Where To Find Free Images For My Blog Part 3

Posted by Marko S.
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Mini-Guide, Part 3

OpenPhoto
http://www.openphoto.net/

The Open Photo Project is a stock photo community and framework devised, implemented and supervised by Michael Jastremski. Its purpose is to allow photographers to share and protect their works through Creative Commons licensing where you can view photo thumbnails by license.

The site uses a wiki to manage its collection. To contribute to the site or to see other features requires registering. Click Spy to see what photos other users are admiring or find pictures by using the categories or the search tool.

Key features:
Self-referencing stock photo database
Integrated licensing engine
Open source-like platform (interface is similar to Wikipedia)
Your own (username.openphoto.net) website
Opportunity to gain exposure for your work
RSS feeds for knowing when new photos are added

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PixelPerfect Digital
http://www.pixelperfectdigital.com/

PixelPerfect Digital is an image archive with over 4,000 images sorted in 146 categories free for commercial and non-commercial use. The newest files appear on the gallery home page and randomly selected images on the bottom of the page. You can stay on top of the newest files by subscribing to the RSS feed.

Its license states, "You are permitted to use our products to design as many projects as necessary, including those you are creating for your clients. However, beyond this use, you may not resell or redistribute our products in any other way, modified, unmodified, standalone or combined with another product without prior written (email) consent from us."

Browse photos by category or use the detailed search page, which offers many options. Also you can browse by Contributors or check out the Top 25 Images. The details for each picture include the photographer's name, size, number of views and downloads and the average rating. Click on the picture to view a larger size and more details including its description, keywords and EXIF details. A nice and well done site.

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morgueFile
http://www.morguefile.com/

morgueFile contains free high-resolution digital stock photographs and reference images for either corporate or public use. The official purpose of the morgueFile image resource is one of providing free image reference materials for all creative pursuits.

The archive contains over 55,000 digital images, which can be searched and accessed through well-organized categories.

morgueFile provides access to a broad set of image categories, organized under these main sections:

Animals
Objects
People
Scenes

Or you can search it through a simple and fast responding interface.

While some people will find the morgueFile thumbnails too small (and I agree in good part, but at least it gives us a choice), there are two good things that make it worth overlooking the small thumbnails:

a) search results display quickly

b) though hard to believe these are from non-professional visual communicators, the ones you can view at such small sizes are outstandingly good photos at standard dimensions. So, the small size filters out subjects that do not have strong contrast, a clear subject and poor color saturation.
I personally find the morgueFile contents, its interface and overall quality, most suitable for my needs, and would easily recommend it to any colleague for the general good quality of the available visuals.

Holy Land Photos
http://www.holylandphotos.org/

Holy Land Photos has over 2400 photos related to the holy lands. The photos represent a diversity of religions with photos sorted into three categories: daily life and artifacts, people and region. Regions cover Jordan, Lebanon, Italy, Israel, Turkey and Greece. Either browse or use the search tool to find pictures. The home page has a link for viewing the latest images. It takes you to the What's New page that displays thumbnails and the title, date added, and keywords for each. You can expand the time frame of when new photos were added to 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 1 month or 2 months.

Every photo's page comes with an Image Toolbar that has four options: PowerPoint Ready (displays the photo in full size), email photo to a friend, printable page for printing the photo, and download photo in the size of your choice. Photos typically belong with a group of like of photos, so look in the left column to see what photos are included in the group and its related information.

The rules for using photos from the Web site state that images are not for use on Web sites. However, users have permission to use up to four photos per Web site if clear credit is given. For more than four images, you need permission from the Web site contact.

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Barry's Free Photos
http://www.barrysfreephotos.com/

Barry's Free Photos has over 2300 free and royalty-free stock photos organized by many categories and subcategories. Click on "more" from the home page under Free Stock Photos on the left to see the list of categories and how many photos are available for each. You can also enter keywords into the search box to find photos.

When you pick a category, thumbnails appear with photo's details that has the photographer's name (member), views, file size, and dimensions. Selecting a photo displays a larger version along with the same details plus keywords. The site also has clip art and forums plus it's available in German, French, Spanish (both Mexico and Spain), Italian, Dutch and Portuguese.

Geek Philosopher Stock Photos
http://www.geekphilosopher.com/MainPage/photos.htm

Geek Philosopher has a collection of photos, backgrounds and wallpaper organized in nine main categories with subcategories. If you use an image, the site requires you to include a link to GeekPhilosopher. According to the site, you are free to do whatever you want with these photos except redistribute them. Learn more by checking out the terms and conditions.

Browse for photos by category and subcategory. When you select a subcategory, a thumbnail page appears with the names of the photos and their sizes. Click on the photo to view its full size. The bottom of the thumbnail page shows the number of pages available for the category. Though there is a magnifying glass icon for search shown on the Web site, it doesn't search the photo gallery.

