It’s hard to find high-quality, high-resolution free stock photos. Free legally, and not off of Google pictures 😉
Today I’m about to show you a list of websites offering just that. High-res, high-quality stock photos, for free. You know that saying ”You get what you pay for”. Well, here you get way more than what you pay! One of the many advantages of our awesome Internet.
Why free stock photos?
You can use them in your landing pages, or in a newsletter that you send to your clients, maybe in your blog posts or for social media posts. Why not? They’re FREE and they’re AWESOME!
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you NEED to buy stock photos. Some good sources are iStockPhotos with pictures starting at 15$. And other times free stock photos rock!
The LEGAL STUFF behind the free stock photos
Most of these free stock photo owners allow you to distribute, edit, copy and practically do anything you want with their photos, for personal or commercial use, and all this without having to get permission or even give credit. This is called a creative common public domain license.
Something to take note of. Pictures with logos or brands in them, try and avoid using them as-is. A little editing will help. Also, some of the resources here may require you to give credit to the photographer. You should double-check when you find a picture or a resource that you like. Things can change pretty quickly on the net!
So without any further delay…… here is the list!
Gratisography
All pictures on this website are taken by photographer Ryan McGuire. He adds new awesome pictures weekly. Check out his website, there’s a top-secret button there!
Categories: Animals, nature, objects, people, urban, whimsical.
Copyrights: Free of copyright restrictions
Link: https://www.gratisography.com/
Unsplash
10 new photos every 10 days. This is a HUGE collection of photos. Search by keyword and by featured or all photos. Enjoy scrolling, there are amazing pictures there.
Categories: All kinds
Copyrights: Free of copyright restrictions
Link: https://unsplash.com/
Picography
High-resolution pictures by photographers from all over the world.
Categories: All kinds
Copyrights: Free of copyright restrictions
Link: https://picography.co/
Pexels
This is a collection of stock photos from other stock photography sources. They make sure that all published pictures are high-quality and licensed under the Creative Commons Zero (CCO) license. Hand-picked just for you.
Categories: All kinds
Copyrights: Free of copyright restrictions. The only restriction is that identifiable people may not appear in a bad light or in a way that they may find offensive unless they give their consent.
Link: https://www.pexels.com/
Fancy Crave
High-resolution images, good for personal and commercial use, updated daily. You don’t really have to provide attribution, but it is highly appreciated if you do.
Categories: All kinds
Copyrights: Free of copyright restrictions
Link: https://fancycrave.com/
KaboomPics
Pictures taken by Karolina, she offers you good quality photos for your blog, business, and social media. There are new pictures every day!
Categories: Abstract, City & Architecture, Fashion, Food, Landscapes, and more.
Copyrights: Free of copyright restrictions. You can also help support the author by giving credit with a link to her website.
Link: https://kaboompics.com/
StockSnap
Not your typical stock photo site. Here, you will find beautiful stock photos, and they’re free. A collection from the web as well as daily submissions from photographers.
Categories: All kinds
Copyrights: Free of copyright restrictions.
Link: https://stocksnap.io/
Pixabay
Founded by Hans Brazmeier, Pixabay is a collection of over 410,000 carefully selected photos, all without any copyright restrictions. Olga Foma is in charge of Image Quality Control. You can say she’s doing a great job!
Categories: LOTS.
Copyrights: Free of copyright restrictions.
Link: https://pixabay.com/
Good Free Photos
A good collection of thousands of unique public domain photos, especially travel photos. All taken by the same photographer, who decided to give you these pictures free of charge. A reference is always appreciated by anyone giving their art for free.
Categories: All kinds
Copyrights: Free of copyright restrictions. Read their License terms for more details.
Link: https://www.goodfreephotos.com/
Well, here you go! Some of the best free stock photography websites on the web.
Here are a few more resources related to Photography:
- For more information on the US and UK copyright laws as well as some more information on the legal aspect, you can visit this blog post from Stink Ink.
- Our friends at Sigma Rumors put together a Guide to Depth of Field. A fascinating article for those looking to improve their photography skills!
I’ll keep this post updated as I come across more resources. I hope this helps you with your marketing, print, and social media projects! Share it with your friends and colleagues.
