By Sinea Pies
As a blogger, you are so much more than a writer. You have quickly become an expert in your field be it cooking, organizing, homeschooling, decorating, web design, social media wiz and even a crack photographer. If you are like me, though, your photographic prowess is limited. Climbing mountain peaks to captivate a panoramic view is not going to happen but what if that is the very picture you need?
While Google Images may help you to find a great one, that photo may not be copyright free…how to sort them below.
Copyright infringement is a serious matter and not something to tangle with. Thankfully, we don’t have to do that. There are several great sources of copyright free material for us to use. (How to find copyright free photos on Google images later in this post.)
Take It Yourself. Yes, the very best way is to take the photo yourself. Copyright privileges belong to you and you can decide how freely others may use it. If you are new to photography, there are some great tutorials out there for you to better learn the craft. When taking your own photos, know that you can also make them even better with enhancement software. I like Picmonkey. It is free, easy and fun to use!
Pixabay. This photo website is my most recent discovery. Take a good look at this hot air balloon. Isn’t it great? Check out the collage at the opening of this post. Wow! Every photo on Pixabay is spectacular, just like these. And each one is absolutely free! You’re not even asked to credit the photographer, though it would be a nice thing to do. Want to be really thoughtful? Follow the photographer, share his/her photos and even donate a little money. Yes, they have a button called “COFFEE”. You can “buy a cup of coffee” for the photographer, any “size” you choose.
Free Images– this is a great source of top quality free photos. Many of them can be used soon as you find them. Some require that you contact the owner of the photograph first. Just read the instructions. Usually, I skip the ones that require contact and only use the free-use images. There are plenty of them. If you are a photographer, this is a great outlet for sharing your material, as well.
Flickr Creative Commons – photographers from all over the world post their images on this site. Many of them are shared with the “creative commons” licensing that makes it veritably free for you use as long as you appropriately identify the source. Be sure to read the license agreements before going forward but you will find just oodles of great photos to choose from.
Free Digital Photos – this site offers free use of all its photos in small sizes (still plenty big for blogs) and charges a modest fee for the larger ones. Again, you will need to identify the source somewhere on the page but that’s an easy trade off for great images for your posts!
Google Images: here is a great source of photos from everywhere. What you need to do, though, is sort out the ones that are NOT free for use and find the ones that are.
Here is how to do it:
- Go to Google.
- Click on “images”.
- Type the keyword you are looking for in the search window on Google Images.
- Click on Search Tools. A dropdown box will appear.
- Click on Usage Rights.
- Click on Labeled for Reuse
When you select a picture to use, double check to see if there are requirements. Some will be totally free, no strings attached. Others may require that you site your source. Stay within the guidelines.
Love Clip Art? There are many excellent sources of free clip-art When it comes to children, school, Bible lessons, etc. I absolutely favor Phillip Martin. He has three websites offering clip-art free to use by teachers, parents, kids, churches and websites.
- Phillip Martin Free Kids Clipart
- Phillip Martin School Clipart
- Free School Days Clipart by Phillip Martin
