Frugal Dad Forums

I've read two blogs in the last 24 hours that mentioned using photos to enhance blog posts. Since I'm not a photographer, where would I legally and cheaply (translation: free) get topic-worthy photos?

Jason, I like Flickr.com. Be sure to search those images filed under a "Creative Commons" license, which means the owner has agreed for them to be shared. Further, an advanced search of Flickr.com's Creative Commons listing allows you to filter down to photos licensed in such a way that makes it acceptable for commercial use (which most blogs and websites are). Be sure to properly attribute the source by linking back to the page you pulled the photo.

This page will let you search the photos which have the CC license FD mentioned. http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/by-2.0/

These particular ones can be used on any site as long as you give "by" attribution and link back.

Thank you both so much. This will really help when I get my new blog started.

I'll second Jason's recommendation for Flickr's Creative Commons area. There are some amazing photos there. Sure, photography is one of my hobbies, but I still like to spread the love. Sometimes I don't have a photo to illustrate my blog post. Occasionally, someone else's photo just works better. It also spreads the love. These people made images available via Creative Commons for this purpose.

Another alternative, while not free, is very inexpensive. iStockphoto.com has millions of photos in their library. A web-sized image suitable to illustrate a blog post costs only $1.30. You get the convenience of a well-keyworded library of high quality photos, illustrations, Flash, video clips, and now audio clips. If iStock is good enough for national ad campaigns, it's good enough for me.

You may not be as talented as some of the folks on Flickr, but don't be shy about posting your own photos. Even if it's not a masterpiece, it's still your photo. Anyone who owns a camera takes a great photo once in a while. One of the main reasons the pros and enthusiasts take great photos is because they don't show you their crappy ones.

And looking at Flickr is a great way to learn more about photography, too, so that you can learn how to take better pictures yourself!

there are plugins for wordpress as well that will allow you to search flickr for creative commons photos - using a keyword. I use it and post pictures on many of my posts using it.

Great tips! I often have trouble finding a picture that I think captures what my post is all about. I'm going to try to use flickr from now on.

try this one:

http://www.photodropper.com/