🔎 Openverse

The official Creative Commons search tool. Search over 800 million openly licensed images from across the web — the best starting point for finding freely usable photos.

📚 Wikimedia Commons

A vast collection of freely reusable media files including millions of photos, diagrams and illustrations — all clearly licensed for reuse.

📷 Flickr Creative Commons

Millions of CC-licensed photos with clear license information per image. Filter by license type to find images you can freely share and adapt.

🌐 Google Images

Filter by usage rights: click Tools → Usage Rights → Creative Commons licenses to find images licensed for reuse and adaptation.

🏛️ USGS Multimedia Gallery

The US Geological Survey’s collection of public domain photos of real geoscientists doing real fieldwork. All images are free to use with credit to USGS.

🔄 Creative Commons

Allows sharing and adaptation under Creative Commons terms. Different CC licenses have different conditions — some allow commercial use, some don’t.

🚫 No Financial Gain

Non-commercial use only (CC BY-NC). This image may be shared and adapted freely, but not for profit or any commercial purpose.

🔒 By Permission Only

All rights reserved. Anyone wishing to use this image must contact the owner directly to request explicit written permission before any reuse.

❤️ By Donation

Use is permitted in exchange for a donation to a personal GoFundMe, an institutional fund, or a bursary supporting geoscience research or fieldwork.

⚖️ Creative Commons License Chooser

Step-by-step guide to choosing the right Creative Commons license for your image.

🏛️ Stanford Fair Use Guide

Understand what fair use means and when you need permission to reuse an image.

📋 Flickr’s Creative Commons Guide

Practical real-world reference for understanding all Creative Commons license types with examples.

🪨 Geology Pics by Marli Miller

35 years of real geological field research photography. Free for educational and instructional use with credit.