Adding an image to your blog may be just a click or two away but it can also leave you in hot water due tocopyright laws. Even if you provide the correct attribution you may find yourself on the wrong side of the law.

Apart from taking all your photos yourself, which limits what you can and can't discuss on your blog, there are other ways to source some great pics without the enormous fees. In fact, there are still ways to access high-quality images without it costing a brass razoo (I'm assuming that brass razoos are still free).

Mark Frauenfelder (Boing Boing Founder) from Rule the Web put me onto the MorgueFile after reading one of his recent posts. The MorgueFile is an archived photographic gallery containing a large quantity of images free for the taking. Even better, is the fact that you don't even need to ascribe attribution to the photographer as they're completely royalty-free.

openphoto.net is another source, although somewhat limited in the range of images available, and you will also need to check the required attribution via their licensing page.

For me, most of the images that I use on my blogs come from Flickr.com using the photos freely available with a Creative Commons licence. This allows me to use the photographs provided I link back to the original source.

So, the next time you want to adding a stunning illustration to enhance your blog post, search out the free image sources that are widely available and easy to access.