Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Crazy Little Thing Called Blog - Part 2 - Photos


It wasn't surprising that Comments, Followers and Blog Addictions were the most frequently mentioned answers to my first two Crazy Little Thing Called Blog Questions-- 1) What's the one thing you wish someone had told you BEFORE you started blogging that would have made blogging easier for you? 2) What are your Blogging Pet Peeves?

Other answers included music, word verification, gadgets, memes and tags, user and log names, advertising, building readership and blog etiquette to name a few. I hope to tackle as many of these topics as possible in the coming posts to help us all understand the "how-to" of blogging a little better. In the meantime, read through the comment section for Post #1 HERE when you have time. There's some really good advice in there.

In the coming weeks I also hope to include established Guest Bloggers who are experienced in the various topics we're all interested. Fingers crossed on that one. And, volunteers are very welcome! (That's a big hint to all you seasoned bloggers.)

That brings me to today's Crazy Little Thing Called Blog topic-- PHOTOS. I received comments and numerous emails asking how to make photos larger and where to purchase photos for blog use.

Enlarging photos via Flickr:
Keri at Forever Folding Laundry recently had a fabulous post that explained how she makes her gorgeous photos extra large on her blog using Flickr. Since Blogger doesn't give you the option to "go really big" Keri wrote an easy, step-by-step illustrated guide. Click here for Keri's "how to" for BIG PICTURES via Flickr! And while you're visiting Forever Folding Laundry, have a look around and say thanks for the photo tip. Keri is a lot of fun and her site is beautiful.

Enlarging photos via html:
Beth, an awesome professional photographer at Be Yourself Everyone Else Is Taken did a post that answers the question-- "Is changing the html for your photos really easy enough for anyone to do?" And her answer is YES! Beth did a great job of explaining how to ENLARGE PHOTOS via html on your blog. (See Question #3, about 2/3 of the way down her post, for the step-by-step explanation.) And check out both of her blogs-- Be Yourself Everyone Else Is Taken and her NEW blog Ruby Luna Photography. Beth has a great eye and her photographs are stunning.

Purchasing Photos:
90% of the photos (and illustrations) on my blog are purchased online through Fotolia.com. Their site is easy to use and they have literally hundreds of thousands of photos to choose from in all price ranges, but ALL of the photos I've purchased cost just $1.00 each. Photos are located via keyword searches. I buy them in the smallest size available and have no problem downloading them onto my computer. Then, I upload them into my Blogger post for use in its Small, Medium or Large format. You can search Fotolia.com all you want, but you have to purchase the photos for use via credit card. And you must agree to include their Photo Credit and link on your post. (I include my Photo Credit at the bottom of my posts in small type.) Fotolia provides html code for the Photo Credit link but I simply cut and past mine in. FYI-- This is not a paid endorsement for Fotolia, it's just the photo site I found that was easy to use.

Questions:
1) If you include photos or illustrations on your blog that are not your own, where do you find them?
2) Do you use a photo company that you would recommend other than Fotolia?
3) Where can I find the Copyright symbol (the letter c in a circle) on my keyboard?
4) Do large photos make your blog load slow?
5) When using multiple photos on Blogger, I have a hard time changing the order/positions of my photo once they are loaded. Is there a trick I'm missing to rotate photos after I've loaded them into a post?
6) Do you have any other photo related questions? Bring 'em on!

I hope you found this helpful. Stay tuned for more Blogging Q&A.
Welcome to The Fifty Factor - Joanna
Photo Credit: Jeff Metzger

37 comments:

  1. Ack I can never keep track of there the little c and r in circle thingies are!

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  2. Great tips Joanna Thanks! I love this new segment!

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  3. I use pictures that aren't my own from Photobucket. There are many that are free for use. I give credit for author and site.

    As far as multiple pictures on Blogger. Each new one loads on top of the others. I then go into "HTML" and cut and paste them where I want going into preview to make sure they are correctly place. I'll be reading to see if anyone has an easier method.

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  4. Thanks J.J.

    I must be going to Blog Hell. The photos I don't take, I get free from Google images. Eeep!

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  5. I shall now call you "Grand Mistress of the Virtual Light."

