Free photos to spruce up your site [BT broadband office]

Free photos to spruce up your site

Posted 4 July 2007 at 8:53AM by Simon Dickson in Website development

The judicious use of a photo or two adds an extra dimension to any web page. We all know how easy it is to bash out a few paragraphs of text. But when you go the trouble of getting a picture - either taking it yourself, or sourcing it from elsewhere - it shows you've tried just that little bit harder.

Of course, with half-decent cameras being built into most mobile phones these days, it should be easy enough to take photos round the office. Don't worry if you're 'no David Bailey': in the same way that blogs often work best when they use an informal tone of voice, some hasty snapshots can make your company look more 'human'. (If that suits your brand, of course.)

But if you're looking for something a bit more artistic, there are several good websites full of free 'stock imagery' which may fit the bill. Even better, there's a search engine which indexes some of the best ones.

Yotophoto promises 'well over a quarter million' photos, which you're free to use 'without fear of "the man"'. Typically they are images which have been released into the public domain, and can be used by anyone in virtually any way; or they carry what's known as a Creative Commons licence, where you won't have to pay cash, but you may have to acknowledge the photographer. For some of the larger sites, you may have to register to download a high-resolution version, but it's usually free and painless. Commercial use isn't usually a problem, but always keep an eye out for possible restrictions.

The standard search function is just like Google: enter a word, and get some pictures. But its advanced search adds some excellent extras, allowing you to specify portrait or landscape pictures, or even a dominant colour.

If free isn't your thing, or if you can't find exactly what you want, you may be surprised how little it costs to buy in some serious photography. iStockphoto, now owned by world-leading Getty Images, sells web-sized photos for well under a pound.

Tags: getty, images, istockphoto, photography, picture library, web design, yotophoto

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Comments

1. At July 5, 2007 4:55 PM, Tim Watt wrote:

Images on sites are great - but unless a company can back up the fact that it employs models whenever I see pretend employees trying to look 'corporate' to me that screams PHONEY! ... and then the natural next thought about that company tends to be "is the company equally candid about their products or services?" Why not take them yourself, employ a graphic designer or get someone in to take some (genuine while flattering) shots.....

2. At July 10, 2007 6:10 PM, gary hyams wrote:

interesting piece, but if you wanted to buy top quality photos you should look at lensmodern, this is a true british photo library with some of the best photographers around

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