No professional photos for your biz? No problem.
While brand photos are among one of the most important collateral pieces for your brand and I do recommend having a professional photoshoot done, I also know that this isn’t one of the most feasible things that newer business owners can afford.
Not to mention, brand photos don’t do you much good if they don’t accurately reflect your brand’s heart, messaging and visual aesthetic and if you’re just starting out, you may not have all of those things dialed in quite yet.
With that said, using imagery across your website, blog and social media platforms is still needed and super important, so what can you do in the meantime?
First things first, I do encourage you to have a few photos of yourself that you can use throughout your website. People connect with people so having 3-5 images to use consistently will allow people to put a face with your name.
Even if it means using a tripod with your phone to snap a few photos of yourself in your office, at your desk or in a setting that matches your brand, these can suffice until you are able to hire someone for a professional photoshoot.
After that, you truly can get by with the help of a few of my favorite stock image resources that are free for commercial use with no attribution required.
NOTE: you don’t just want to pull images from Google! I think we all know that’s a major no-no. 🙅🏻♀️
Almost all images on Google are protected by copyright meaning the owner of the image has not given permission for their images to be used by others.
Luckily, there are a few resources out there that allow for royalty free use, no attribution to the creator and operate under special licensing so that you can freely use the images as you wish.
Royalty free means the content has been initially secured (typically through payment) and additional uses can be made free of charge.
The way this works with stock image sites is that the creator is usually paid to provide their images and then YOU get to use those images for free!
Top 4 Royalty Free Stock Image Sites
Pexels.com
Pexels is one of the most popular stock image sites and it’s because they make it the most simple to use.
It’s essentially a search engine for high quality stock photos and videos that are royalty free and are provided by a community of photographers.
With Pexels, no membership or attribution (meaning crediting the creator) is required, you can search for exactly what you need and you can instantly download photos and videos for use as needed.
It’s a great source for blog images, background photos for social media or use as fillers across your website.
Unsplash is another popular site used to source their stock imagery and one of the only differences between Pexels and Unsplash is that you have to have a membership to unlock some of the photos on the platform. Filter out the images with the Unsplash+ icon on the image and you'll still be able to use those without requiring any attribution as an instant download. Although Unsplash+ has an inexpensive monthly fee, it can still defeat the purpose of what you’re trying to achieve.
On the flipside of that however, Unsplash tends to have larger search results and you can often find very specific images that you need that other stock image sites might not have available.
Similar to Pexels, Unsplash is searchable and doesn’t require any attribution.
So, depending on what you’re searching for you may find that Unsplash is a better fit!
Pixabay.com
Similar to the two mentioned above, Pixabay is another great choice when searching for stock images to use on your website or social media.
Along with photos and videos, you can also download royalty free music, which can come in handy if you need background music for a video for your brand.
All of the content on Pixabay operates under special licensing, which allows you to use the content royalty free, without attribution to the creator and it can even be used for commercial purposes, meaning for financial gain.
This platform is again very searchable and does not require a membership.
Picography.co
Picography is a lesser known stock image platform where you can also search for photos and instantly download them under a free license.
The images provided on this platform are a bit different than your traditional stock images and often feature beautiful outdoor scenes and settings. This can be very valuable if this relates to your brand!
A huge pro of Picography is that they also have very clear categories making your searches much easier.
A COUPLE MORE QUICK TIPS:
When selecting photos, it's a good idea to find images with a similar lens filter, and color scheme much like I've curated in this post. A highly desaturated photo wouldn't aesthetically compliment a highly saturated one in most cases.
Also, as you are searching, you may notice advertisements on the website that may could lead you to a paid stock photography site. Be sure you aren't inadvertently clicking on previews of images from other paid sites.
While the images on these sites ARE completely free to use without mentioning the photographer, you might consider crediting the creator anyway or contributing a small donation since they are providing this service for free. Afterall, we are all trying to make a living here!
IN CONCLUSION:
The last thing I want for you as a business owner is to let your photos (or the lack thereof) hold you back from showing up where you need to!
Do branded images help you have a beautiful website and aesthetically pleasing social media feed? Absolutely! Do I encourage you to invest in branded photos one day? Also yes!
But do I think that you have to have those immediately in order to start? NOPE!
Don’t be afraid to start with what you have (even if that’s just free stock images from a site listed above) and refine as you go.
When you’re ready to up your branding and incorporate more of a cohesive and aesthetic style into your website,
I’ll be herE!
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