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There is nothing that compliments a great blog post like awesome photos. They make long posts more readable, Pins more clickable and help to get readers on Instagram interested. The trouble is that many of us, myself definitely included, are not great at taking amazing photographs. And depending on the subject of your post, might not even be able to take photos at all.
Enter stock photos. Stock photos have gotten a bad rap in the past because of the amount of cheese associated with them. Buzzfeed even wrote an article about how ridiculous stock photos are. And the prices! Some photos go for hundreds of dollars, which is already pricey, let alone needing a few for one article.
Since I am not blessed with photography skills & can’t shell out hundreds for photos, what’s a blogger to do? Get it FO’ FREE! That’s right, you can have access to thousands of high quality, awesome images for free. So, what’s the catch? Well there isn’t any!
Quick Tip On Licenses
Now this isn’t a catch, but when you are using stock photos, paid or free, you need to make sure you are following copyright or license restrictions.
Most of the sites on my list are free from copyright restrictions or are licensed under creative commons public domain. This means you can copy, edit, distribute and publish these photos all without asking permission.
I’ve done my best to find photo sites that do not require attribution or licensing, but be sure to read any legal requirements on the licensing page of each site you plan to download from before using it.
Now with all that fun legal jargon out of the way, let’s find you some gorgeous & FREE stock photos!
STOCKSNAP
This site has it all! High quality photos of fashion, food, lifestyle & more. The website is searchable but they also have a category page as well as a trending page so you can see what people are loving and downloading.
Creative Commons: All of their photos fall under Creative Commons so go nuts, once you download, you are free to do anything with the photos.
Check out the photos here!
PIXABAY
Other than the high quality photos, what I love about this site is that you can search for photos by orientation, meaning horizontal or vertical. This is an AWESOME feature when looking for a photo to create a Pinterest image since their best photos are long and vertical.
Creative Commons: Yup!
Check out their photos here!
Related:
The Secret to Affiliate Marketing: Learn the tricks to making $50,000 a Month
KABOOM
Run by Karolina, Kaboom has an awesome collection of over 5K lifestyle images. I love this site because Karolina takes all the photos herself so it truly has a real photo vibe + you can search by orientation which we know is a fave feature of mine.
Creative Commons: Yup!
Check out their photos here!
FOODIES FEED
If you are a food or recipe blogger, this site is a must! Choose from thousands of photos by scrolling or through categories like Health Food, Close Ups, & Trending.
Creative Commons: Yup!
Check out their photos here!
UNSPLASH
Unsplash has a cool collection of totally free stock photos. You’ll find great lifestyle & nature shots plus just scroll through what’s trending and I’m sure you’ll find a photo to fall in love with.
Creative Commons: Yup!
Check out their photos here!
BURST
Search through collections of stock photos from food to fitness to cityscapes and more! Another cool thing about Burst is that they have stock photos by business ideas – meaning they have collections based solely on selling. Want to sell bath bombs or coffee or fitness products from your blog? They have a collection for that!
Creative Commons: Yup!
Check out their photos here!
FREE STOCKS
Beauty bloggers rejoice! This site has more beauty & cosmetic focused images than any others I have come across. In addition, they have high quality food, fashion & lifestyle photos as well.
Creative Commons: Yup!
Check out their photos here!
Related:
11 Sites that Pay You to Blog!
PEXELS
No matter your niche, Pexels will have something for everyone. Really interesting, high quality photos of anything and everything you can ask for. This one is especially great for travel bloggers, there are amazing travel & landscape shots.
Creative Commons: Yup!
Check out their photos here!
IVORY MIX
Girly image searchers – this one is for you! You do have to sign up first via email, but it’s worth it. This is a great resource for feminine, lifestyle stock that has that absolute realness to it. In addition, since you handed over your email, you will get 10+ new stock photos emailed to you regularly!
Creative Commons: Yup!
Check out their photos here!
STOKPIC
Choose from thousands of high quality pictures from fantastic photographers. They have a ton of varied categories & they have their licensing rules on every photo so you can’t miss it!
Creative Commons: Yes, but still check each image for specific qualifiers!
Check out their photos here!
SPLITSHIRE
In addition to countless high quality photos, Splitshire also has a ton of high quality videos for your use, free of charge as well!
Creative Commons: Yes, but still check each image for specific qualifiers!
Check out their photos here!
Did I miss any of your fave free stock photo sites? Let me know below so I can check them out!
