Nicholas Kalavas, CEO of CFM Group, writes:
That is exactly what I have chosen to write today’s blog about, as I am often asked how I source so many images for clients.
I do purchase a large number of images but occasionally also use some free stock sites I have discovered myself throughout the years. There are a variety of places where you can find free photos that are available for public use - most of which fall under the creative commons licence (just make sure you attribute properly) or are old enough that the photos have returned to the public domain as their copyright has expired. So let’s have a look at some of them and take a ride in “ImageLand”.
MyStock.photos contains a large number of beautiful, FREE Images, mainly curated and taken by professional photographers. They are available to use for commercial or personal projects and are some of the best you will find online.
REVIEW: Fresh, real but not very frequently updated
This was a small free photo project that turned into an absolute enormity of a website and is very very popular. It is has now arguably become one of the most popular sites for free photos online, with an enormous stock to satisfy anyone’s taste.
REVIEW: Great variety and number of pics
Morguefile is a widely known and searchable database of free stock images. It also has some very useful filtering options which greatly assist in finding the pictures you need in a short space of time
REVIEW: Not a big variety in certain categories
- Snapwire Snaps
Snapwire is a website that allows people to download (or obviously also purchase) some fantastic (commissioned) photos from 200,000 of the world’s most talented photographers. The only catch is you can only get 7 free beautiful photos every 7 days.
REVIEW: Gorgeous images but low volume free
Last but not least, Pixabay is a Free stock photo search engine for CC0 images with over 580,000 photos, vectors and illustrations. Great variety and beautiful images
REVIEW: Personally my favourite
With all of the great free photo websites out there, you should be able to find just the image you are looking for. As a reminder, be sure to review the specific licences on each website to make sure you are using them correctly.
Feel free to click here to arrange a FREE Consultancy meeting or Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram .