Merging Thoughts

As a small business owner, I understand there are priorities when allocating monthly or quarterly budgets and probably one area you think last to invest in is creativity. In this particular case, photography. There are so many great reasons to invest in branded photography, but if your budget is helping you to grow other areas of your business now, that’s great; the primary goal is to solidify the production structure of your business, right?

A stable production structure should help you increase your income and budget; therefore, investing in other areas, such as creative photography, can be possible. But for the time being, if you are allocating your budget to other areas, you can still have some good high-quality photography that can help you enhance your social media content. And the best part, they are commercially free to use. 

Here are four free stock photography websites I like to use for inspiration or reference, but you can definitely use them to create content for your social media platforms. However, just make sure the photos align with your company and what you do. You do not want to use something that does not represent your business or mission. 

Unsplash: is one of my favorite sources for photo inspiration; it contains a collection of more than 3 million high-quality free photos. The chances of finding something similar to what you have in mind are immense. The community on this website keeps growing every year, adding more options, categories, and styles and expanding the search options. The website is easy to navigate, with a top menu with different categories and a prominent search box over a hero image in case you want to be more specific in your searching.

Burst: is another excellent website with significant collections of free stock photography. The contributors are selected based on their professional work, so the type of imagery you find in Burst is unique and well-crafted. Burst is powered by Shopify, one of the most popular eCommerce platforms in the market. Their open-source license is more flexible, giving users more ways to use their photographs. The website is easy to navigate with a more visual way to showcase its categories. 

Pixabay: although this website is not specifically photography-oriented, it does have a great collection of photographs. The photo styles are more generic and less trendy than what you find on Unsplash or Burst. However, it is a good resource for free stock photography and other visual elements like vector graphics, videos, sounds, and music. 

Gratisography: if you need something different and unique, try gratisography. The collection of free stock photographs is small compared to the rest of the websites on this list, but you’ll find only unique photos. The founder describes the photo collection as “the quirkiest, weirdest, and funniest stock photos.” Even their website design fits into that category with some particular fuchsia colors. 

As you may think, these are not the only websites out there. There are many, many options with different characteristics and qualities. It all depends on your needs and what fits your business photography style. As mentioned before, these are some of my favorite ones that I have used for inspiration, reference, and to create mock-up designs. 

Although free stock photography websites are an excellent resource for high-quality photography on a tight budget, this can’t replace branded photography or photography that is particularly crafted for your business. Leveling up your brand with creative photography will have more impact on your audience.

I hope you find these resources useful and help you to enhance your social media content! If you like to get your hand busy and do your own photography. Check out this DIY photo booth to get started with product photography, or better, contact me for a free brand/product photography audit.

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