WebDizeo

I’m tired of sites that try to lure me in with “Free Stock Photography” in their advertising only to find out that what they really mean is “Royalty Free” stock photography. What does that mean? That means that I only have to pay for the image once, but can use it over and over again. But that’s not what I’m looking for.

I like FREE. I mean really, really free.

Of course, not all stock photography can be free. I understand that. I do fork over some pretty good money for the really awesome stuff. But for many of my projects, free stock photography does deliver.

Below is a list of the top 6 free stock photo sites that I frequent:

stock.xchng There are over 1,500,000 registered users and more that 350,000 photos on this site. People from all over the world submit their work here and you can benefit by simply signing up (which is free) and downloading the images you want to use.

StockVault also has tons of photos that can be used in many projects ranging from personal to commercial applications. They mention on their website that they’re not trying to compete with royalty free stock, but rather trying to fulfill the need for “somewhat” free stock imagery.

EveryStockPhoto rakes in tons of freely licensed photos from many sources into one place. Actually, they bring in photos from stock.xchng, flickr, MySpace, Google, Yahoo, and many more sites. Membership is free and allows you to rate, tag, collect, and comment on photos as well. Highly Recommended.

FreePhotosBank is another great resource for getting free stock photography. This site has a quick navigation feature that allows you to quickly access photos that are related to the type of look and feel that you’re trying to accomplish. You just click on an image and download.

MorgueFile has a decent stock photo selection. Don’t let the name fool you. These aren’t “dead” images. This site is simply a public reference tool. Think of it as images for public use.

FreeRangeStock offers very professional free stock photography. According to their website, they feel that free stock photos can be good photos (I agree). They answer the question, “How can these images be free?” pretty well. Their site reads, “Freerange is an advertising revenue supported photographic community - photographers get paid when users click on the ads that appear next to their submissions.”

I almost always find what I need by visiting these sites. They are my real “go to” places and haven’t let me down yet.

But…just in case you still need some more sites to go check out, take a look at Rockfuse’s “41 Places to find Free Images to your Blog or Web Site!“

Technorati Tags: free photos, free stock photography, web design photos, web design tips

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