How to Photo Credit and Why it Matters

Photo credit is a huge part of the photography industry. Photographers spend countless hours capturing incredible moments and giving them to us so that we can use them for our own purposes, like sharing on social media or using as blog photos.

But it's important to remember that these photographers deserve recognition if you want your content to be ethical and professional.

In this post, I'll show you how to properly credit a photo and why it matters so much!

What is Photo Credit?

A proper photo credit means tagging everyone involved in the image within the comments. This is going to mean different things for different businesses and different situations.

For instance, this post from HoneyBook introduces us to some of their team members who were tagged in a single photograph.

A simple rule to follow is to tag everything included in that one single image. If you can see it, credit it.

As you can see in the two posts above from HoneyBook Joy Michelle Photography Tiffany Tolliver of the EmmaRose Agency, they did this exact thing.

If you don't know who should be credited, dig a little deeper or ask someone who does.

How to use appropriate Photo Credit?

There are certain times when you don't need to give photo credit, such as when you purchase a stock photo.

Still, whether you're reposting a meme on your Facebook page or uploading an image that's licensed through Creative Commons, always make sure to credit the creator.

Here's how to properly credit a photo:

1. First, make sure you have permission to use it. If it's not on Creative Commons, then email the owner of the photo to see if they can grant you usage rights for your purposes. (It helps to have it in writing so that there are no disputes down the line.)
2. Include where and when the photo was taken with a link back to wherever they posted it.
3. Include the name of the photographer, if known. If not, include their username or account link to wherever they published the photo.

It's always a good idea to credit your sources so that you can show others how trustworthy and credible you are as an individual or company! This is also important for companies who use photos on websites and social media.

How to give Proper Photo Credit on Social Media?

Here are four steps to help you credit a photo when sharing it on social media:

The first thing is to find the original picture.

Next, copy and paste the URL link of the image into your post or caption (make sure that no one else has cropped out the photographer's name from this).

Then give proper attribution by using the photographer's name, appropriate description of their work that you're sharing, and a link back to where they published it.

And lastly, include any other relevant details such as the date or location of when this photo was taken.

"Photo credit is a huge part of the photography industry. Photographers spend countless hours capturing incredible moments and giving them to us so that we can use them for our own purposes, like sharing on social media or using as blog photos."

But it's important to remember that these photographers deserve recognition if you want your content to be ethical and professional. In this post, I'll show you how to properly credit a photo and why it matters so much!

"There are certain times when you don't need to give photo credit, such as when you purchase a stock photo."

Still, whether you're reposting a meme on your Facebook page or uploading an image that's licensed through Creative Commons, always make sure to credit the creator.

Add Photographer Credit As A Caption

Sometimes photographers ask you to add their attribution under the photo. Here's how:

Insert your image into your Post or Page

Add the photo credit where it says “Write caption…”

Click Update or Save Draft to save your change.

Examples of Photo Credits

Example #one:

You're a photographer who is posting a picture of a bride getting ready for her wedding she has her hair and makeup done and is wearing a cute robe from Etsy, holding a glass of champagne.

The ideal credit would be to tag: the bride, the hair person, the makeup person, and the robe seller from Etsy. Now you might be thinking, "That's too much work."

While this might be true, it took a community to make that photograph beautiful and that's why those other professionals deserve credit.

Example #two:

You're posting a picture of your new car.

In this case, it wouldn't be necessary to credit the person who took the photo because they aren't likely someone you know personally and don't need recognition for their photography skills or business.

However, if your friend is going to take photos at your wedding, then you would want to tag them and mention their name in the caption.

Example #three:

You're a blog owner who wants to post an image of your product on Instagram without proper credit for commercial purposes.

If you don't have permission from the photographer or creator of this photo, make sure that it's not in violation of copyright laws.

If you are unsure, contact an intellectual property lawyer to learn more about the legality of your post. This is why it's important to follow these steps and credit photos properly!

Why Photo Credit is important?

Photo credits are important. Although many free stock photo sites say something like, 'Attribution is not required, but appreciated,' I like to give credit to anyone who has given me something of value for free.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen bloggers use photos without giving any credit at all! It's always nice when people take the time to give photographers some love by including their name in content.

So please, do the right thing and include a photo credit whenever you can.

Requesting Permission to Use

If you want to use someone's photo, first contact them and see if they can grant you permission. Include where the photo will be published, how it will be used (e.g., social media post only) and what date it is needed by.

Then write a draft of your request for usage rights with all this information included in the letter.

Here's an example:

Dear Photographer,

I would like to use your photo on my blog post and it will be published in both English and Spanish on the following date for one year. I plan on using this picture as a header image with text overlaid onto the top of it for social media purposes only. Can you grant me permission to use your photo?

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing back from you!

Sincerely, Your Name Here

Sharing Photo Credit is Must

When using visual content on your website or social media, you may need to source others' images. But before you upload a photo and call it a day, you should understand how to properly credit a photo and why it's so important.

You may be concerned that by linking elsewhere, you're sending website visitors away from your website.

Although there's a slight chance that could happen, you are actually building trust with your audience by showing them that you give credit where credit is due.

Also, outbound links to high-quality sources can help build credibility when using images in content marketing and social media posts.

What Picture you can use and which picture you can't?

If an image falls under the creative commons category then you can use it freely.

There are some videos on YouTube that fall under creative commons license and you can use them in any of your projects. If you want to, you can cite the source, but that is up to you.

Not every image or picture or video falls under the Creative Commons license, to post a picture from a website you have to ask the permission of the Photographer.

The photo is licensed under Creative Commons License. For commercial use, please contact the photographer at unsplash@unsplash.com to obtain a license for your desired usages before downloading pictures from this site or any other website that hosts content with an Attribution-Only license.

Do not copy, modify, redistribute or re-post this photo without the photographer's permission.

How to cite reposted or Search Engine Photos?

If you're reposting on social media, make sure you tag the person's handle. On Facebook, you can simply share the original post onto your Facebook page and all of the creator's info will be there assuming you're reposting from the original poster.

On Instagram, there are apps that allow for re-posting with tagging of the original poster.

If you are posting an image found on Pinterest or Google Images, it's not sufficient to simply cite them as your source in a sentence; they're just the search engines--they are not responsible for any copyrighted material that appears there.

If this is the case and you want to credit someone who has taken the photo, the original photo can be found by adding the URL or embed code into a new Google search.

If you're unsure about how to cite someone's work, feel free to ask! There are many people who would love to help and don't mind being credited for it in your post.

You can do a reverse image search to find the original image and then get permission from there. If you're unable to find the original source, it's best to find another image to use.

By properly crediting all of the images you use and only using what you have permission to share, you're establishing yourself as a professional.

This also sets a good example for the bloggers following you. If they see that you're doing it and crediting your sources, then chances are they will follow suit as well.

Photo credit is important because photographers deserve recognition if we want our content to be ethical and professional. The article clearly explains the methods to give Photo Credits and  why it matters.