You’ve written a terrific blog post. Next step is to scour the Internet for the right photo to accompany your post. But just as our writing is copyright-protected, so are many of the photos we find on the Internet.
So where can you find appropriate photos that are legal to us and also free?
Here are a few sources to consider:
“Canva is an online designing software that makes designing images simple and is easily accessible, allowing you to create designs for Web or print.” Registration is required.
The free subscription provides access to a monthly email of free photos.
This site offers “free high-resolution photos” with “no copyright restrictions.” It goes on to say “all images are donated to the public domain.”
Identifies itself as a source of faith-focused, cheesy-free stock photos.
A paid subscription is required for unlimited use, but if you are on their email list, they offer a free photo every week.
The Met has made more than 40,000 high-resolution images available online.
This site does not require registration.
Requires registration but the photos are free.
This site offers “Free (do whatever you want) high-resolution photos.”
U.S. government agencies
Many U.S. government agencies allow their images to be used without charge.
Pay attention to the various Creative Commons licenses. The most flexible Creative Commons license is Creative Commons Zero (CC0). CC0 enables you to use the photos for free, even commercially, without asking for permission or even crediting the photographer.
Always read any licensing fine print. Some free photos have restrictions preventing commercial use. Some sources require an attribution (e.g. “photo courtesy of …”) while others do not require that you credit the photographer. Still other sources provide the photo for free, but limit your use to one time only.
This list is just a sampling of what’s available, but it’s a good start. Have fun exploring these sources of free photos!
Thanks for sharing, Ava. This is very helpful.