Images immediately capture a reader’s attention and draw them in to the text because they want to know more about the photo. Animal images are very attractive to readers, unlike stagnant landscapes. But finding free images of animals to use for your web project is not as simple as you may think.
Images and Copyrights
In the old, Wild West days of the Internet, whatever image was posted onto the web was fair game. But artists, photographers and businesses soon determined that these images should be copyrighted. Some stock content photography websites such as Jupiter Images will threaten to sue any website, no mater how big or small, for using their images.
The modern animal picture hunter needs to not only find the appropriate picture, but also thoroughly search it so that it’s not copyrighted. Some pictures of animals have an easy to spot watermark of the photographer or website that owns it. If not, check the home page of the site and see if there is any declaration such as “All content and images are Copyright So and So, Inc.” If all else fails, email the webmaster and ask if you can use the particular animal image.
Stock Photography Websites
There are now many valuable free image websites for businesses or independent contractors. They supplement their income by also offering many images for use for a few dollars. Some of these websites allow anyone to post pictures, so the quality can vary significantly.
Only go with a free stock image website that has a working search feature. This should be easy to find, near the top of the page. When you enter a keyword, like “tiger”, the search results should take you to images of actual tigers and not just golf player Tiger Woods. Don’t be put off if you have to create a user name and password in order to download images, as long as it is free to create an account on the site.
