misspiggy:
well i do put a link to this site whenever i do use a pic from here but...i would like to ask anyone who has pics on this site if i can use them please? if you give your name i will name you as the pic taker from this site too. sorry for any inconvienience cause...i shall go hide in the corner for being a bad girl 

p.s if the pictures,other than on this site, are on the net and freely available, do i still need permission? anyone know of where i can get pictures i can use?
I don't think you need to go and hide somewhere, I just think that sharing photos on a forum doesn't necessarily mean you're giving permission for them to be used by people - so a quick PM to whoever's photo you're planning to use wouldn't go amiss. It is a compliment that you want to use someone elses photo, after all, so I don't think anyone would say no, as long as they're being given credit.
Not sure how using other/non-fan photos works. I know that we did once have a very arsey pro photographer posting on here when some of her photos were posted without her permission (just posted, not turned into icons etc) so I think if you are going to publicise the work you do with people's photos, you should always check whether it's ok first.