Don't worry about people stealing your design work.
Worry about the day they stop.
- Jeffrey Zeldman
I love blogging, its a passion that I have and I work so hard to create beautiful blog posts but unfortunately for me, no matter how beautifully written a blog post is, it will never be perfect with out a stunning picture to go along with it.
I am not one of those people that can take a stunning photo, I can barely take a picture that isn't blurry, so you must understand my complete and utter jealousy when I first started blogging and would read all these wonderfully written posts with stunning pictures to go along with them. Then one day I noticed that one of the pictures in a post I had loved showed up slightly altered in another bloggers post.
I queried the image with the blogger as I knew all about copyright images and I knew that this blogger would never put her blog in jeopardy by "borrowing" another bloggers image and I thought that maybe there was a secret club where great bloggers exchanged pictures, well you could imagine my surprise when she wrote to me explaining that no there is no secret bloggers picture exchange they had just both used the same free stock image....
Free stock image?????? suddenly my eyes where open.
And now while I try my best to take beautiful pictures to pair with my posts, on the days that I cannot take a picture or my sunset image is blurry and dark I scour my favourite free stock photo websites to jazz my posts up a little.
//FIRST// Unsplash
Unsplash would have to be my all time favourite free stock photo site, the images are breath taking and they update 10 new photos every 10 days.
The images are licensed under the Creative Common's Zero which means that you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution.
//SECOND// Jay Mantri
Jay Mantri is pretty much a stop for stock images as well, these images are mostly powerful landscapes with a high amount of black and white images and 7 new photos are updated every Thursday.
The images are licensed under the Creative Common's Zero which means that you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution.
//THIRD// Pixabay
Pixabay is my third point of call, the site is searchable so if I am looking for a specific topic in my image I find pixabay the best (ie looking for a desk image or cup of coffee), however a large percentage of the images do feature people in them which personally I choose not to use.
Most of the images are licensed under the Creative Common's Zero which means that you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution. However occasionally you may come across a image that is not licensed this way but they will always list the licensing next to the image underneath the different sizes you can download it in.
//FOURTH// Gratisography
Gratisography is a site I use when I am looking for a image that is a bit different, most of the images have a slight crazed feel to them but are still high quality and very appealing. All pictures are photographed by Ryan Mcguire and new pictures are added weekly.
The images are licensed under the Creative Common's Zero which means that you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution but Ryan does appreciate it when attribution is listed.
//FIFTH// Snapwire Snaps
Snapwire Snaps has a wonderful bunch of images, a large percentage of the images do feature people in them which can add extra personality to your post, I normally chose images that do not feature a face because I think they translate better into my posts, 7 new images are uploaded every 7 days.
Most of the images are licensed under the Creative Common's Zero which means that you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution. However occasionally you may come across a image that is not licensed this way but they will always list the licensing underneath the image.
//SIXTH// Foodies Feed
If I am looking for food images then there really is only one place to go, Foodies Feed is full of amazing images taken by Jakub a food and photography enthusiast. Most images are free however some are listed in a premium package that must be purchased.
All images are completely copyright free, you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution but Jakob does appreciate it when you mention Foodies Feed.
The life of Pix has a wonderful arrangement of different images, there are divided up in a gallery and listed in themes Beach, Black & White, City, Construction, Desk, Food, Industrial, Nature, Object, Sea and Textures. The site has a great mix of images with and without people. New images are added weekly.
All images are completely copyright free, you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution.
Little Visuals is a smaller stock image website but the images are still breath taking, they post all sorts of different images from close ups to large landscapes. 7 images are updated every 7 days and you can sign up with email to receive all 7 images delivered to your inbox each week.
The images are licensed under the
Creative Common's Zero which means that you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution.
Well that is my go to list if I am ever in desperate need of great stock images.
Do you use any of these websites?
Do you have any suggestions to add to my list?
Labels: 2015 Blog Tips, Blog Posts, Blogging Advice, Blogging Tips, Free Stock Images, Stock Image Websites, Stock Images
