Three FREE photo and imagery sources

If you're like me, you're always looking for new and interesting ways to illustrate your blog posts. This can be a daunting task. If you're not much of a photographer (and personally, I'm not), you can't rely on your own images, and stock photographs, which are often inexpensive, still cost money, and many not-for-profits don't have the money (or the inclination) to spend on online endeavours.With that in mind, I wanted to share some of my favourite resources with you. There are many places where you can get scout out photographs to use on your blog ... without putting out a dime. And FYI, if you're guilty of the practice of "reblogging" other people's images, without permission or proper crediting, beware. You may be infringing on someone else's copyright and the owner of the original photographs may have every right to come after you, legally speaking.

Anyway, without further ado, here are my top three sources for FREE stock photographic imagery that you can use on your blog (provided you follow the copyright rules, as noted).

1. Stock.Xchng

Stock.xchng is my absolute favourite source for free stock imagery. I use it here on the Nyman Ink blog, and on my personal blog, all the time. It's a traditional stock photography service in some ways, but what's different about it is that it's also something of a social network. Photographers join to share their work and gain exposure in an open, free-sharing atmosphere. When you search Stock.Xchng, you will find both free imagery and imagery that you must pay for. If you are not looking to pay, just be careful to use only free results and to credit appropriately. (Each photographer will list the license he/she wants you to recognize, along with the photograph in question.) You have to become a member to use this service, but that's an easy step to take. Be respectful of what you find, and be creative with your search terms (by which I mean, search odd words and phrases) and you're likely to come up with some great results.

2. U.S. National Archives

One great way to find complete free images to use in you blog posts and marketing materials is to search out photography that is currently in the public domain. When any "intellectual or creative work" enters the public domain, it means the property and/or copyright of the original owner has expired. In other words, you can use any images in the public domain for free and without crediting the source. One great source I've found for finding images in the public domain is the U.S. National Archives. (And yes, I'm Canadian and we have archives as well, but the U.S. National Archives has a lot more stuff). To take a look at what the U.S. National Archives has in the public domain, check out its Flickr page and browse the collection. There's an incredible amount of imagery to sort through, but it's fun to dive in. I found the image above, of a youngster clinging to a woman's leg, after looking around for less than 30 seconds.

3.Wikicommons

Wikicommons is an offshoot of the Wikipedia, which has been providing you with free (and these days, generally very reputable) information for many years now. Wikicommons is the repository that Wikipedia editors go to for the free images and videos that accompany Wikipedia articles (usually seen in the right column of any Wikipedia page). And lucky for all of us, many Wikicommons photographs are also available for personal use. The best way to find an image in Wikicommons is to run a simple search within the site. Type in "baseball" for baseball-related images, for example, and go from there. In order to find out what a photographs status is, just check the license information that will appear below the image within the Wikicommons page. If the image you like is in the public domain, it will say so, and you can use it freely for your own purposes. Some Wikicommons' images have a Creative Commons license. If that's the case, check on the details of the license to find out if you need to credit or attribute the creator of the photo.

There you have it: three great ways to find completely FREE imagery for your blog and/or marketing materials. Don't say I never give you anything.

_{The images that appeared with today's post are all from the public domain.}