9 PLACES TO FIND FREE PHOTOS FOR YOUR BLOG + 5 BONUS SITES
There are so many hats you have to wear when running a blog and one skill that we always recommend you fine tune is your photography skills. Having beautifully shot photographs that are professionally edited can be a key point in growing the success of your blog.
Whilst you hone those photography skills there are times when you need a free stock image that perfectly adds to your blog post. You may think that you can easily just save and re-upload any photograph with a "link" or "source" but that unfortunately is not allowed unless you have permission or grabbed it from a royalty free website.
We have compiled a list of websites that we use which are free, royalty free and for the most part don't need any attribution (just the odd source links).
1. Unsplash
This is by far our favourite website to go to when looking for beautifully shot and edited stock photographs. The quality and ease of use of the website is just on another level. I try to refrain from using images of people due to this being a blog about myself and Jess but instead look for overlay shots or landscape shots. The best bit is, you can do whatever you want with the images, add some text - put it in a video - the choice is limitless.
You don't have to ask permission or give credit to photographs used from here.
Drone Surfing Shot
2. Negative Space
I love to drop into Negative Space about once a week to see what new photographs they have uploaded. With 20 new high resolution images added each week you tend to get a great selection of alternative photographs that are great for lifestyle type blog posts.
You don't have to ask permission or give credit to photographs used from here.
laptop and book overlay
3. Gratisography
These photographs taken by Ryan McGuire is certainly the oddball of the list. Here you can find unique and quirky photographs that will certainly make your blog post stand out.
You don't have to ask permission or give credit to photographs used from here.
4. Magdeleine
Magdeleine is another fantastic website that we use to find incredible photographs. Here you can also find great food stock photos, animals, nature and of course travel.
This one only includes one caveat is that they offer both public domain and attribution photographs. If you grab one of the latter then just make sure you shoot a link back to the photographer's page.
Where to find free photos for my blog
[Source]
5. Skitterphoto
Here you can find a range of photographs including HDR photography, low light images and also shots of people. There are so many photographs on here you can easily spend hours browsing.
You don't have to ask permission or give credit to photographs used from here.
6. Picjumbo
Picjumbo is has a fantastic built-in search engine as well as easy to use categories. I would suggest you head to the latest free stock photo section as the home page can get a bit irritating with the constant barrage of pop ups getting you to sign up for their premium service.
You don't have to ask permission or give credit to photographs used from here.
stunning-golden-gate-bridge-at-the-evening-sunset-picjumbo-com1
7. Stocksnap.io
Another website that I just love to check out is Stocksnap.io. If you are looking for photographs that have that VSCOcam edited look and feel to them then make sure you bookmark this site. My only complaint is that I find the images to not be optimized for blog and web use and have to use multiple JPEG compressors to bring the file size down.
You don't have to ask permission or give credit to photographs used from here.
8. Pexels
With over 100 photographs added everyday you will be able to find just about any photo you want, when you want it. What I love about Pexel is that you have the option to download the photograph in what ever size you want which of course can save you time down the line when you are optimising your images.
You don't have to ask permission or give credit to photographs used from here.
Man wearing yellow coat
9. Embed Instagram Photographs
Instagram is an incredible tool for finding and sharing photographs. Though it is not our first stop to seeking photographs due to the embedded image not playing too nicely with the blog layout. It obviously stands out but we do like to have it as a last resort or as a way to cross promote our personal Instagram accounts.
We recommend that you use the desktop embed tool so that all credits and links go back to the original photographer. As you can see below it provides a nice and easy "follow" and "like" tool that is built straight into the embedded image. I don't see it as stealing, it's the same as embedding a YouTube video.
Sunsets in Sydney 🙌🏼 @sydney #ilovesydney
A photo posted by STEPHEN PARRY x TRAVEL BLOGGER (@sparrystake) on Aug 24, 2016 at 11:57pm PDT
Bonus:
> Little Visuals - I used to use this website but unfortunately they do not update the images anymore. However, it's great to check through the archives and get a blacklog of images.
> Flickr Creative Commons - After doing an image search click the "Any license" button below the Flickr logo to change the search to include images that can be used on your blog.
> Free Range Stock - This site requires registration (don't worry it's free) and offers another great selection. The main reason I didn't include it in the above list is that the editing & style is very different to that of say Unsplash or Magdeleine.
> Death to Stock Photos - This one is an email list, so put in your email and get free photos every week.
> Morguefile - The site claims over 350,000 images which means there can be a lot of gems but also a lot of ones that look like they are taken by your mom.
What's your go-to stock image site?
READ NEXT: THE 5 BEST IPHONE APPS FOR EDITING YOUR INSTAGRAM PHOTOS