As a digital marketing agency, naturally, we work a lot with content and with photography.
But whether you are client or agency side, getting good photography is essential and it can take a bit of work from researching, finding, buying, licensing and so on.
There’s nothing new in the notion of free photography but you’d be forgiven for thinking that something free and stock might not hold the best quality.
Not so; check out these 5 cool resources for getting your hands on quality stock photography in a few clicks without spending a cent.
“Only 5?!” you say. Well, there are plenty more free image resources out there, but for me, these are the best 5.
Pixabay
This is a nice atmospheric shot of the Paris skyline. It’s completely free for commercial use and you don’t need to provide attribution if you use it.
Pixabay is one of my favourite resources for stock and it has a massive database of images (over 400,000 at time of writing).
PicJumbo
PicJumbo is another great resource with some top quality images with good variety.
They also have a paid service for $6 per month which is good value and offers exclusive content and complete photo collections.
Unsplash
Not a massive resource and more creatively-led content than corporate, but Unsplash has some fantastic images; cityscapes, lifestyle, nature – always worth checking in on.
This landscape shot with the dock is great. I would print this and hang it, it’s that good. And, of course, it’s free.
Stocksnap.io
A good selection of high resolution photography, and they add hundreds more every week. Stocksnap.io has more of a commercial angle, and there’s no need to give attribution.
Death to the Stock Photo
The Death guys format is to email you a batch of new high quality lifestyle images on the first of every month.
Some really great photos here, just hand over your email address and you’re in.
New Old Stock
A cheeky 6th resource is one called New Old Stock which has some cool old photos of retro stuff. Also worth a look.
So there it is, a tidy collection of resources for some very good stock content – free to use.
Granted, you won’t find near the range and volume of images here as can be found at the likes of iStock, but definitely a handy go-to when you’re putting together a digital project, a series of blog posts or even a random photo print for the wall.
Hope this post was helpful. Happy hunting.
Graham is a co-Founder and Head of Strategy at Friday Agency. He writes mostly about Strategy, Content and UX here, and he talks, lectures and sometimes shouts about these things too.