Beautiful, free images gifted by the world’s most generous community of photographers. Many stock photos will feature over-exaggerated emotions from the performers. Unless you want your post to be comedic, it’s best to steer clear of these types of images, as they can turn a serious topic into a joke quite quickly. This stunning aerial image features 2 cars meeting on a snow-soaked road surrounded by an endless forest.

It offers the stunning, top-notch visuals you’d expect from assignment work via a royalty-free license. The user-generated content is provided under a Pexels License, which is a Creative Commons license; you can use the stock photos and video clips for free, even for commercial work. Pexels has a good range of photos, and most businesses will find something to suit their needs. Licensing stock photos can be complicated and confusing; some sites prefer a pay-per-clip structure, others offer membership with unlimited downloads. Royalty-free stock images won’t require ongoing copyright credit for using the photos and won’t have a time limit on how long you can use them.

Editorial vs. Commercial

As more photographers enter the market, the quality of stock photography has continued to rise. These days, brands strive for transparency and authenticity, so lifestyle photos that feel relatable are in high-demand. Today’s stock photography has moved away from posed and staged images and towards candid, everyday moments featuring real people.

While the content is user-generated, the collection is much smaller than the other entries on this list. Additionally, Burst only offers 2 sizes of images, unlike the 4 or 5 options available on other sites. Motion Array has a vast stock image library, some of which are available for free. Unlike other entries on this list, membership to this website does have a cost, but Motion Array is far more than a Stock Image website. Within your membership, you also get access to stock video, plugins, music, and project templates, as well as an editing review platform and a website portfolio page.

Types of Stock Photography

Put yourself out there and be prepared for some rejection, but push your boundaries into shooting someone new that you are creatively inspired by. Opportunities for portrait photography are anywhere where there are people. They have high standards, so you’ll need to send in your ten best images. If seven of those are accepted by their reviewers, you’ll become a contributor. Unless you have a specific message that would suit a bizarre image, it’s best to avoid anything that might feel off to your audience. Unnatural activities or settings are plentiful in the stock image world, but if it’s not for a specific reason, it won’t make sense to your viewer.

Customers are no longer looking for the typical stock images that have traditionally defined the stock marketplaces. Now more than ever, customers are looking for creative stock photography images that tell stories. It’s Shutterstock” campaign, we introduce this idea of stock reinvented and reimagined.

Product Stock Photography Tips

This list is a direct result of a data analysis on the keywords and terms that customers searched for during that time of year the year prior. We also put in new and emerging trends that are up-and-coming in the stock photography world. This should be the number one resource you bookmark and look up before you plan any stock photography shoot. Last year, Shutterstock celebrated a landmark $1 billion in contributor earnings. One of the most significant changes, he says, has come in the form of stock photography — high-quality, ready-made visuals available for licensing by clients around the world.

Shutterstock is home to more than 200 million images from global contributors, including photographers, illustrators, and more. In the case of a rights-managed license, best free photo stocks for designers the buyer pays a price based on how they plan to use the photo. The cost will change depending on the duration of use, the location, the image size, and more.

Bring props, wardrobe, and makeup options that allow you to tell a unique story through the concept you’re trying to photograph. Learn how to find sharp images when searching for the best stock photos. Photographers of all experience levels and backgrounds can submit their work for consideration. If the images meet the technical requirements and have commercial value, they could be accepted by a provider like Shutterstock, then sold to clients. With that kind of growth, stock photography has become more accessible and more competitive. Whereas, once photographers might have needed a studio and access to expensive gear, digital cameras and mobile phones have democratized the process.

• Offset by Shutterstock is a carefully curated collection of stock images from some of the top commercial and editorial photographers in the world.
• Public domain is pretty straightforward — anyone can use the images for free, as many times as they want, and in as many different ways as they want.
• Start by engaging your models in a meaningful conversation to find out a little about them, and help them loosen up.
• Unlike other entries on this list, membership to this website does have a cost, but Motion Array is far more than a Stock Image website.
• The overexposed-style image is bright and saturated with color, ideal for design, fashion, lifestyle, and wellness content.
• See what photos are selling and trending, and think about how you can add your own spin on them or make them better.

Traditional stock photography has gotten a bit of a bad reputation in the past, as many stock images were overused and obvious. When using stock images, you want to look for photos that your audience won’t know immediately is a stock image; look for fresh, new, and creative ideas. The photographers who earn a living in stock photography are those who have built up portfolios of thousands of images, applied relevant metadata, and continued to add fresh content. They also aren’t afraid to try new things and adapt to this exciting and fast-paced market. Stock photography isn’t a get-rich-quick deal, but results do come with time, organization, and consistency.