Finding Images For Your Blog
Writing blog articles can be difficult enough on it’s own, but finding good quality graphics just adds to the challenge. Here is a list of a few places I use to source photos for my blogs and other sites.
Use Your Own Photos
Having an interest in photography, I find myself taking lots of photographs. So therefore my preferred option is always to use my own artwork, it’s also the cheapest option. Most of the times I will try taking photos relating to a particular subject that I’m going to blog about. Some of the better ones then appear on photos.kieranlane.com.
Create Your Own Artwork and Diagrams
I use Microsoft Visio on a daily basis for work. It’s a great tool for making network diagrams, flow charts and for designing user interfaces. I also use it for creating diagrams and artwork for my sites.
Creative Commons
Creative Commons licenses provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors, artists, and educators. Some really talented people allow you to use and possibly modify thier images, so long as you provide a link to the original work. Use tools like CC Search to find such image.
Dreamstime
I have been using Dreamstime for a few years now, both for online and printed work. As with most stock image sites, the smaller the image is, the cheaper it is.
The thing I like about Dreamstime is that as well as the premium images you can buy, they also offer free images which you can use on your site so long as you provide a link back to the photo. If the free photos aren’t to your liking, the premium photos are priced quite competitively.
Fotolia
Recently I have started to use Fotolio, finding them to have some very good images at very resaonable prices. Like most stock photos sites, the smaller the image the cheaper it is.
About the Author
Kieran has worked with computers and technology for over 20 years. Based in the United Kingdom, he works as a Solution Engineer for Salesforce, specialising in all things Commerce, Digital and the Internet. Predominantly blogging on KieranLane.com he can also be found on Twitter @KieranLane, Instagram and Flickr.
