My Cowry Seashells photo

I imagine there are many clueless bloggers and such out there who think it is perfectly fine to help themselves to anything they find on the internet.  They see a great photo and it suits their purpose, or they think their readers will be impressed with the pictures on their site, so they add it.

It’s not theirs in any way, shape or form, but they put it up there for readers to view without even a link back to the one who did all the work – took the shot in the first place!  They never think to ask for permission, or even admit it’s not theirs.

That is simply rude.

Have you ever visited a blog with fantastic pictures but clicking on them takes you nowhere?  And the blogger gives no credit for them.  You may read and think, wow, he / she has a great photo.

All the photos on my New England’s Narrow Road blog (except for the ones used through Zemanta – a great resource), are my own!  It’s one of the reasons I blog – to share my photos of the New England area.

I have a blog, Sandpiper Wedding, to write about beach wedding info and I’ve linked to Etsy designers many times using their photos – with permission from the Etsy shop owner!  It’s not hard to ask permission, and I think you’ll find that many people will be happy to have the promotion and link.

I recently began to enjoy the Pinterest website.  It’s a great place to share pictures that (many times) lead to ideas for decorating, cooking, and purchasing great products.  But I’ve also noticed that many times great pictures lead to nothing when they are clicked on.  If a photo leads nowhere, how will the person who took it get credit?  Even if the picture is fantastic I do not add it to my board, as without a link, it is not right to promote it.

I recently had (and still have) an issue with someone who is using one of my seashell photos as her own on her blog.  When searching for this particular shell type, my picture comes up and is linked to her website!  Yes, I am ticked!  She has no way to leave a message or contact her on the site, so I left a message on her Facebook page, which she apparently ignored.

So please be considerate when you need pictures and use the ones that are listed as “free” to use and don’t just go grab any old photo you see on the web.  We photographers work hard to promote ourselves and our blogs, and truthfully, when I’ve been asked, I usually grant permission for use of a picture- with a link back to me!  It’s only right.

Please visit my Cowry Shell page @ Seashells by Millhill and like, tweet or whatever – so I can get IT to be the one that shows for the shells that are mine!  Thanks.

Here are some great resources for adding free photos to your blog if you don’t have Zemanta – which is the easiest – here at WordPress.

Pixabay and MorgueFile are two sites that I use to get free to use, public domain images for my work.