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Recently a friend who calls me the “Internet Resource Lady” asked me where to find images to use on her blog and in book trailer videos. I promised I would let her know.

I procrastinated, waiting until I could find the perfect picture to illustrate the post. I was letting my quest for perfection get in my way.

Also, I made her wait for information she needed. So, I grabbed a picture that I liked that really has nothing to do with this post.

Except that flowing water stimulates creativity. My creativity needs all the stimulation it can get. I love water and pictures of water. I think my muse does too.

Using a picture can really spice up a blog post. What would a book trailer video be without pictures?  If you aren’t a photographer yourself, or you don’t want to take the time to take your own pictures, where do you find images to use?

The Internet gives us lots of opportunities to find pictures. It also gives us a confusing array of rules for using those images.

Creative Commons license grants you the right to use material for non-profit use. You are free to use these images on your blog or website. However you can’t use them in a product you sell. You also must credit the photographer.

All of the sites that provide images have a Terms of Service (TOS) document that spells out the different rights available for the images. Make sure you read the details for any image you want to use.

For images not listed under the Creative Commons license, you can contact the photographer. If you tell them how much you like the work and how you plan on using it, they may grant you permission to use the image. Some people want only the credit and a link.

Here’s a list of some of my favorite sites to find images.

• Flickr
• Since it’s owned by Yahoo, you can sign up with your Yahoo ID in seconds. After you search for your image keywords, go to the advanced search box. There you can look for images with a Creative Commons license, or for images you can use for commercial uses or images you can modify.
• Stockxpert
• Here you can download images sized for the web for $1.
• Wikipedia
• This site has lots of public domain and Creative Commons licensed images. Click on the photo to see a higher resolution version. Scroll down to find the rights available.

Other sites are

• Google
• iStockPhoto
• BigStockPhoto
• dreamstime
• FreeDigitalPhotos
• 123rf
• GettyImages
• PhotoBucket
• PublicDomainImages
• MakeMoneyFromPhotos 

Cyclops will search several of the photo sites for you.

PhotoDropper is a plugin for WordPress that will search for Flickr Creative Commons images from the WordPress write screen.

Zemanta works with your WordPress dashboard to suggest photos, related articles, links, and tags.

Be sure to set your timer before you start exploring these sites to find images. 

Write on,

Lynn Jordan