What Works For Me: Image Sources

(Geranium (Monsonia sp) with roots and a detail of a section, Robert Jacob Gordon via the Rijksmuseum.)

I prefer to use my own photographs in my blog posts, and on the rare occasion when I feature an image that is not mine, I go to great lengths to give it proper credit.  I know sourcing images is a delicate topic in the blogging world, and I only want to share what works for me.  I also realize I’m incredibly pedantic when it comes to crediting the photography of others, but it’s just something I prefer to do.  Blame it on the English teacher in me.

Here are a couple of techniques I use regularly to make sure I’m properly featuring the images and photographs of others on my blog.  I also do this purely as a hobby, so it’s totally for fun!

If I decide to write a post about a fashion line, like the Claire Pettibone wedding dress collection, I will actively seek out and email the designer’s PR representative.  Most consumer sites have “Press” or “Contact” icons somewhere on their landing page, and it’s easy to get in touch with someone representing the company.  For the Pettibone post, I just mentioned that I loved the dresses and hoped to write a blog post about them, and I asked if it would be possible to use a few photographs on my blog.  Soon after sending the email, I received a very nice response and an entire folder of photographs from the most recent collection.  It was more than I had hoped for, and I spent several hours pouring over the beautiful creations by Claire Pettibone.

I’ve also contacted PR representatives and never received a response, and that is just par for the course, too.  In those cases, I try to be a bit creative and, if I own the product I plan to feature, then it’s easy to take my own photographs.  No harm done.  In my experience, most of the people I’ve contacted (illustrators and designers) have been incredibly helpful to work with and are excited to share their work.

When I decided to write about Isabella Blow recently, I purposely sought out a public domain image and found one, which had been released by the photographer himself.  That was a wonderful surprise for me, and I felt relieved to easily feature a photograph of a famous person.  Alt Summit’s blog recently mentioned Vintage Printable as an amazing source for public domain images, and I’ve had a blast searching their archives over the past few weeks, even using a couple images in my blog posts.

And last week, Karina from Pugly Pixel wrote about another awesome source for high-resolution art images.  The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is now featuring a large number of their pieces online, to download and adapt into new projects.  The museum has created a new online community, called Rijksstudio, which allows you to save your favorite pieces and arrange them into sets.  It’s a wonderful way to enjoy the works you love, and you are free to adapt them to your own artistic needs and desires, too.  The museum even encourages you to share your new creations online.  I love the idea of using classic works of art in new and modern ways!

These are the main techniques I utilize to feature images that are not my own, and I hope you’ll feel free to suggest other ways, too.