by Jennifer L. Thompson

Created on: January 23, 2009

Photographing online images for publishing on websites, blogs, and other available venues, whether they be for personal or professional use is always great fun, and can even be profitable.

Although online publishing tools offer many freedoms to allow for someone's personal artistic expression, when publishing images for the general public to view, there are still a few basic requirements for photographing great online images.

For the purposes of this article, there are two types of images you will shoot. First, are those without any permissions required, and second are those requiring certain permissions. Those requiring permissions will generally need an accompanying signed release form (which can always be found in doing an online search for something such as "photography release forms") in order to be displayed legally on any webpage.

Permission-free images are nearly anything that would not be clearly and personally identifiable in some sense something with a universal or public image, or, otherwise, it can also be something that you have full rights to give permission for its use.

Images that will need permission can include, but clearly are not limited to: individuals, use of logos, any location that isn't clearly public (such as someone's home, or anything private that could be easily and clearly identified from your photo), anything protected by a copyright that you do not own and other things of this nature.

Though this is not meant to be a comprehensive list, these tips for photographing online images will help ensure privacy and safeguard any copyrights, or any ownership rights that may be involved and the like. Though these are only basic tips, nothing too intricate, using them with care will help to ensure that you and a subject are legally protected, and that the images you photograph and publish on the web will stay on the web.

Tip Number One: Pick an Angle

The angle you will photograph your image from will make it a success as much as anything will. When photographing people in a permission-free image, angle the shot in such a way that anyone found within it could not be identified or picked out, if someone saw them walking down a street, for example. Partial bodies, backs of heads, and distance shots generally work out well.

A public location, such as a park, public building, natural habitat, or anything similar is also effective to use for a permission-free image. Picking an angle for any type of image, whether it be permission-free or otherwise,

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