you can try google, yahoo, msn image search. Also try free image hosting sites like photobucket etc.
I’ll use Flickr or Wikipedia for images. I’ll make sure a credit them back to the content holder.
be careful when obtaining images, you don´t want any legal wrangles.
i just feel free to use images i got from Google images. Or when someone ask to use their images in my review.
In which case you are in violation of copyright. Don’t be surprised if you also get a letter from the Attorney’s at Corbis, Getty, or another of the sites that own and protect their copyrights.
Copyright infringement is illegal. Depending on the intellectual property stolen, it can even be a felony. Please do not advise other SitePoint members to take part in illegal activities.
If you use FireFox try an addon called Zemanta https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7571 this adds a sibebar next to your wysiwyg compose area, it not only pulls in keyword related images from flickr, wiki, but also related articles from article directories.
I do take some from google and yahoo, but I always make sure that I consider writing on where I get them from.
Sometimes, I get my camera and shoot away, like for a baking or cooking blog, I cook, bake and shoot. 
yes, better to read first the guidelines of the owner of the image before copying their images to your blog or you must need to give some credits on their site by placing their site name or providing a backlink to their site…
For once and for all—giving “credit” on your site is not a remedy for copyright infringement liability. Instead of giving poor advice, why not look up the law?
If you are displaying pictures that you obtained without written permission of the copyright holder, you are liable for copyright infringement unless the owner of the picture has entered the picture into public domain (one chance in a million).
Please refrain from giving advice to other members that may land them in court.
If you think this is a joke, please search the business and legal forum here to find several threads where Getty or Corbis attorneys threatened lawsuits of thousands of dollars for those who infringed on their copyrights.
Any further post that suggest our members do something illegal (even hints at it) will be removed.
Is it a good practice? I mean will there be any problem with this also?
No it isn’t a good practice. It’s called a derivative work. Here is what the US Copyright Office has to say about it:
Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. Accordingly, you cannot claim copyright to another’s work, no matter how much you change it, unless you have the owner’s consent.
For details see Circular 14
I do either one of 3 things:-
- Use my own photos (landscapes, holiday snaps etc.)
- Use screenshots/diagrams
- Use Photodropper - http://www.photodropper.com/wordpress-plugin/ - it scours Flickr for creative commons licensed photos, and puts them into your blog WITH accreditation.
I avoid sxc.hu & freefoto.com because I was burned by a photo I downloaded from the website, the photo (which was put up there by a member) was under copyright & later removed from the site and - whilst I had an account with them - there was no audit trail. Thankfully they believed that I acted in good faith (probably because they had similar legal wranglings at the time over the same photo), so I was let off the hook.
Flickr’s probably the best bet. Hell, if I see a photo that I can’t use (as it’s under copyright) try and work something out with the original poster with an email. Most often accept a link back in return for usage of the photo. BUT DO EMAIL THEM FIRST!
Another option I haven’t seen mentioned yet, is that you can hire or collaborate with a photographer. The photographer will take the photos you require and you pay for it. That’s what I do. I have one photographer I work with, and I can always request photography of any kind. That way you can have unique, professional photography on your blog or in your projects and not have to worry about anything.
Ya, I concur with the above. Honestly the safest way is pay the small fees at some of the top pay sites. Two things; The first, we need to support our photographers and graphic artists; and the second, you will be protected against bunk things like what happened to user above.
In short; stay safe, support artists, get cooler stuff…
well , copy right is a big headache for most of the people , i know lots people just hotlink them from other blogs or save then edit of ps them for their own blogs
but luckily i’m a fan of photography , so i have a laerge collection of photos of my own --
one thing more, sometimes, put my blog topic in mind, i mean , i have to find related pictures, but i just can’t possibly have all the varieties of pictures, so i just buy --i dont; want to be bothered by the copyright issue and i do respect all the pictures taken by people ,cauz i’m one of them !!
I have a Nikon for that…
Interesting discussion and quite useful from legal aspects of publishing photos. But can anyone tell me how the photos can be altered with photoshop etc.
The photos in my blogs are generally my own. It is so important to have your own camera and use it often.
Also, if you are blogging about computers, you can do screenshots of different images to explain your point.
And of course, google images are great as long as you do not use ones that are owned by someone else.
If you see an image you really like you can always contact the website you found it see if you can use (perhaps if you give them a reference).
Flickr has a creative commons search function with tons of images, just have to reference them