Finding Photos for Articles

In order to insure proper compliance with applicable intellectual property laws, it is imperative we employ proper methods for finding and attributing photos.

Finding Photos:

My preferred method is to use Google image search.

  • Enter the search term and select IMAGES, then select SEARCH TOOLS, then select USAGE RIGHTS – and in the drop down menu select LABELED FOR REUSE.
  • Then, as you hover your mouse cursor over each image you will see its dimensions and location. I always select a photo from Wikipedia, Flickr or from Pixabay as they are the easiest to attribute as the show if it is in the public domain or licensed under a Creative Commons License.

You can also go directly to Pixabay or to Flickr and get images. You can use Facebook to sign up for Pixabay and Flickr requires Yahoo credentials.

Here are three additional sites for stock images, but you will likely find that Wikipedia, Flickr and Pixabay are far superior sources for bloggers. There are, of course, a panoply of other sites offer photos. These are merely three examples.

  • http://www.rgbstock.com/: Sign in with Facebook and off you go.
  • http://www.public-domain-image.com/: Sign in with Facebook and off you go.
  • http://www.stockfreeimages.com/

Attributing Photos:

You might note that most of our competitors merely do something like the following, with or without a hyperlink.

  • Featured Image: Screenshot
  • Featured image via Flickr.

In my opinion, those are incomplete. To optimally cover yourself, the following format is recommended wherein the original work location is referenced, the photographer or artist, and the license (or in the instance of a photo in the public domain you can replace the Creative Commons License information).

Embedding Images: