Design, UI, UX, Inspiration
24 Free Stock Photo Galleries That Look Natural
Deadlines are coming and you are looking for the right free stock photos to fit your project need. How stressful is that? Not much, if you have a selection of great sources for free stock photos to browse through. See our top choices now.
What jumps into your mind when you hear “stock photo”? Most probably a businessman with a briefcase, big smile and somewhat forced hand gestures and poses. Some of the other horrific slides flashing before our eyes can be company employees pointing at the viewer on a white background with boring composition, or a lady laughing at the salad she is eating… well, we could go on and on, but we’ve already seen plenty of free stock photo examples which are overused, unattractive and sometimes, don’t even look professional.
Did you know that there are several free sources with amazing, high-quality photos related to business, that you can use for your website, graphic projects or just as a reference for your photographer?
If you want to make a good impression and present your business as high-value, then it’s crucial that your visuals correspond to your goal and vision.
Why waste time drowning in the abundance of stock photos out there, when we have hand-picked the best free stock photo galleries for you?
Dive in!
1. Workspace curated by Grovemade
One of the most used visuals in today’s blogs and companies’ websites are photos of workspaces, desks, stationery and the like. We love this gallery because it offers a selection of work-themed shots with a pinch of personality to them and great colors (not the washy, whitish, sterile usuals.) You can choose from close-ups, office shots and teamwork scenes. Have a look!
Unsplash is a great source for high-res, exquisite images, updated every 10 days with 10 new photos. Free to use as you like.
2. Commerce, Architecture
Another great gallery we found at Unspalsh, is dedicated to architecture, landscapes, structures and corporates. If you want to achieve a sense of scale and make a solid impression on your audience, make sure to check this gallery out.
3. Dark portraits by Rowan Heuvel
Free stock photos of impressive portraits are rare species to find. It’s one of the trickiest stock photo categories to do whilst looking natural and professional. Well, Rowan has done a great job in selecting breathtaking black and white portraits (which will also breathe life into your design). Great choice for fashion blogs or use as an inspiration for your own team photos. Do you agree? We thought you did!
4. Minimal by Kathleen Gr
Minimal is dear to the hearts of many. It is easy on the eye, elegant and classy. If you know your audience and they are minimalistic style lovers – you won’t be disappointed when picking photos from this gallery (and saving yourself time, while getting the expensive look!)
5. Patterns by Chloe Urban
Need something fresh, juicy and original? Patterns make stong statements, but at the same time don’t distract from the main focal point of your website – the King – your Content!
6. Styled Food by Chloe Trammel
Of course, sometimes you may need to photoshoot food by yourself, and you probably know, that product photos are not an easy task. Why not browse this gallery, explore high-quality styled food free stock photos and get inspired? In the best case scenario, you will find something useful to include in your projects with just a few clicks!
7. Travel and Business Gallery by Fancycrave1
A great free stock photo gallery – the compositions are interesting, there is diversity in the color corrections and mood of photos. We especially love the macros and landscapes – deserves a look!
One of the greatest advantages of Pixabay – public domain free stock photos (also vectors, drawings, etc.) In short- you do not have to worry about licenses and attributions, just find the right photo and enrich your project.
8. Business by Rawpixel
The problem with the most business stock images is, that they either show only details – such as a laptop screen, notebook with a pen, working station, etc. or stiff, predictable photos of employees with forced smiles and all-the-same color schemes. This gallery is from thebest student in class – everything, from the rich light, colors, composition to the situations/actions of people is excellent. Yes, an A grade, you should check them out!
9. Equinox by Kay Isabedra
We love this gallery – looks crafty, messy (in a good way) and hipster. Deep tones and great detail – perfect for a more masculine project, website or blog.
Source: Death to the Stock Photo
Death to the Stock Photo was started by 2 phothographers, which wanted to contribute to the community with consistently good photos. Free sign up for a package of photos every month, also offers a subscription plan. You choose what suits you best.
10. Very Creative by Various Authors
As much the previous gallery has a serious tone to it, our next selection is youthful, fun, quirky and provocative. Certainly, one of the attention-grabbers from our selection. Go and find out if it’s exactly what you need!
11. Fashion, nature, business with sun flares
Dreamy, misty, colorful gallery with lots of girls, fashion accessories and sun flares. If you are looking for warm colors palletes with complimenting purples and feminine tone to the visuals – visit the gallery.
One of the sources for free stock images with most user-friendly navigation and categorizing. Plenty of free photos plus premium service, if you want to commit.
12. Nature, abstract, architecture and more
Beautiful photos with a cinematic feel to them. Well thought out color schemes with attractive color combos and contrast. The light in most of them is ambient and the overall feel is somewhat melancholic. This makes the gallery very specific, but unique and a nice accent for the right design. Surely, you will stand out from the crowd.
Great variety of categories, hand-picked photos.
13. Perfect for bloggers and creatives
Small thumbnails and many different filters. Somewhat different from the other sources with more unified in style photos, but you can browse quickly through and explore different styles.
Uses Flickr’s API and searches Creative Commons to find the photos you need. Don’t forget to use the html links for attribution.
14.Work in Progress Web Design Sketches
An extensive tagging system, allowing you to find similar in style free stock photo galleries. We find the work in progress galleries very useful for all sorts of projects – here is one to bookmark. Easy and done.
15. Simple hand gestures with clear background
Simple and memorable visuals with bright colors, which your audience will love. Very modern looking and straight-forward messages.
16. Fashion
We love all the photos on this website. If you are looking for an unified style and consistency of quality – this is your place. The fashion category is very rich – it has photos of details, models and store spaces.
Get inspired by their popular searches and collection galleries – public domain images, use as you please.
17. City, people, urban
It’s difficult to find free stock photo galleries with large groups of people and city environments that look natural. If you need one anyway, this is our pick – enjoy!
18. Music
What we love about this website, besides the wonderful photos, is the easy download – just click and you are already getting the visual you want. You get access to different styles of photos, thanks to the various contributors on the website and their personal signature.
Beautiful images, free and suitable both for personal and commercial use.
19. Details, objects, nature
We love the extensive tagging system and the useful extra suggestions, based on your searches. We are fans of their Vintage picks – have a look!
Free for both personal and commercial use.
20. Mood, atmosphere, artsy
We admire this website’s black and white photos, but there is so much more to explore – so just scroll and use the tags to find the most suitable visual for your project.
Free for both personal and commercial use.
21. Children, faces, details
The photos here have color tags, so you can browse by color and see how your favorite would fit to your overall color scheme. It is useful to have info about the pixel and file size of the photo, and the guys here have provided this information – good job!
Public domain photos – just grab for any projects of yours.
22. Macro, nature, countryside
Not only can you find beautiful free stock photo galleries here, but you can also explore “photographers of the week” and get to know the people behind the high-quality visuals. Cool, modern and fresh website, it’s a pleasure to sit back, relax and find THAT photo you need.
Search by color, location and monitor views and likes of the visuals. No copyright restrictions.
23. Texture, abstract, detail
A lot of motion, drama and strong colors in these selections of photos. You receive them zipped to your e-mail. Currently, there aren’t many new uploads, you can read about it on the website, and probably decide to make a donation after doing so.
Packs with 7 high-res photos, free to use as you like.
24. Pattern, landscape, architecture by Jay Mantri
Beautiful light, space and compositions in this photographer’s work. You can also follow him on Instagram for daily inspiration and to keep yourself updated with the content created.
Free to use as you like.
Free stock photo galleries to share?
Have we missed something off our list? Which are your favorite free stock photo galleries? We’d love to include them in this article.
Looking for even more inspiration? You might also like 25 Web Design Inspiration Sources You Probably Didn’t Know About.
As a last note – don’t forget to check licenses of photos you want to use in your projects from other sources, to avoid the headache and consequences of infringing authors’ rights over their work. If they are Public Domain – you are good to go. Sometimes, attribution of the author also gives you the right to use the visual for various purposes. Just check and enjoy!
Cheers,
htmlBurger team