Friday, October 15, 2010

Where to get pictures for your blog


Lexi Revellian has written a helpful post over at BookBuzzr about How to Write a Popular Writing Blog.

One thing that struck me was
Use images – a picture is indeed worth a thousand words. Google images is a good resource; aim for striking images that are relevant (it doesn’t have to be in an obvious way).

I've started using Flickr for most of my images because they have a huge Creative Commons section, and that way I know I'm not violating copyright.

When you go to Flickr, you'll see a set of links across the page giving drop-down menus. You want Explore/Creative Commons. You'll then be offered a variety of licenses, you can choose any of them and click on See More. That will take you to a page of images with a Search box at the top and now you can search Creative Commons pictures for anything you like.

I know that Old Kitty takes her own pictures of Charlie every day - and very photogenic he is too! Where do you go when you want pictures for your blog?

14 COMMENTS:

Lexi said...

I'm off to have a look at Flickr. We are so lucky to have such variety of beautiful and interesting images available at the click of a mouse.

fairyhedgehog said...

Lexi, aren't we just?

Old Kitty said...

Flickr is a great resource! There are a few sites that offer pics without the need to pay copyright fees - not many though!! Freefoto.com is one and a few kitty sites too - i-love-cats.com is one.

I really enjoy looking at how bloggers design their blogs - they are all really creative and really stunning!!

Awww thank you for your lovely words about Charlie! Take care
x

writtenwyrdd said...

Great information. Thanks for sharing!

fairyhedgehog said...

Kitty, thanks for the link to i-love-cats.com. That's not one I knew about!

ww, you're welcome!

Simon Kewin said...

Invaluable post! In the post I've bought bundles of images from iStockPhoto as the range there is fantastic, but the flickr tip is invaluable. Thanks!

fairyhedgehog said...

Simon, iStockPhoto is good and I think you can find more professional-looking images there, but when you're on a tight budget Flickr can be very useful!

Jemi Fraser said...

I tend to use google images to and then I give credit to the site where I found the pic. I also use some of my own - no worries that way :)

fairyhedgehog said...

Jemi, using your own is a good idea but I can't always manage to take what I want. Sometimes I use Google images too (and give credit) but I'm never quite sure if I'm breaking copyright.

Stacy said...

Well, what I do is I take tons of pictures on my cell phone and then switch my use to a blackberry so I no longer have access to the pics on that cellphone. That's what I do. : P

Sylvia said...

I use Flickr in the same way. For the flying blog where I need very specific photographs, I use small thumbnails and link through to the original site, so to properly see the images, you need to go to the source. That seems to work OK, when I've been able to speak to the photographer to ask, I've always had a positive response. It's copying the full-size image that I think most people mind.

fairyhedgehog said...

stacy, I can imagine doing that myself!

sylvia, as long as the originator gets credit and the pictures can't easily be taken and used without credit, I suspect most people are OK with it. Sometimes I use a book picture from amazon, but if I link back to amazon I see that as free advertising for them!

D.J. Kirkby said...

I take most of mine or use ones that have been emailed to me.

fairyhedgehog said...

DJK, some of the ones you use are absolutely extraordinary! People ought to check out your blog and see. (Not Safe For Work but very, very funny.)

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