Finding the right stock photography site to purchase your images from is no walk in the park. It involves a lot of time and effort to make sure you don’t end up with overused content. Hiring photographers may be the best option, but it can be expensive and time-consuming. Creative Commons does not help either as they may come with legal liability. If you are a novice designer, writer, artist, download images from reputable stock photo websites to ensure high quality and avoid legal issues. Read more here.
For starting designers, writers, artists who want to stand out from the competition without breaking the bank, we recommend the following stock photo sources:
- PHOTOCASE
The artsy stock photography website from Berlin is one of the best niche and trendy stock photo agencies in the market. They have over 500,000 images in their library, filled with unique and very distinctive stock photos. Photocase also has a special collection of artistic, extraordinary, and rare photos. You can find stock images with unconventional models, out of the box concepts, and non-posed shots that can make your project stick out from the competition. - DRAGONIMAGES
DragonImages is a stock photography website based in Asia. They produce regionally specialized stock images, perfect if you are looking for high quality, professional photos that represent the Asian culture and people. They add adversity to the large pool of stock photo collections available. Their super low prices make them one of the best places to download stock images if you are new to the creative industry. - TONL
TONL brings diversity to the stock photo industry through accurate representations of the real world we live in. They have a small yet varied library filled with authentic, natural-looking images of models from various racial heritages and cultural backgrounds. Their plans and pricing are also affordable, which help many starting creatives and businesses with small budgets.
If you are a starting creative with a limited budget, that doesn’t mean you can’t get high-quality images to enhance your projects. The following list of stock photo sites offer unlimited stock photography at super affordable prices:
- STORYBLOCKS
Storyblocks is a stock media platform that specializes in unlimited download plans. They have over 400,000 images in their collection, all of which you can download for an affordable price. Aside from 100% royalty-free content, you can also enjoy fresh content, unbeatable savings, and unlimited use. If you need tons of photos all the time, this is one of the best stock photo resources for you. - ENVATO ELEMENTS
Although relatively new to the creative industry, Envato Elements host several marketplaces specializing in specific media types. They have a curated collection of over 630,000 content that you can access with a subscription plan. You can enjoy unlimited downloads from the entire collection for only $29 a month. - STOCKUNLIMITED
StockUnlimited is a stock photography website that offers unlimited downloads of illustrations and vectors. They have over 1 million visuals, including stock photos, audio files, and fonts. You can download them for a very low price. Nine dollars for 10 downloads is an excellent deal to get all kinds of media you need for your project.
If you are a starting designer, writer, or artist, unlimited downloads and very low prices are all you need to create remarkable projects. While you can get all these from Creative Commons and public domains, these stock photo resources are not reliable. You can end up violating copyright laws, which may tarnish your reputation as a creative. It is still best to purchase the right license to protect you from legal issues that may arise down the road.
Copyright infringement is a severe offense in the creative industry. A stock image needs to have the right license for you to be able to use it legally. Creative Commons license is not applicable for commercial use. Thus, you need to download your startup stock photos from reputable stock image sites. You can use royalty-free and rights-managed images from the above photography sites in various projects, including social media and blog posts.