If you are anything like me, you are all fed up with articles reminding the trivial a picture is worth a thousand words formula. While universally contagious, expressions like this fail to increase the communicative value of the meanings conveyed. That is why they are quickly rendered irrelevant by the broader audience.
Nevertheless, pictures do have the ability to expand the inferential function of the language and every website needs them in order to achieve its full capacity. In a sense, as hackneyed as they are, templated phrases do seem to fulfill the requirement of being applicable.
The so-called hero images on your website’s main pages require an exquisite dedication when being chosen. They are representative of your whole brand identity and can establish the overall tone of the website.
The filler images, however, might be the ones you use in your WordPress hosting blog posts, social networks, and secondary pages. These are the images that due to their large number require alternative ways of finding them. Free stock photo sites are a wonderful little thing when it comes to this.
That is why we have collected the 7 best free stock photo sites in 2018. These are the most optimal way of finding and using royalty-free images.
The 7 Best Free Stock Photo Sites
High-quality images do not necessarily come at an enormous price. On the contrary, way too often one can witness the incredibly cheesy-looking cheap photos available on most of the paid stock photo websites.
On the other hand, numerous free stock photo sites emerge offering a wide variety of contemporary-looking beautiful images completely free of charge.
1. PEXELS
Pexels is a collective free stock photo website featuring some of the most curated and professional imagery out there.
With all of the photographs being under the Creative Commons Zero license, every image uploaded to the website is free of charge for both, commercial and personal use. Most importantly, images do not require attributions and credits to their authors.
As search engines are incorporated in almost every contemporary website, Pexels is not an exception. This functionality, combined with the Similar Photos section and the included tags, allows users to easily navigate in the website. All of this results in a facilitated journey towards the right picture for you.
2. UNSPLASH
Unsplash is quite similar to the previous website. It also has a large selection of beautiful images. As opposed to the unnatural and quite honestly, trivial, stock photo websites, Unsplash includes some of the most breathtaking and natural imagery on the web.
To navigate the website, what I like to do, is visit @unsplash’s collections. The profile has curated photographs for a variety of occasions and topics. The images are also tagged which helps with the eternal striving for coherence and consistency.
3. NEGATIVE SPACE
NegativeSpace is a free stock photo website with a rich directory of diverse photography. Almost anything that comes to mind can be easily found using the incorporated search engine.
Moreover, categories allow users to browse through the numerous images and classify their searches into topics. The tags are also an easy way to ensure the satisfactory experience of the users and ensure the inner consistency of the website.
4. STOCKSNAP
StockSnap couldn’t make the cut for the best free stock photo sites because of its intuitive design and the pleasant user experience ensured by the clear functionality.
Here again, categories divide into thematic groups allowing users to browse through topics. Also, a trending page displays the most popular images in a chosen time period. The favorites feature is also a cool addition to the otherwise simple experience.
5. ISO REPUBLIC
Finding beautiful and spontaneous images online can be hard but ISO Republic ensures that everyone arrives at the right one featuring thousands of breathtaking photographs.
Photo categories and free stock videos are just a couple among the multiple features making the website a special spot in our best stock photo sites list for 2018.
6. PIXABAY
To be honest, Pixabay and me have a love/hate relationship. The literally infinite directory of images on the website can be both a delightful surprise and an annoying time consumer.
Nevertheless, the fact is that Pixabay is one of the largest free stock photo sites and is the preferred choice of our users for a reason. Videos, vector graphics, and illustrations contribute to the diversity of the website turning every search into a journey itself.
7. LIFE OF PIX
Life of Pix might be the last on our list but definitely isn’t the least. The website has a lot to offer to the aesthetes who look for extraordinary and unique free images. They also show their appreciation for the photographs contributing to their content by dedicating them a whole page. Other impressive features include free videos and a gallery view of the uploaded photographs.
In conclusion
Images have an inexplicable power over the human mind. Sight is one of the most informative senses our kind has and that is why the input received through it has the highest value of all.
Choosing the right visual stimuli, however, can be a difficult experience considering the industrial quantity of images produced daily. Paying for photographs is an essential investment when it comes to cornerstone pages but the rest of the images require a more resourceful approach.
The collected list of best free stock photo sites online aimed to ease the journey to find the one picture that can convey your thousands of words.