When did you first realise that photographs could be searched on Google? It was probably the first time you realised you could use any of those pictures for your blog posts or PowerPoint presentations, if you’re anything like me. They are in the public domain, after all. False.

Let’s be clear: simply taking those pictures is not a good idea. I’m probably not the first person to say this. You never know when someone else’s copyright has been violated, and by taking the picture, you’re contributing to that violation. The outcome? It might be nothing, or it might include expensive legal bills, or worse.

I frequently require excellent graphics to complement my content because I write my blog every day. If you’ve ever read my postings, you’ll see that they frequently have a lot of pictures and not much text. Images should not overpower my message; rather, they should reinforce it.

I look for photos that are powerful and impactful in order to elicit the feelings I want. I use these images in my conference presentations as well, and many readers want to know where I get them.

One Free Place to Look

Flickr is one site I frequently recommend to others. You can use and alter photographs on the website for free if you go to the creative commons section. As you can see in the above image, it is the first group displayed. When you download an image from this site, you must provide credit to the original creator, a practice known as attribution licensing.

However, given that it’s only typing a few words, it’s fairly inexpensive. You can enter search criteria to find what you’re searching for after clicking the “see more” button. A toolbar will appear above the search results once you’ve completed your search (see below).

I advise you to select “Interesting” since it selects the photos with the most comments and displays them at the top. It’s a rather easy method to locate some quality content that might produce the desired reaction.

Compelling Images (not on Flickr)

Flickr doesn’t always have the best photos, but it does have some really intriguing ones. For this reason, I have been utilising ShutterStock for the past few years. Although they have just launched a pay-per-image service, they are a different type of image repository than, say, Istockphoto because they do not charge by the picture.

Instead, you can download up to 25 high-resolution photographs every day for a single monthly cost. However, you must use the photographs within six months (no stock piling), so read the licence terms carefully.

I’ve been doing this by activating a one-month subscription, creating a list of keywords beforehand, then downloading my 25 every day (for a continuous month). That’s over 600 high res images and they last me about 6-8 months before I have to do it again.

There’s a new kid on the block

Well, they’re not new, but I’ve never seen them before. The company is called PhotoSpin, and you can receive a year’s worth of downloads for less than two months’ worth of ShutterStock rates! They allow you to download up to 750 files every month, with 50 downloads per day. That’s amazing.