Here goes my first ever blog post on Listemall. Yay me! Never would have thought best free websites to help you find non-copyrighted images would be my first topic though.
How Come a Photography-Related Theme Like This Caught My Attention?
I have been pondering for weeks on what to write. I know I have to produce something over the top, something that can help put my blog on the map, or perhaps, something that can even save the world (yeah, yeah, paranoid). Yet, what I’ve struggled most for
I’m sure you have heard of this quote:
A picture is worth a thousand words.
This saying cannot be more right. Visual aids are powerful. They help bring our words to a whole new level.
Too bad I’m not an aspiring photographer. My knowledge about lightning and composure is next to nil. Unfortunately enough, finding a right picture is not always easy peasy either, especially when you ask your friend, Google, for “non-copyrighted images” and two-hundred-freaking-thousand results come out in just under one second (!!)
How convenient.
That’s why I’ve taken it upon myself to compile a list of the best stock photography websites to spare us all a little time.
If you’re reading this post, chances are you’re facing just the same problems. So, hopefully, these texts can come into handy.
First, Let’s Go Over Some Basic Royalty-Free Terms.
- Royalty-free. This allows you to use intellectual property without having to pay royalties or license fees.
- Creative Commons. According to creativecommons.org, you can use these images for free since the artist has waived their rights to their work.
- Public Domain. If an image was created in the United States prior to 1923 then they’re part of the public domain. This means that the image owners allow you to copy, modify, or distribute these images without permission.
- Attribution. You can use these images as long as you give credit to the author.
- Commercial Use. You get permission to use royalty-free images for any type of business venture.
- Membership. You must sign-up to the site in order to use the royalty-free images.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here are my top 3 websites where you can find thousands of breathtaking, copyright-free shots.
1. Gratisography
Gratisography is one of my favorite free websites for non-copyrighted photos. The site was founded and created by Ryan McGuire who intentionally wrote this in his profile:
A fun fact about Ryan is that he drives a 1971 VW Beetle that he has turned into a dinosaur, and another is that he has worn 50 bells around his ankles every day for the past 12 years.
Judging by his writing, you can tell he’s a special man. In fact, his humorous personality not only reflexes in his thinking but shines through his collections of pictures. Here is one in many of the aforementioned:
Pros
What’s great about Gratisography is that Ryan named every picture according to its content and put them under a relevant category. Take the image above as an example, it was categorized as “Animals” with the name “Curious Cat.” So, next time you find yourself in the need for a waves-hitting-rocks kind of picture, for example, just jump straight to Gratisoraphy and type waves hitting rocks in their search engine.
Cons
From what I see, since Gratisography is mainly about breaking barriers and reaching creativity milestones, quantity is put aside. The number of pictures in each category is quite limited. Ryan has probably sensed this too as he decided to include a “Similar from Shutterstock” column next to every post.
Bonus
Remember that “Similar from Shutterstock” column? You can now save 20% by entering the promo code GRATIS. Compliments from the house.
2. Unsplash
Unsplash is a side-project started by Crew, an online marketing agency dedicated to making your design dreams a reality.
Unplash came to me when I was doing a project at university. I needed a simple image of a, guess what, banana. I googled it, but most of the results coming out weren’t artistic enough. Then I ran into Unsplash with this satisfying image:
Pros
Unsplash is just like Google, but is made specifically for pictures, with a slogan that pretty much stands for what they represent:
Beautiful, free photos.
Gifted by the world’s most generous community of photographers.
You can see a wide range of shots from a steamy cup of coffee to a magnificent mountain somewhere in Egypt. What amazes me most is that once you find a theme, there will be thousands of related images to choose from. So, you will never run out of photos with Unsplash there by your side. Besides providing free stock photography, Unsplash also showcases amazing graphic design work done by users in their Made With section.
Cons
That also brings us to their biggest pitfall. As there are too many pictures, it can literally take you hours to find one that’s suitable. Not to mention the agonizing fact that when you finally see something that fits your needs, another hundred pictures or so, each of which has its own beauty, will pop up out of thin air.
Bonus
Unsplash offers a “Submit a photo” button on their homepage. The revenue is not stated though. However, if you have something amazing you want to show the world, this site can be a great starting point.
3. Freerange
Another site came to my attention during my freelancing career is Freerange. What happened was that I was trying to look for some online freelancing jobs so I typed “freelance” into Google search, but somehow ended up writing “freelange.” As a result, thanks to my innocent typo, I stumbled upon a site I would probably make use of for quite some time.
Pros
Just like the two sites above, images from Freerange are from a wide range and more than beautiful. They have established a Newest and Most Popular sections so you can easily see which pictures most people are laying their eyes on. They also include some featured images of landscapes and nature on their main page for you to check out.
Here’s one of my most favorite pictures on Freerange:
Cons
As so many things are included in their home page, the site can look a little obscure for new visitors. You would need some time before you figure out what to browse next. But once you do, it’ll all be worth your while.
Besides, you will need to register and login to download photographs. Luckily, the downloadable images are in three formats, full size, medium – social media size, and small – blog size, for you to pick.
Bonus
Photographers can now submit photos to Freerange and earn a shared revenue. They are very clear in their protocol that you can keep 100% of the Google AdSense advertising revenue from your photo download pages and your profile pages. Awesome, huh? If you think your photos are up for grasp, read more about Freerange revenue policy here.
Similar sites as Freerange worth taking a look at are Pexels, Flickr, Pixabay, Life of Pix, and many more. I’ll try to review some other sites when the time ripes. Even better, if you have any of favorite, please, please, please let me know.
Learn to Be Grateful
As technology is evolving, it’s now easier than ever to view, enjoy, and use high-quality stock photos under no costs at all. The photograph owners of the websites I’ve mentioned above have generously allowed users to modify, edit, and use their images without copyright backlash. However, it’s never a bad idea to show a little common courtesy towards those amazing people. There are actually a couple of things you can do:
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Still Can’t Find What You Need?
You can always create your own images from sites like Canva, PicMonkey, or Easel.ly. I will have a post about this soon enough.
However, sometimes I do want to capture the pictures my own way to show my personal feelings. So, besides using the websites mentioned above, I’m taking a photography course on Udemy to make sure one day, I can take quality photographs when I have the desire.
If you’re like me, you may want to take a look at these photography courses on Udemy. They are all on sale at the moment as well. No need to thank me. I’m pretty generous *wink wink*
For now, happy finding the images you need!