My Oped Experience

Guess what happened yesterday. As I edit and polish my op-ed and ready to drop it finally in my journal, I realized I needed a photo to go with my op-ed (I love picture stories so you can imagine). My camera batteries are dead and I have been searching for days to buy Panasonic batteries to no avail. I have a picture folder on my pen drive but none of those pictures was as good as I wanted for this particular oped . I wanted a smiling school girl as I was making a case for all to wake up and invest in the girl child strategically, holistically and NOW-http://www.worldpulse.com/node/12949

Where can I get a picture at a time like this? The internet was the first thing that came into mind. When I landed on one photo of a school I was excited but I wondered if it was legal for me to use the photo or not. Who do I speak to? Who was available? I was thrilled to find Cristi on line when I opened my skype. I smiled and heave a sigh of relief. I quickly pounced on my key board hitting the letters fast afraid to miss her.

“Hello Cristi , i wanted to ask you that if there is a photo on the internet you want to use for your story, do you need permission? For instance i want to use this picture for my oped but I don’t know whether it is allowed or not-check this link (I am not sure whether it is even allowed to post the link on Worldpulse on not)

“ Hi! Great question. If you did not take the picture yourself, you do need to get permission” That was Cristi.
She added “Please email the source of the photo and ask for permission to publish the photo in your journal on the WP site. They may ask for a fee in order to reproduce the photo. If that is the case, please discuss this with Jennifer as I am not sure what the WorldPulse policy is on buying photos”. But that will be a long process for me. I thought silently as i searched for an alternative but happy about Cristi's advise before we land into some trouble.

WHAT I THINK AS A SOLUTION

What about we creating a pool of pictures as well on this community? What if we create a group where people who love and can take pictures of what inspires, motivates, moves them to act daily and download on the website so we all can use when the need arise for our stories? Personally, I think this help people who may not have cameras to get pictures for their stories as well.

WHAT I HAVE DONE

I have just created a group called Pictures. Just click here http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire/groups/12972
For all who cherish the moment and LOVE to Capture images of what inspire, motivates, fascinates, and moves you to act dive into the group now!.
It will be great to share the stories behind your pictures as well.

CHALLENGE

First of all, I am technically challenged and wondering how this is going to be like on the website.
Secondly, how do we regulate the pictures posted for safety of our website?