Photos make a blog far more interesting. There is nothing worse that visiting a blog and seeing nothing but paragraphs and paragraphs of text. Even if it is the most interesting and relevant text available on a subject, without a photo it just won’t pop.

The Problem

The problem with photos is that most of them are copyright protected. Photographers, artists and designers put in a whole lot of effor to creating a photos and graphics. They rightly deserve credit and reconigition for that effort.

But who wants to spend time and effort searching for photos and emailing the photographer to ask permission to use it,  especially if after the effort the answer is no!

Anther alternative is to buy photos at stock libraries such as istockphoto.com but we are talking expenses now and if you are not making money from your blog, you don’t want to have to invest too much money into it.  Stock photos can work out a dollor a piece which is not too pricey as a one off expensive but if you’ve got 10 or 20 posts a week, it will soon eat into any spare cash you have.

The Solution

Thankfully for those of us who cannot afford professional stock photography there is a solution.  Many photographers release their work under what’s known as a Creative Commons Licence.  There are various types of Creative Commons Licences, some allowing your to modify or edit the photo, some allowing commercial use, others not, but all of them will allow you use the photo under their terms so long as you credit them as the original creator.

Where can you find all these photo? Ever heard of Flickr. Stupid question, right?  Flickr allows you to search through all the photos uploaded with a Creative Commons Licence. There are millions to choose from, so while it may take a little time and effort you will generally find some really creative and inspiring stuff to use on your blog.

You might also considering checking out deviantart for stock photography. While the deviant photos can be a bit more whacky (creative!) there are hundreds of stock photos available of them, many free to use for non-commercial purposes, so long as a credit is made to the photographer.

So, no need to pay out money for stock photos or waste time chasing down individual photographers.

photo credit: Medicinehorse7