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By: Jennine Jacob
Image by Digital Sophia
What kind of photos can you use on your blog?
Sure there are loads of bloggers who lift images from other sites, but due to copyright infringement laws, they may be breaking the law, and vulnerable to lawsuits. Yuck. So which images can you use?
Referencing the source, isn't always enough. Some websites will allow you to use their images for a fee, as I heard this morning from a blogger who was notified by a well-known fashion website that she had to pay to use their images… Now, I love copyright law as much as the next gal, but this particular website asks bloggers all the time for free images, and they certainly benefit from the traffic bloggers drive to their site. I had half the mind to write an angry letter to them, then I realized that maybe it's us bloggers who should band together and start charging them to use our photos, they certainly have more money than us. ❤
Before I digress… while you may not be able to use images from some of the big fashion sites on your own blog, that doesn't mean that you're at a loss. There are plenty of images out there that are free to use, you just familiarize yourself with the different kinds of licensing, and different sourcing procedures.
Take your own photos
When I was in design school, our teachers encouraged us to take our own photos. Why? Not because they just liked giving us additional work, but because they said that designers who use stock photography all looked the same. I think it's also true with blogs. Most of the best fashion blogs out there take their own photos, because you're really seeing things from the authors unique perspective. Learning about photography is also fun, and you're site will benefit from having a distinct look and feel from it that will stand out from the rest. And no one can sue you unless you publish a picture of someone without a model release.
Ask for press photos
I've had pretty good luck with this, design
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