Can I, without upsetting a sponsor, Link directly to an image?

I have seen many people post and link to a gallery from many site types but I don’t know if I have seen anyone directly link to an image.

I know a lot of people want a lower click/higher buy ratio and this would push your ratios into a reverse order because the viewer would need to click a back button or close the window and click the link you have set up for the tour or sign-up.

I think part of my question also has to do with bandwidth and hammering the server.

As with the GWW milestone post, when 15 try to post at the same time, a serious 30 second lag was bogging down the forum and made for an un-pleasurable experience.

My reason for asking – With 2257, 4472 and who knows what next, affiliate program terms stating “we don’t give 2257 information to our affiliates” and the recent post about an image shown under a url location on the browser.

I can see some people asking “why don’t you just link to the tour or FHG” and it’s a great question IF you have a site that follows the style of a linklist, TGP, etc…

But for those who run sites based on one or two photos from a set and an option to see the tour should you like the model, linking to the FHG or tour is outside of the established relationship with our traffic.

Any info would be great

Craig