Ok, maybe we're not David Blaine, but come on over to the blog and let's perform some photo magic! http://immenselysocial.com/writers-wednesday-stock-photos-magic/ #blogging #StockPhotos #Vintage #Retro

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Writers Wednesday: Stock Photos Magic
8
categories: Writer's Wednesdays
Welcome back Writers, Bloggers, and just all around Fabulous People!
THANK YOU FOR THE RAVE
REVIEWS!
"Lorihil was awesome!!!"
"Thank you so much! Huge fan of your
“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at.
Make it fun to read.” ~Leo Burnett
work."
"Rock star writing!"
"Lorihil is great. She writes well, has a
Today, we are going to perform some magic! That’s right I said it.
great 'voice' and is easy to work with."
"Lori writes from the heart and had me
looking into my life with a renewed
Ok, maybe we’re not going all David Blaine here, but still I think we can totally rock out some stock
photos!
thankfulness and true gratitude."
On Fiverr: http://fiverr.com/lorihil
There are some fantastic sites for stock photos out there with beautiful pictures. But, buying the rights
On Amazon: amazon.com/author/lorihil
to use them on your blog and in your marketing can get super expensive.
And free stock photos, well they’re not always the prettiest things you ever saw.
With my commitment to use more visual content in my business this year, I’m seeking solutions.
With a bit of diligence and creativity, I have discovered that you can take an image that doesn’t exactly
suite your needs and tweak it into something pretty nice if I do say so myself.
You know I love to pass on the solutions I find to you, so here ya go…
Stock Photo Edits
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2. RECENT POSTS
Writers Wednesday: Stock Photos Magic
Mindful Monday: Track and Organize to
Meet Your Goals
Fanship Friday: 14 Ways to Engage Fans
in 2014
CATEGORIES
Mindful Monday
Writer's Wednesdays
Fanship Friday
Lori's Unconventional Advice
Social Media Management
Cheers to Health & Wellness
I’ve been into the retro feel with our new theme here at Immensely Social. You don’t have to go retro,
the principles remain the same. So, let’s jump on in….
The Stock Photo
First you need a photo. There are many sites to choose from, here are a few:
Open Photo: http://openphoto.net/
Free Media GOO: http://www.freemediagoo.com
Morgue File: http://morguefile.com
You want to make sure the photos are royality free and that you have permission
to
change them.
Morgue File happens to be my personal favorite.
They have a large selection, their policy allows you
to adapt the photos (which is what we will be
doing), and for free stock photos, they have some
nice shots.
Morgue File Policy,
“You are allowed to copy, distribute, transmit the work and to adapt
the work. Attribution is not required. You are prohibited from using
this work in a stand alone manner.”
Lori’s Tips for Photo Hunting
Have a purpose- Know what type of photo’s you are looking for or else the whole process may
produce overwhelm.
Make it fun- I like to photo hunt over the weekend when I’m chillin! Put on some music and act like
an art dealer.
Keep an open Mind- Remember, we are going to be editing the photos. Sure, some photos are just
ABUNDANCE WORKSHOP

3. not going to work, but look at the potential.
Have a specific place and label well- When you find a photo you think you can use, keep it in a
specific file so you can find it later.
ABUNDANCE QUIZ, GIVE IT A
TRY!
I have two files on my desktop for photos. One labeled “Free Stock Photos” and one “Edited Stock
Photos.” That way I can find them when I need them.
Also, for the love of mother organization please change the file name to something that
organization,
represents the photo when saving. Otherwise you will be looking through your folder going “What the
heck is that!” or “Where on earth did I put that cat in the hat pic!”
Searching for photos during your leisure time will save much frustration later. You don’t want to have to
waste time searching through stock photo sites when you are trying to publish a blog post. You may
still have to do some searching if you are looking for something really specific. But, having a file ready,
with some options, helps a lot.
Creative Vision
You have the photo and you have the creative vision to see beyond its current state, so now what?
Now you need to find a free app (keeping with our FREE theme here) to edit the photo. For my favorite
vintage feel of the moment, I’m using XnRetro
available in the Mac App store for my fellow Apple
Peeps.
XnRetro let me take a pic that I liked, but wasn’t
exactly what I needed and add a filter that made it
work better for my project:
Once you have your photo with the filter you like, you could also use PicMonkey! You know I love it!
PicMonkey
I used PicMonkey to create the collage in the first picture, which I am using as the background on my
laptop screen at the moment.
If you are not familiar with PicMonkey, you can check out the tutorial I did a while back here:
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4. ►
PicMonkey Tutorial
lorihil
05:35
PicMonkey
lorihil
05:35
Tutorial
I checked and Graphic Stock is still having 7 days of free downloads if you are interested.
The Free version of PicMonkey gives you a lot of options, but I have the ability to give you a Free Day
of the Royale Upgrade Take advantage here: PicMonkey Royale
Upgrade.
I hope you will let this open your mind up to the possibilities. It does take a little extra time, but if you
are looking to save money or just starting out, you can create beautiful photos from free stock images!
If you have some editing apps or photo tips you want to share, leave a comment below.
Don’t forget to “like&share” this post. Pass on the love!
XOXO,
Hil <3
My “Vintage” board on Pinterest: Vintage Feel
blogging photo tips, free stock photos, photo apps, photography tips, photography tutorial, PicMonkey,
stock photo sites, stock photos, vintage photos, writer's wednesday, XnRetro
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2 comments • 7 days ago
2 comments • a year ago
Lori Hil — Sure Jenni! Thank you for
Lori Hil — You are so right Jessica, it is
creating them. I have found them useful
and love to pass on content I enjoy. If …
challenging but powerful. It takes some of
the pressure off the need to have …
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