    I just knew this was going to be an excellent idea! If you were close by, I'd hug you. Yes, it's true. That's how much I'm enjoying this already! Heaps of thanks!

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  6. pictures?? Pay?? Who knew? lol!

    I had a revelation when I read your comments the other day! I realized that I don't care what other people think about the way my blog looks, or how my music sounds. I do it for me. I don't expect everyone to want to see my fishing picture or like AC/DC. If you like it, you like it, if you don't, you don't!

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  7. My photos and graphics are almost all from Google images. The rest are photos that either hubby takes or I take with our little digital camera. I did find lots of interesting new info in this post and I can see I will coming back often to re-read and learn as I go along. Thanks for all the hard work to put this together, Joanna.

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  8. I'm so glad a l had a little tid-bit of information that just might make somebody smile today...

    and what you're doing with questions and answers is SO great for all of us...I've already learned something new just now by one of your commenters...copying and pasting my html photos to move them on my post....duh, I should have thought of that !!!

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  9. Great post and wonderful tips. Thank you so much for doing this!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  10. Love the tips! Now do you know why I can't copy and paste anymore on my blog? Just kidding my friend. I will have to take some time to figure this one out on my own.
    As always it is fun to hop on over for a visit. Enjoy and have a golden day! xoxo

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  11. Thanks so much for doin' this Joanna. There are some of us who are still bloggin' impaired and can use all the help we can get. I can sure use the info because I'm tech~challenged!

    Have a terrific day enjoying God, friends and life!!!

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  12. dont play around a whole lot with pictures...just not my medium. and paying for them...not in the budget. though i do see quite a few of the loveliest pics out here in the blogosphere...

    gave you a shout out today...just cause i preciate ya!

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  13. This is interesting! The photos I use that aren't mine I get from Googel Image. I have heard from a few people that the larger photos in my photo blog load slower but others I've asked tell me they have no trouble, so it must vary depending on your computer.
    I click and drag my photos to the position I want them in, once I have them all loaded.

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  14. G-R-E-A-T info today!! I am going to visit the photog's blog for her tips. Thanks Joanna!!

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  15. Thanks for collecting these tips and links.
    I try to include a photo in each post. If we just wanted text we could go back to BBS's and dial-up (if you don't know what that is - you're weren't on in the 90's).
    Most photos are mine own and I have written to bloggers to ask usage permission. I'm no lawyer so this is just my advice. I use pictures from the Chicago Tribune often and credit with a link back. I think news items are treated differently.

    Also look for Creative Commons which is the legal way of sharing. Check out their .org site.

    Wikipedia has photos free for use too.

    One site I used for collecting and hosting my pictures in the beginning was imageshack - DON'T use. I stopped after too many times of pictures not loading anymore.

    About picture sizes - we need to talk pixels because large, medium, etc. mean different things to everyone. 400px wide is a good size for posting.

    One last suggestion, JJ, if you add more tip posts like this and I hope you do, please create a separate blog where you can collect all the posts. It would be nice reference site.
    THANKS

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  16. Although almost all of the photos that I use are my own, occasionally I use one from Photobucket and they are free. Thanks so much for all of the great info and tips!

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  17. Wow,you are a fount of information! Thanks for all the helpful advice.

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  18. I use mostly my own photos and those of my son. If I have to take something from online, I try to find something through Wikipedia. I have snagged things that I'm sure I shouldn't have at times, but I try very hard not to do that.

    I am not very good at anything computer related, so my picture sizes are just what blogger offers. I don't have the time or interest in learning.

    I do like photos in my blog and others though. I'm a very visual person.

    Thanks for all of the tips. This is awesome. Maybe I will sit down long enough to learn something!

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  19. I'm interested in 'How To'...for everything. Great topic, I'll stay tuned for more.

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  20. You should never use someone else's photo unless you have their permission and/or have paid them. As someone else mentioned, you can look for photos with a Creative Commons license that allows for sharing, that would be considered having the photographer's permission. If I use a photo that isn't my own on my blog, I do a search in Flickr for photos that have a CC license.

    For an easy way to move your photos around in Blogger, in the edit post mode hit "edit html" and then you can cut and paste the html code for the photo to put it where you want it - much easier than clicking and dragging!

