Finding Photos Online It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Photos help us to visualize concepts, give us a feeling of understanding, and sometimes even help us to draw a number of ideas together. For anyone who has ever had a blog, a website, made a greeting card, or made flyers to advertize and event or occasion knowing where to get a quality photo that will not cost you a fortune is a wonderful source to have. There are many places to get stock photos, regardless of the reason that you need them.

	There are a few things that you need to know about stock photos and stock photo libraries before you pull them from a webpage and use them.  You should always check with the author of the photo and make sure that the photo is, indeed, in the public domain.  There is no guarantee that it will be, and you may need to pay something for the photo.  Often, the costs for stock photos and images from stock photo libraries are minimal, since stock photos are typically taken from hobby photographers.  You should also check that the resolution of the photograph is what you need.  Many stock photos are not taken at the highest resolution, so it is important that you make sure that the photo is taken with a high enough resolution so that when you put it on your webpage or blog it does not get blurry.  Many of the websites that offer pay-for-use stock photos offer two options, a high resolution, and a lower resolution.  Many of the websites choose to make their low-resolution photos low or no-cost, and the higher-resolution photos are priced more expensively.  Because stock photos are best used with the permission of the author, some of the authors choose to put a blanket permission on the photo.  Typically, if they do that, they will ask only that they be credited with taking the photo.  That is a small price to pay for getting often professional-quality photos for little or no cost. What Is a Stock Photo? A stock photo is a photograph that can be used by anyone for any means.  By searching the Internet for stock photos you can find dozens of sites that provide high quality images that can be used in print or web media.  From basic photos to more elaborate photos there is something for everyone.  As long as the user agrees to the guidelines for credit stipulated with the photo they can use it anywhere they want.  Stock photos are a great way to jazz up any type of print media or your personal website.  Change the size, adjust the contrast or colors, or make any other changes that you need, stock photos are a great way to add content to a website or blog with little investment of time or money. Where to Find Stock Photos A number of sites provide stock photos for a nominal price.  Depending on the quality and size of the image prices range from $1 to several hundred dollars.  While paying for a stock photo is certainly an option there are many sites that will let you use the photos for free.  Sites that provide excellent stock photos include the following: Stock Exchange® Stock Exchange®, which can be found on the web at www.sxc.hu is a leading site for all types of stock photos.  From photos of places to photos of objects you can find them all at Stock Exchange®.  Most images are free of charge and can be used however the person downloading desires, as long as they give credit to the original photographer.  If you want slightly better quality images Stock Exchange charges $1 for those photos.  For more information about Stock Exchange®, visit: http://www.sxc.hu/home Flickr® Flickr® is one of the most popular photo sharing sites available.  Users upload their photos and anyone with an Internet connection has access to them.  While most people use Flickr® for sharing personal photos or making slide shows for their websites Flickr® also allows those in need of a stock photograph to use the photos for their own personal needs. For More Information about Flickr®, visit: http://www.flickr.com/ Wiki Commons® Everyone knows that Wikipedia® is a great place to find information on nearly everything in the world but WikiMedia® also has several other sites.  Wiki Commons is one of many wonderful stock photo libraries that provides excellent quality images for use on websites and blogs.  There is no cost for using Wiki Commons and as long as credit is given to the author there will not be any copyright infringement on your part.  Take the time to check out WikiCommons® and its easy-to-use interface and search engine.  For more information on Wiki Commons®, visit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Photobucket Like Flickr, Photobucket is another great place to share your photos with the world.  Many users from all over the globe upload their personal pictures and designs onto the site.  Anything on Photobucket can be reproduced in print or used on a webpage though if you are using the stock photo in a professional paper or article you should consider using another source. For more information about Photobucket visit: http://photobucket.com/ EveryStockPhoto EveryStockPhoto is quickly becoming the most popular stock photo library on the web.  EveryStockPhoto makes it easy to get the photos you need because it pulls stock photos from multiple sources and places them in one convenient location.  Rather than having to search a dozen pages for the stock photo you want you can get thousands of photos in one place and save yourself time when working on your online project. For more information about EveryStockPhoto visit: http://www.everystockphoto.com/ How to Use Stock Photos Using stock photos is a simple process that does not take any specialized skill.  Most sites will require you to set up an account so they can track your downloads but you won’t have to download any special software or add-ons.  You can download the photos to your computer, or even just add a link to your website so that the photo populates when your page loads.  Because stock photos are so easy to use, it is easy to see why websites such as Flickr, WikiCommons, and the others are so popular.  The photographers do all the legwork, and usually if you will simply give them the credit, you get all the benefits of having taken the picture yourself.

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