I don't know about you, but I don't have a photo studio set up in my home. I might not always have the time or the perfect image for my post. Thank goodness for stock photos. When it's free stock photos, it's even better. There are a surprising number of websites that offer free photos you can use on your blog or website, you just need to know where to look.
When I first started blogging, I would use photos from wherever I found them online. Just save and post. Guess what? That's illegal. Those are their photos to use. This really hit home with me when my own photo was stolen and used in a way I really didn't appreciate.
Now, I only use photos of my own or royalty free stock photos that I know I'm allowed to use. I use free stock images for a variety of reasons within my blog. Nadine over at East & wrote a great post about this before, so I wanted to update and expand the list. Whether you need an image for your blog or business, it's nice to have a resource of free photos you can download and use whenever you see fit.
Here are 8 Places to Find Free Photos For Your Blog:
DID YOU KNOW? I offer tons of Free Stock Photos! Check them out here!
1. Pixabay
If you're looking for more standard free photos, Pixabay is great. Find images of things like planes, people, cities, and general interest. It's easy to search within the site and download the free photos to your computer.
2. Unsplash
This website is probably one of my favorites. The images are crisp, clean, and interesting. They just introduced a search feature which really makes it easier to sort through their catalog of stock photos. These are some of the best free stock photos, often showing a dreamy landscape or interesting images of people or photos of technology.
3. StockSnap.io
This free stock image resource adds hundreds of photos every week, so you're sure to find something that will work for your blog. The images are high resolution and make for a beautiful background or feature image on your post. Some of my favorite landscape photos are here.
4. Free Range Stock Photos
If you're looking for basic photos or photos you want to overlay with text, these free stock photos are perfect. A lot of the photos have open spaces, meaning you can add your own text or graphic on top.
5. Superfamous Studios
As
long as you give credit for these free stock images, you're free to use
them as much as you want. You can use the photos for both personal and
commercial use. Great images of landscape. I think all of these would be
great to put a quote over, like this:
6. Death to Stock Photos
First, the name alone makes me happy. These visual images are really beautiful. You sign up to get the free photos each week.
7. Negative Space
Crisp, clear, just plain gorgeous photos. These are searchable and 20 new royalty free photos are added every week.
8. Pablo
This is Buffer's own site for free stock photos. Simple, clean stock images that you can change the size based on what you need them for. It makes it very easy to add these images to your social media or blog.
BONUS! Check out The Not Stock Photo for gorgeous, well priced photos – most are $5!
So don't get in trouble! These images are too good not to use. Do you have any sites you use for free or paid stock photos? Leave a comment below to add them to the list.
Check out my collection of free stock photos here!
Free Stock Photos!
Royalty Free Stock Photos to use on your Blog or Instagram.