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 or left from the stock photography page 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 gives a representative view of the best images. Several of the places also contain a 'portfolio' from the place, which shows a representative summery 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.

When you know exactly the species you are looking for, the search engine will get you the best and fastest result. For instance when you you are looking for an image of a Ward's Trogon, just type its name in the search engine. Moreover, not all the images are shown in the taxonomic tree. This is to avoid to have to scroll through tens of pages, when using the taxonmic tree. An example of this: I have about 30 good images of Red-Footed Falcon available. When showing all of them in the taxonomic tree, this will lead to sereval pages of red-footed falcons, together with several pages of hen harriers, etc... To give a better overview of the 'birds of prey' in the taxonomic tree, I stored a smaller amount of images from Red-Footed Falcon in the taxonmic tree. When using the search engine and typing 'Red-Footed Falcon', you will find all 30 images. When browsing the taxonomic tree, you will not see all of them.

• 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.

If you don't find the species or image you were looking for by browsing, try to use the search engine as well. Not all the images are shown in the taxonomic tree or they might be stored in another place of the taxonomic tree.

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.