Pictures of people really make your congregational site come alive -- ideally, members of your own congregation.

Your Own Congregation

When taking photos, make sure to get the formal permission of all human subjects, especially if they are minors. Our release form is designed for congregations to get the proper permission for photography and videography that can appear online.

We've compliled a list of photos you’ll want to have for a congregational website. If you don’t have just the right pictures from your congregation, recruit people with good digital cameras and a good eye to help you build your collection. In the meantime, you may be able to find a suitable picture from the online sources below. Be sure to follow best practices for obtaining the permission of subjects and copyright holders.

Unitarian Universalist “All Rights Reserved” Collections

Contact the copyright holders and/or photographers for permission to use specific photos on your websites:

• UUWorld Flickr
• UUA President's Office Flickr
• "Standing on the Side of Love" Flickr Photostream

Unitarian Universalist Images and Stock Photos

• UU Stock Photo collection on Flickr (no permission necessary except for photographs of minors, for which photo releases must be obtained):
• UU Media Collaborative on Facebook

Creative Commons-Licensed Photos

Read the license on these. Most do not require any permission to use if you comply with the terms of the license.

• Unitarian Universalist Service Committee: (Most have Creative Commons licenses.)
• Any photo you find online with a Creative Commons license. These are typically indicated in the copyright, which includes “CC” along with other letters and numbers indicating the specific type of Creative Commons license. Example: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.”

Public Domain Photos

• Pixabay is one stock photo site where every photo is public domain and does not require any permission to use.