How To Take Photos For Stock Photography

You might be the about amazing social media director in the world, with an impeccable social strategy and well-honed posting schedule — just that doesn’t mean you know how to take a picture. Maybe you should exist looking into free stock photography instead.

That’due south okay! We’re not blaming yous! We can’t all be good at everything. (For case: even Grammy-winner Michael Bublé doesn’t know how to eat corn like a normal homo.)

Even if you’ve studied upwardly on how to accept adept Instagram photos, sometimes it’s just best to go out imagery to the professionals. Which is where free stock photos come up in.

And, lucky for you, the internet is brimming-a-block with gorgeous, royalty-free, copyright-free photos, just waiting for a hazard to dazzle your followers.

In fact, we’ve managed to round up 38 (30 eight!) of the best complimentary stock photograph websites to share with you. So if y’all’re looking for photos for commercial utilise that don’t cost a penny only will brand your social feeds expect like a meg bucks, read on.

(Looking for free stock video sites? We’ve got you covered in that location, as well.)

How to know if a stock photograph is free to use

Earlier you continue a shopping spree (or… whatever it’s chosen when the thing you’re shopping for is totally costless), it’s important to clearly sympathize
how to know if a stock photo is free to apply.

If you accidentally share something that doesn’t give you commercial rights, y’all might be in violation of copyright law — which could hateful some serious consequences for your brand, or even y’all personally.

And unfortunately, “I didn’t know” won’t fly as a legal defence.

So look for articulate descriptions on the stock photo website that say “commercial apply allowed,” “commercial apply and modifications immune,” or “no known copyright restrictions.”

Anything licensed under the Creative Commons or public domain is fair game too.

But when in doubtfulness, read the fine print.

You can dig more into agreement paradigm copyright here, merely here’s a handy flowchart that cuts to the chase:

Source: Hootsuite

And at present, onto the good stuff: gratuitous resources for social media photos that will wow your followers and get those likes rolling in.

38 free stock photo websites

1.
Unsplash

Gorgeous, editorial style pics are everywhere hither. Photographers upload their content in hopes of catching someone’due south eye for futurity paid work. In the meantime, low- or no-upkeep brands tin can benefit from the wealth of stylish shots. Not certain what to search for? Browse featured collections similar “Athletics,” “Travel,” or “Applied science” to spark some inspiration.

Source: Kevin Lang on

Unsplash

two.
Gratisography

Gratisography is actually pushing the whimsy here. Download whatever of their costless high-resolution stock photos for whatever use you lot want, thanks to a “peace of mind” license. Lots of illustrations are available, too.

Source: Gratisography

3.
Adobe Stock Free Collection

Observe costless photos, vectors and videos courtesy of Adobe, which all meet the verbal same licensing standards equally the company’due south paid content. Some shots look a petty more posed and stock photo-y than others… but mayhap that’south what yous’re going for!

Heads up: you do demand to create a (costless) Adobe account to download.

Source:
Adobe Stock Gratuitous Collection

4.
Pikwizard

You lot guessed information technology: more free stock photos for editorial or commercial apply. No attribution required at all here, so if yous don’t desire to requite credit to the person who shot this person holding a pumpkin, you don’t have to.

Source:

Pikwizard

v.
RawPixel

RawPixel has a decent collection of Public Domain images (either photos that have fallen out of copyright, or has been dedicated to the public domain). Yous might detect just what y’all’re looking for hither… though you do need to sign up with a free account to get information technology.

vi.
Splitshire

Instantly download free high-resolution stock photos. Skilful news, because when you’re in a rush to get that Instagram post scheduled, sometimes at that place’s no
time
to log-in!

Source:

Splitshire

seven.
Burst (by Shopify)

Shopify wants its clients to have nice looking websites, so they’ve helped ‘em out with a collection of sleek, high-quality photos. A lot are (surprise) retail or service focused.

Source:

Burst

eight.
Reshot

25,000-plus photos and 1,500-plus vector illustrations are at your fingertips here… including this chubby ocean king of beasts!

Source:

Reshot

9.
Pixabay

Pixabay has some beautiful shots…
millions
of them, in fact. What more do y’all demand to know?

Source:

Pixabay

x.
FoodiesFeed

Sometimes, you want your free stock photo site to focus. FoodiesFeed exclusively offers beautiful food photos. Non a slap-up place to be looking if you’re reading this round-up just earlier dejeuner, FYI.

Source:

FoodiesFeed

11.
StockSnap.io

Hundreds of new, free, high-resolution stock photos are added weekly here, in categories like “Nature,” “Dog,” and “Family.”

12.
Pexels

Talented creators share their best gratis stock photos on Pexels. You can even explore the most-viewed photos for a hint of what’s really resonating with audiences at any given moment.

