Where do you get those photos on your blog?
This is a question that I get asked frequently. Some of them I go out and get and others I take myself and make better with a simple editing tool. Here are some practices I use that are middle-of-the-road at best, as far as technology goes, yet they are fast, easy and effective solutions.
Picknik
Picnik is a photo enhancement and editing service that can take an average photo and make it look exceptional. Best of all, no skills are required. Just upload your photo and click on Auto-Fix and 85% of your work is done. If you wish, you can experiment with other features like sharpness and exposure to get the image just the way you want it.
While Picnik is a free service, my recommendation is to pay the $24.95/year for the upgraded account. This gives you full access to all of the features, and that speeds up your editing and enhancement work. Picnik also integrates easily with Flickr. However, Flickr is owned by Yahoo and today Google bought Picnik, so we are not sure what the future relationship will look like.
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a sharing license that allows you to use the quality images of others in return for giving them attribution. This is what I have done on this post. At the bottom of this page you will see the link back to the owner of the image used above.
Creative Commons can be found on Flickr by clicking on the Explore tab and then following the drop-down menu to the various Creative Commons licenses. These different CC categories can be difficult to understand. However, as long as you provide an attribution link and not use the images for commercial purposes, you should be fine.
iStock Photo
iStock Photo is a source for professional quality images that you purchase and own. I like to have a supply of quality images for my presentations on social media networking and marketing. So, I'll pay the price and have the right to use that image as I wish as I wish, which includes this blog.
It used to be $1.00 for the smallest size, which is fine for use on your blog or Powerpoint presentation. However, recently I'm seeing more images at $2.00, so shop around on their site for one that fits your budget. Here's an example of one that I recently purchased for my post on 21 Reasons to Blog
Another service my friend Dr Bill Dean likes to use on his blog is Big Stock Photo. If you buy a lot of images, theirs are marketed as 10% less expensive.
Why Images
In my opinion, a blog post isn't complete without an image or video. So, get in the habit of taking a few extra minutes to enhance the experience for your readers.
Another reason is for search engine optimization – SEO. If you haven't noticed, Google is indexing your images and videos along with your written content. Be sure to tag them well and you have now helped your future customers find you on the Web!
These are just a few of the many resources available to the PhotoShop challenged. That's where I'm at now, but in a few weeks I'll be joining the cool kids when I upgrade to a Mac.
Until then, to quote the musician Prince, "Take a picture sweetie, I ain't got time 2 wait!"
Photo Credit: Arty Smokes
That’s great advice. I was re-reading my post about the towering inferno movie a week back and decided to add a photo of the building. It brings a visual connection with the topic being discussed.
Exactly – It’s more interesting and therefore more memorable.