Stock photography and how to use it

Image information

Each image contains the following information: Image id, name (species, landscape type), date, location, keywords and in some case an extra description. Species information contains English, Latin and Dutch names, other categories, such as ‘landscape and ecosystems’ contain an English and Dutch name. Keywords are standard in English. For species occurring in Belgium or the Netherlands, Dutch keywords are also added. Click here to see a sample of an image and the available information.

Taxonomic tree

 At the left side of the image you find a taxomic tree. Each photograph on this website belongs to at least one of these categories. The structure of the taxonomic tree is based on:

• species groups (birds, mammals, ...),

• landscape and ecosystem types (forests, deserts, ...),

• extra groups such as ‘people’ or ‘places’.

Each of these categories is divided again into more specific groups. By browsing to a specific bird family, such as ‘owls’, only a few pages with images will be left.

Most of the categories contain a group of ‘favourites’, which show a representative view of the best images.

Searching and browsing

There are two ways to look for specific images, by searching with the search engine in the right corner, or by browsing in the taxonomic tree.

• Search engine

By means of the search engine you can search for a specific species, landscape or keywords. The fact that all images are tagged with keywords, can often help you to find an image. You can search for instance all photographs of IUCN Red List species by using the keyword IUCN in the search engine.

When searching with two keywords, you can do more advanced searches and reduce the number of selected images. For instance you can search for birds of Papua, by using both birds and Papua at the same time in the search engine.

• Browsing the taxonomic tree

By browsing the taxonomic tree at the left side of the image, you can also look for specific images. When descending in the taxonomic tree, you will reduce the number of images left.

Which is now the best way for me to search? Everything depends on what you are looking for. The more specific your question is, the bigger the chance you will find an adequate result by using the search engine. If you are more interested in a stunning image but you haven’t made up your mind yet about using a bird or mammal picture, please browse the taxonomic tree and look for favourites in both of these categories.

Use of images

Once you have found the image you are looking for, you can select the link to the picture and send me a mail with a question to use the picture. You can also mail the pictures to people who might be interested in the use of the picture.

Please read first the terms of use, when it is your first visit to the website or you want to use one of the images.