Unfortunately, to get the most out of Flash you will need to know a certain amount of ActionScript. I am in a similar position as you and use these two resources for learning. There are also forums on these two sites to get any help that you may need which is very useful.
http://www.actionscripts.org/tutorials.shtml
http://www.kirupa.com/
As for the royalty free images, the following link will come in very useful. They source pictures from many companies for you. You can buy royalty free CDs (Usually around £300), it is well worth doing a search to see if they have the specific images you need.
http://creative.gettyimages.com/