What do you suppose Art is? Art is naught but a vivid expression of life. If not for art life would truly be bland and dim. Photography among many other things is an art and a skill. This art and skill are often than not protected by something known as copyright which is held by the person who clicks the photo. This even though is necessary to protect his creative work and persistence, does also lead to the deprivation of the art to other persons.
This is where Free Stock Images comes in. Free stock photos refer to royalty free photos that are available for free use and free download to any user. The only payment that the user has to make will be the subscription charges to certain sites that offer these images and considering their quality and the energy that they usually exude, the payment will surely seem minimal. The following are 12 ultimate sites to download stunning free stock photos.
12 Ultimate Sites To Download Stunning Free Stock Photos
Table of Contents
1. Pixabay
With a collection of over 890,000 free stock photos, vectors and art illustrations, Pixabay is arguably one of the largest databases for amazing picture perfect hi-res photos. Pixabay is completely free and provides a user with a wide variety of categories to browse from. The home page itself displays the content which can be easily downloaded and more content can be accessed using the search bar that can be used to filter and narrow down your search to that one amazing photo that you can download free of cost or any restriction with reference to copyright. The videos provided are also of very high quality and is a pleasure to watch. This site facilitates some of the best possible expression of artistic work you can find on the Internet.
2. Flickr
This list would actually be incomplete without mentioning the most famous site i.e. Flickr. Flickr is a great place to connect with friends and family, find new and amazing images from photographers all over the globe, and let others catch a glimpse of your vision of the world! It is owned by Yahoo. Flickr groups bring people together with similar interests and allow to share, view, and comment on topic-specific photos or discuss any topic that fits your fancy!
You can start searching for photos by typing few keywords in the search box on the homepage. Flickr by default shows photos with any licence. If you need to download free photo, you must select the option in dropdown i.e. “All creative commons”. Flickr offers 1,000 GB of free storage, with which you can upload every photo you’ve ever taken! Once they’re on Flickr, the fun is just beginning. Personalize your account, showcase your best work, and explore the Flickr universe.
3. Unsplash
Unsplash is a free online platform from which people can download royalty free photos and use it however they want. The site does not require any sort of payment and creating an account is very simple and easy to do. The home page of the site has minimum text and maximum content, a sort of walk the talk kind of vibe attached to the site. This is easily downloadable using the download button right next to it. The option to submit a photo is also right there in the home page.
Apart from this it has a tab that displays all the newest photos and then a collections tab which displays the large collection of photos the site makes available to the user from multiple categories. The search option allows a user to find something very specific. All the images provided by the site is of high resolution and is picture perfect and brilliant. Once subscribed the site will mail 10 hi-res photos to your inbox every 10 days.
4. StockSnap
StockSnap is a great online platform from which you can download photos free of cost without any copyright restrictions or having to pay any royalty. The photos are absolutely free and hi-res photos are added every week. The home page displays a large amount of images and also directly provides a search option and gives tags for popular searches which can be directly used to access photos of a particular category.
While browsing through the photo the pop-up for image delivery into your Email will come and a user can use that to ensure that good images are sent to the email. The photos are easily downloadable and there is also an option to sign up to the site. Signing up however is not required to download photos.
5. Negative Space
Negative Space is a site that allows completely royalty free downloads of photos ranging a wide variety of categories. The homepage of the site itself displays photos from multiple categories of images. The site has more than 10 categories of images from Abstract and Architecture to Animals and People. All these photos are of hi-res and are of brilliant quality. There is also option to get the photos delivered to your inbox.
6. Life of Pix
Life of Pix made by Lee Roy is a comprehensive internet location for availing of multiple aesthetic hi-res photos, free of any cost. The site is very simple with the content displayed on the homepage itself and with a search bar, which when clicked on opens a subsequent page allowing the user to filter his search and find the specific image he requires from a total 10-12 categories. The filter can also be on the basis of the color of the photo or the orientation itself. The site also allows you to register with it and to receive photos directly in your mail.
7. Gratisography
Gratisography is a online platform that provides hi-res photos, all of which are taken by Mr Ryan McGuire. New photos are added almost every other week and all of these pictures so uploaded are nothing short of amazing.
The site starts displaying the content on the homepage itself and the user can choose to restrict content displayed into one specific category by filtering from a list of 6 categories. The site has a very simple interface and is a very good place to go to for some out of the box amazing photography.
8. Picography
Picography is a online image database that has been created by Hidden Depth in Ireland. It provides both free photos and also has a premium version in which photos composing a single category can be bought by the user. Similar to Unsplash the site has brilliant content directly displayed on the home page. The option to get photos into your inbox is present directly on the home page, which unlike Unsplash does not require user registration.
Simply entering your Email address will suffice the purpose of receiving photos in your inbox. However the number of photos available for free is not as much as Unsplash and also there is no clear categorization within the site, unless the user goes to the premium photos which is categorized on the basis of some theme. The premium account costs 15$/month or 120$/ year. It provides brand new collections every month and exclusive never published photos and also unlimited royalty free downloads.
9. Getrefe
Getrefe is a online platform providing both free and premium images to its users. The site provides a large collection of free photos that can be used without any restriction and also provides certain photos for payment. With regards to the paid options, a user can choose to buy a pack composing of 10 themed photos which will be provided every month or the user can buy photos for 5$ each.
The homepage unlike the sites mentioned above does not display photos directly and the search bar present will have to be resorted to get photos. The site has eight categories and a large collection of photos within all of these categories. The site can also be used to selling the photos that you have captured. The free content is separated from the premium for the sake of convenience.
10. Death to Stock
Death to Stock is a great online depository of many artistic and beautiful photos that are arranged by the site in terms of projects or packs. The site provides many free packs including photos of similar type for free download and also has a premium version.
The premium account gives access to all the photos and videos in the database which is 1500+. The site once you give your Email ID can send photos directly to your inbox. The site is not that elaborate and there is no clear categorization of the content except for the access to recent projects on the app.
The site has two paid versions, the basic version at 15$ a month with a photopack being mailed every one or two weeks which will have 10 + photos. The premium version provides access to the entire media throughout the next year and is priced at 180$/year. Both these versions provide more than 120 + photopacks to start with and allows unlimited royalty free downloads.
11. Picjumbo
Picjumbo is a amazing online platform to get colourful vibrant photos of various categories ranging from Abstract, Love, Architecture to Roads and more. The site provides both free content and premium content. The home page itself starts displaying the free content on the site and the option to receive photos by Email is present right there.
The homepage is very vibrant and is very interactive with various tabs providing access to various options. The premium content is accessible through three subscription models priced at 10$, 19$ and 39$ respectively per month or 79$ 159$ and 289$ when paid annually. These models differs in terms of access to certain features such as All in One pack, Mockup collection etc.
12. Pikwizard
Pikwizard is the latest addition to the stock photography family. It holds over 100,000 high-quality images, with 20,000 that are completely exclusive to the site. What makes Pikwizard stand out is its high-quality images of people, which are few and far between on the best stock photography sites. You can also take each image from Pikwizard and edit it on sister graphic design tool, Design Wizard. There is also no attribution required!
Honourable Mention:
Little Visuals
Little Visuals is a online free stock image platform that requires honourable mention. The last upload on this site was a couple years back and the upload has stopped due to the sudden death of its propogator, Nic. However this site still remains a really good source for some amazing free stock photos.
That’s all we have in this list. Let us know if there is any other website that is quite popular and allows to download free photos to users.
