diff --git a/foodie_utils.py b/foodie_utils.py
index 605af1a..41fb084 100644
--- a/foodie_utils.py
+++ b/foodie_utils.py
@@ -435,7 +435,31 @@ def upload_image_to_wp(image_url, post_title, wp_base_url, wp_username, wp_passw
         }
         logging.info(f"Fetching image from {image_url} for '{post_title}'")
         
-        # ... (image fetching logic) ...
+        image_response = None
+        for attempt in range(3):
+            try:
+                image_response = requests.get(image_url, headers=image_headers, timeout=IMAGE_UPLOAD_TIMEOUT)
+                if image_response.status_code == 429:
+                    wait_time = 10 * (2 ** attempt)
+                    logging.warning(f"Rate limit hit for {image_url}. Retrying after {wait_time}s (attempt {attempt+1}/3).")
+                    time.sleep(wait_time)
+                    continue
+                image_response.raise_for_status()
+                break
+            except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
+                logging.warning(f"Image fetch failed for {image_url} (attempt {attempt+1}/3): {e}")
+                if attempt == 2:
+                    logging.error(f"Failed to fetch image {image_url} after 3 attempts")
+                    return None
+                time.sleep(10 * (2 ** attempt))
+        else:
+            logging.error(f"Failed to fetch image {image_url} after retries")
+            return None
+
+        # Only proceed if image_response is defined (i.e., the fetch succeeded)
+        if image_response is None:
+            logging.error(f"Image response is None for {image_url}, cannot proceed with upload")
+            return None
 
         response = requests.post(
             f"{wp_base_url}/media",
@@ -445,10 +469,8 @@ def upload_image_to_wp(image_url, post_title, wp_base_url, wp_username, wp_passw
         response.raise_for_status()
         
         image_id = response.json()["id"]
-        if page_url and uploader:
-            caption = f'<a href="{page_url}">{image_source}</a> by {uploader}'
-        elif page_url:
-            caption = f'<a href="{page_url}">{image_source}</a>'
+        if page_url:
+            caption = f'<a href="{page_url}">Image via {image_source}</a>'
         else:
             caption = image_source
         requests.post(