Where do you Get Your Images?
A photo posted on your blog can make a huge difference. It conveys the idea of your post and really catches the eye of the reader.
I've been using clip are for many of my posts. I copy the clip art and past it into "Paint." Then save it as a JPG file. I then upload that file into ActiveRain.
This is definitely not the best way to get images for your blog. But it is one.
My question to you is this. For the Other Rainer's of the world, where do you get your royalty free, legaly reprintable images for posting on your blogs?
Please let everyone know the good sources you've run accross in the comments here.
Remember we are talking about images that you have permission to reprint or link to.
There are two factors that can be involved in posting images.
1. Copyright Violations: You must have specific, explicit permission to use the images.
2. Bandwidth Stealing: You must host the image on your own server or ActiveRain, unless you have specific permission to link to the image itself instead of re-publishing it here on The Rain.
The following posts are related.
Uploading photos to your blogs By Matt Heaton
Copyrighted Images By John Novak
Adding Images To Your AR Posts By John Novak
Use of Images On ActiveRain By Toby Barnett
Blog Entries Running Short on Visuals By Rory Siems
How to post photos on ActiveRain By Kristal Kraft
Are You A Rainer Photo Posting Dummy? By Kristal Kraft
Most of my photos are taken by friends (Rich and James). One great source, though, is bigstockphoto.com. Not only are they cheap and royalty-free, but, like AR, it's a site that derives its content from its users. I'm not entirely sure how their quality control operates, but it works well so that my searches are efficient and I don't have to spend time wading through rubbish.
Caleb:
Am I to understand (from your comment 2 above (Bandwidth Stealing) that using an image I uploaded to Image Shack on an AR blog is illegal?
Can you explain what is being said when Flickr talks about how to upload pictures to an external site; links, etc. This doesn't sound easy to me or encouraging for them to do.
Paint? hmmmm. I have an old copy of MS Image composer that I use to convert files to jpg if necessary.
Always good information to know, thank you!
Patricia Auslon/SEACOAST REALTOR/NH & MA
I just googled a search yesterday on "Free Clip Art". There is alot available out there. Haven't had the opportunity to check them out yet, to know who the good ones are, so would appreciate more feed-back on that.
Ozarks Joan
Ah, a topic near and dear to every photographers heart.
Since the advent of the web everyone has probably nabbed someone else's image and used it without permission (probably by accident in the vast majority of cases). It's not a horrible crime but having had my images 'borrowed', I certainly wish it didn't happen.
I use all my own work here, sans the usual visual watermarking. Some of the images I've posted here are also available via my stock agency as rights managed. They can at times, command very large sums when a company elects to purchase near exclusive rights. Everyone who is producing marketable images has a vested interest in protecting it as intellectual property...in short, it's their income.
Obviously I'd rather not see my work replicated other places besides where I post them (I suspect this is true for anyone who is producing images). This could become very uncomfortable for me if it conflicted with a stock sale.
Anyway, I encourage everyone to double check they are getting their images from reputable, legal sources. In other words, just make sure it's ok for you to use. Ideally, if you don't know where it came from or if it's ok to use...don't use it. :)
Cheers, -B
During the years of working on websites, I have used some from the morgue, some by permission from others, some of my own, etc. It sure would be good to have a page that contained links for lots of good pics.
Judi
iStock and Crobis are both stock agencies that sell images. Good resources, though folks may primarily be looking for images that are public domain.
If I recall iStock is fairly cheap, Corbis is not.
Cheers, -B
So far I have only used my own images. I have looked at a few free sites that have been posted on AR and not found what I have been looking for, so some posts are sans images. I am a visual person so the posts without images I have launched off into the blogosphere seem a little naked.
I will check out Devon's suggestion, www.bigstockphoto.comand see what I can find there. And I will also have to check out Azzi's suggestion for www.istockphoto.com and bite the bullet and buy!
Of course my digital camera goes everywhere with me...you never know!
Sharon - for some reason, there are posts from the past that seem to be periodically showing up as featured. Don't know if that means that there aren't enough good posts on any given day to be featured or if the recycled posts contain information that those who choose the featured posts feel should be re-read or what, but I've been wondering about the same thing lately.
Ann
Sharon and Ann,
We've been trying an option for a while now changes the date on a post when it is featured. I didn't feature this post but when it was featured the dated was updated. I've been out for a bit so I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner.
Judy,
I'm not sure what you mean about Flickr. Flickr has links to the image provided on the "all sizes page. Depending upon the size of photo you are displaying you can take one of your own photos and link to it. But it must be a link that goes back to Flickr.
"Flickr Terms of Service specify that if you post a Flickr photo on an external website, the photo must link back to its photo page. (So, use Option 1.)"