Royalty Free Stock Photos and Images

If you produce content online, in any form, you’re always looking for images you can use that grab the reader and convey the message you’re trying to get across. Our team produces hundreds of pieces of content each month and for our major projects, we either use professionally contracted photographers such as AskPhotography.com and photo houses such as iStockPhoto.com. But, due to the volume of content we produce and our client’s budgets, we often are forced to use royalty-free images (read: free photos).

Finding high-quality royalty-free images can be tough. Where does one look? I’ve included a list to help you get started, but remember, not all images (and sites) are equal. Make sure to read the fine print to make sure that the images you are selecting are suitable for your content use. Here’s your list of royalty-free stock images:

• https://powstock.com/
• http://vecteezy.com
• http://www.brandsoftheworld.com
• http://www.freephotostation.com
• http://www.adigitaldreamer.com/gallery/index.php
• http://www.kavewall.com/stock/
• http://www.airliners.net
• http://commons.wikimedia.org
• http://www.freeimages.co.uk
• https://www.freephotobank.org 
• https://www.photolib.noaa.gov
• http://www.morguefile.com
• http://www.adigitaldreamer.com/gallery/index.php
• http://build.tripod.lycos.com/imagebrowser/index.html
• https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov
• https://www.fromoldbooks.org
• http://www.freephotostation.com
• http://www.holylandphotos.org
• http://www.openphoto.net
• https://www.photocase.com
• http://www.stockvault.net/gallery
• http://temabinastock.deviantart.com
• http://www.visipix.com
• http://www.amgmedia.com/freephotos
• http://www.artfavor.com
• http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos
• http://www.burningwell.org
• http://www.bigfoto.com
• http://www.dreamstime.com
• http://www.freephotobank.org
• https://www.o2-photo.com
• http://www.pdphoto.org
• http://www.photorogue.com
• http://stock4figureartists.deviantart.com
• http://www.unprofound.com
• http://www.buzznet.com
• http://www.pics4learning.com

Make sure to double-check the usage of the right on all the images you select. Knowingly using a copyrighted image for a website without permission can land you into trouble. We recently used a “free” image from a website we were working on for a self-storage unit in Fairfield. As it turns out, the image was copywrited and we were sent a bill from the owner for $825. When we showed them the site we found it on and it was listed as “royalty-free”, they simply asked us to take it down. Although it shocked us, it also shocked the owner of the image, which makes me wonder how often this really happens.

Professional photographers are always the best and I highly recommend using one if you can, but sometimes you just need to get a royalty-free image. Happy image hunting!