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bigfoto.com
http://www.bigfoto.com/

bigfoto.com is a repository of photos organized by categories and sub-categories. Each sub-category has a brief description about the category. The main categories are America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Pacific, Themes and Miscellaneous. When selecting a category, a page with its description and its sub-categories appears. For example, if you select Themes and then Aviation, the description references the Wright brothers and Charles Lindbergh. Some of the sub-category / thumbnail pages have tips and information related to photography.

The sub-category pages have thumbnails and clicking on one opens a new window with the photo appearing at full size. Another way to browse the site is to go to the site map. At the bottom of the Web site is a link called "pps." This contains PowerPoint presentations for downloading and admiring. The first one has beautiful nature-related shots. You can read the copyright / FAQ section for the rules on using the photos from this site.

FreeImages.com
http://www.freeimages.com/

FreeImages.com has over 2300 stock photos. Note this one is FreeImages.com and it's not the same site as the one from the UK. You can read the terms and conditions to verify the rules for using the site's photos. Search for images by using the search tool or you can browse the directory by category. At the top of the category page are links to view photos that have been submitted in the last day, last seven days, last 14 days or all images. Be warned there are roughly 200 pages of thumbnails to go through if you select the All Images link.

The thumbnails page includes the member's name, how many times the photo has been viewed, its file size and its dimensions. When you go into a photo, you can navigate to the previous image, next image or view a slide show. A nicely organized site with quality photos.

FreeImages.co.uk
http://www.freeimages.co.uk/

FreeImages.co.uk has over 2500 stock photos. To ensure following the Web site's rules for using its images, read the terms and conditions to ensure following the Web site's rules for using its images. The home page lists the top three galleries, which is currently the home, financial, and flora. Search for photos by clicking on gallery, which takes you to the gallery's index of images. The gallery index page has a search tool for keyword searches. When you select a thumbnail from the gallery page, the picture appears in its full size and doesn't have information.

The site also offers ideas and tips on resolutions and how to get the best use out of the images. FreeImages also has a collection for desktop wallpapers and presentation slides.

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FreeStockPhotos.com
http://freestockphotos.com/

FreeStockPhotos.com is a resource for free photography for personal or commercial use. There are some restrictions in using photos from the site such as retaining the domain name when using the photo on the Internet, in a Web page, in printed publications or in any product, advertising or packaging. Categories include animals, Christian, Egypt, Israel, Near East, Rome, scenery, sky/weather and wildflower/plants.

When you click on any of the categories, thumbnail-sized images appear all on one page, which can be hard to see in some categories because of the background. However, the images are fascinating and worth a look. Click on the thumbnail to see the larger picture.

Free Photographs Network
http://www.free-photographs.net/

Free Photographs Network is a resource for royalty-free stock photographs available for non-commercial use. If you use any of the photographs from the site, you're agreeing to abide by international copyright law. Its terms of service outlines the rules for using the photos from the site. You can browse collections by category or use the search tool.

Categories include animals/nature, emergency services, historical, misc, military, places, scenic, science / technology, sports, theme parks, transport, and special features. After selecting a category, a page appears with multiple photos organized by its photographer. The groups of photos also provide usage information. Click on a specific photo to get the photographer's name, Web site, and usage info.

DHD Multimedia Gallery
http://gallery.hd.org/index.jsp

This isn't a fancy site, but its photos are free for personal and commercial use. However, be sure to read its terms and conditions. You can browse collections by category, new entries and best photos. Each photo includes information on the date added to the collection, size, image type and rating. Also, the photo details page has the photo's copyright information.

The site also has a forum for discussing the photos. Most photos are taken by amateurs, but a little cropping and editing could lead to interesting results. DHD Multimedia Gallery is available in Great Britain English, U.S. English, Spanish, German and French. It also has site mirrors in the U.S., Australia and United Kingdom.

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Gimp Savvy
http://gimp-savvy.com/PHOTO-ARCHIVE/

The photo archive at Gimp-Savvy.com contains over 27,000 free photos and images. The images come from three sources: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Though the photos are copyright free, be aware some restrictions apply.

You can search for images by any of the three sources plus AILS (Ames Imaging Library Server) from NASA, using the keyword search box or selecting from a list of master keywords by clicking on the "Master Keys" link. The Master Keys search results bring up thumbnail-sized images so you can quickly look for what you want. When using the search box, the results show thumbnail-sized images as well as information on the image's actual size. Those looking for pictures related to space, land, water, animals and plants will be delighted with this collection.

You can help out by indexing the unindexed images. Click on "Index Me!" to see a list of images that haven't been index. Select the one you want to do, enter keywords and click "Submit." You don't have to worry about spelling those big scientific-related words as there is a link to a dictionary and thesaurus on the page.

Source: MasterNewMedia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.