not have told a story which fit your content.

An easy and effective choice for a designer is to go with a concept image.  There are a vast amount of royalty free images which will meet your concept, but only a few specific images which might.  For example the image shown here conceptually depicts relaxation and vacation.  The sun and palm trees point toward tropical travel.  And like any great royalty free stock photo, the image has plenty of copy space for ad text.  A design can easily use this image to depict Florida travel to a specific location, or to any warm tropical destination for that matter. The image tells its story immediately.

The best part about incorporating a concept image is that is can vastly speed up the design process.  In fact, a strong concept image like the example we used can often inspire our content.
- Dan Padavona, Warmpicture