13.
Snapwire Snaps

Vii new stock photos are uploaded each week. It’s a mixed handbag, but they’re all beautiful… and, as you probably guessed, they’re all gratis.

14.
Befouled Images

While they practise have images of barns, they also have images of other things: hands holding cell phones, cute vistas, and cups of coffee on a messy office desk.

Source:

Barn Images

fifteen.
Freestocks.org

Three photographer pals create stock images in their spare fourth dimension. You’ll observe a lot of documentary-way shots here, which tin requite a social feed a much-needed dose of authenticity.

Source:

Freestocks.org

sixteen.
Picspree

Okay, I’thousand going to start getting repetitive at a certain point, because it’southward hard to say something new about another collection of royalty-free images and stock photos. Simply that doesn’t mean it’due south not worth doing a little search here for some Insta-inspo!

17.
Life of Pix

A “lensman of the week” feature puts the spotlight on Life of Pix’s talented contributors weekly.

18.
Jay Mantri

Lensman Jay Matri has made a big selection of his photos available for free commercial use (“Do anything,” he says). Nosotros hope yous like trees and waves!

Source:

Jay Mantri

19.
ISO Democracy

No restrictions on whatever of the ISO Republic photography — download to your hearts’ content and go to posting.

Source:

ISO Republic

20.
Styled Stock

Self-described as “femine” stock photography, the collections here are airy, bright, and generally have an “Instagram influencer making smoothies in the ‘burbs” vibe. Which sometimes is exactly what y’all need.

Source:

Styled Stock

21.
Negative Infinite

People, places, things: all the usual fare you would want from a free stock photo website.

22.
IM Costless

1 neat distinction from IM Free is that they also offer free web templates and icons, in addition to royalty-free imagery.

23.
Freerange

Freerange promises “great photos”: what’s not to love? New free images daily.

24.
Gratis Images

I hateful, the name actually says it all, doesn’t it?

Source:

Free Images

25.
Deposit Photos

All these gratis stock photograph websites kind of look the same too… information technology’s like one endless collection. Only that’s skilful! It ways you accept infinite sources to find exactly what you need to build engagement.

26.
Flickr Commons

Hither’due south a trick to find costless photos on Flickr: search for images that photographers have labelled with “Creative Commons” licensing! Or, just poke around the Flickr Commons, a database of public photography from around the earth.

Source:

Flickr

27.
Magdeleine

Beautifully lit, high-resolution photos that have been “hand-picked,” whatever that means!

Source:

Magedleine

28.
Picography

They’re gorgeous, they’re high-resolution, they’re (you guessed information technology) freeeee.

29.
New Old Stock

Want to give your social feeds a vintage flair? Catch some of these free historical photos from the public athenaeum.

Source:

New Former Stock

30.
Realistic Shots

A lot of disembodied-easily-holding-smartphones. A lot of beaches. A lot of women in beachy hats. It’s a stock photograph treasure trove!

31.
Jeshoots

Photographer Jan Vasek shares their work, gratis for websites or commercial projects.

Source:

Jeshoots

32.
SkitterPhoto

Explore the broad world of public domain through SkitterPhoto’s library. One cool feature: you lot tin can see how many downloads an prototype has had… helpful for avoiding an embarrassing copycat situation

33.
Little Visuals

The late photographer Nic Jackson’due south work remains bachelor to use any way you lot want — his family has ensured all of his images will stay attainable and open up to the public.

34.
Morguefile

Morgue file was started back in ‘96 every bit a free prototype exchange for creative professionals and teachers. Information technology’due south all the same alive and well, with images now available for anyone and everyone to utilise however they see fit. There’s a lot of apprentice stuff here, but also lots of hidden gems.

35.
Picjumbo

Want Picjumbo to just cull photos for you lot? Sign up for their newsletter and they’ll deliver free stock to your inbox weekly.

Source:

Picjumbo

36.
Kaboom Pics

Find stylish (and very Instagrammable) photoshoots here at Kaboom. Hot editing idea: some of the textured photos could make cool backdrops or borders for any of these other stock photos you’ve merely downloaded.

Source:

Kaboom Pics

37.
The Gender Spectrum Collection

To aid improve representation of gender in all its forms, Vice has compiled a collection of Creative-Commons-lisenced photos of gender-diverse and not-binary models for anyone to use.

Source:

Vice Gender Spectrum Collection

38.
Nappy

Some other cool initiative to improve representation in stock photography, Nappy only features photos of Black and brown models.

Source:

Nappy

Whew! If yous can’t find a stock image to suit your needs in this exhaustive listing of resources… well, we don’t know what to tell you. Possibly consider using a stock video instead?

In one case you’ve found the perfect prototype, use Hootsuite to easily upload, schedule, and promote them beyond multiple social networks.

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