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  21. Feel like I should shut up and learn. I'm a total newbie at all of this...and I'm always asking people questions who do this blog thing really well. Love that you are asking the questions in this forum. I use iphoto for my own pictures...although I never love how my personal pictures come out on my blog. I use istockphoto.com to purchase pictures. Same shpeal as your source. I prepay for x number of points that = x number of pictures. It's easy and cheap, and is great for breaking up long posts to keep people reading. Come over for a visit. Holly at lifelaughlatte

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  22. I love this new feature! I'm sure I'll learn lots of things I never knew how to do on Blogger.

    I don't usually use photos that aren't my own, so I don't have any advice on that.

    For the copyright symbol, the HTML code is & copy, with no space between. When you type them together you get &copy.

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  23. As a techincal idiot, I absolutely love this new idea of yours. I've already learned a thing or two from the comments.

    The pictures I use are either my own from my computer, or from google images. If I want to use a picture from another blog, I always ask their permission first.

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  24. thanks joanna for being so generous with your time. i´m going to learn a lot! besos!

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  25. Love the post...I have always wondered how to have the larger pictures on blogger other than what they offer.

    I'm with a couple other people..I do a google search for a pic I'm interested in. Most of them say fine if you give credit...others are blocked and aren't available. To move pictures on the blog, I've always dragged them to where I want...also have used the copy and paste in the edit html portion too. I'll be interested in knowing if a lot of photos slow a blog load time.
    Great series!!!

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  26. There are a lot of free photos out there that are legal to use. Search for "public domain pictures" or "public domain images". Sometimes sights have both free images and those that you can use for a small fee.
    Love that you are sharing all this information, Joanna.

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  27. I love, love, love this series! Thank you! I'm an idiot at all techy things. I use Google images or my own photos. I don't use pictures often enough because I find myself spending too much time searching for the right one.

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  28. 1) & 2) I use only my own photos which just like anyone else's will appear on Google images if someone does an appropriate search. This does not mean that they are up for grabs. They're still my images just as every other photo out there belongs to someone else. Without permission and attribution, it's considered plagiarized.

    3) I can tell you on the Mac keyboard that the © is produced by hitting the option key and then G.

    4) Yes, if they're large and there are many (like I have) it will load slower than a text-only or smaller photo post.

    5) There are a couple of ways to do this without going into the bowels of HTML. This works best in FIrefox for me (as opposed to Safari).

    A) Go into compose mode when all of your photos are on the page and select, cut and paste the image where you want it.

    B) Change your editor setting (by selecting Dashboard - Settings. Then scroll to the bottom of the page to the second to last option. You'll see that your blog is probably on "old editor." Click on "Updated editor" and then save settings. In this newer editor you can dictate where you want the photo to arrive when uploading them to your post. Wherever you put your cursor, the photo will land. You can still rearrange them later as outlined in A above. You can also change the size and justification of the photos right there on the page.

    6) I'll give it some thought. :)

    Love that you're doing this, Joanna. You're a gem!

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  29. You can find copyright free images for your blog at:

    http://search.creativecommons.org/

    or

    http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml

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  30. This is a fabulous idea, Joanna. Bloggers sharing the 'how to' love. Thanks to you and everyone else for the great tips.
    I have a question:- how does one put buttons and banners from another blog into one's sidebar when the button or banner does not have HTML code provided?

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  31. Wow, a lot of great info here. Thanks to you for providing a space for us to learn. I use my own pictures and Windows Live Writer. With their toolbar the pictures can be changed to any size you wish, cropped and several other editing tools are also available. I use a lot of photos and found this easier to use than the blogger template. I have much to learn and look forward to your advice to come! Thank you!

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  32. I LOVE this idea of yours! And I hope to be able to check out some of the info you provided. So hard to do when I'm using dial up and have to share with others!! Please keep it up!!

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  33. Look at you with all this info! Great stuff! I use my own photos and rarely pluck them from the net. Mostly because I'm too lazy to search for them, lol. Where IS that copyright symbol?

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  34. Primarily, I use my own (old) photos but when I get from google I usually state that. Love this post and am learning so much from it!

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  35. I tend to use free photos or photos that are free to use if I need photos... However, these days most of the photos I use are my own.

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Thanks for stopping by and commenting, I really appreciate it.