When photographers capture high-quality images to sell commercially, they want to increase their gains, so they shape their ideas in a way that meet the commercial trends. Therefore, stock photos always look like stock, and those minor deceptions introduce a fair amount of doubt in the mind of users.
However, with the advent of quality camera phones, and affordable DSLRs, people are now increasingly getting into amateur photography who are not looking to monetize every shot. It means that if you know where to look for, you can get high-quality images that are more natural, less posed, less clichéd, and more diverse.
According to the professionals working at a reputed web design and development company in Kolkata, the following are the best websites to look for attractive, and trust-building stock photos, which are all free-to-use.
1. Pexels
Pexels is a renowned site with a huge collection of quality images that suits well on a ‘premium’ website. You will also get a ton of free videos. The search feature of Pexels is specifically well-tuned. Pexels also conduct regular challenges, and announce cash prizes for photographers.
2. Reshot
It is one of the best websites on the internet, with a vast collection of curated images. There is a distinct Instagram-like feel to the photos on Reshot. These do not feel staged, and in many cases, they do not appear like stock. This gives them a genuine feel that some ‘premium’ stock websites fail to deliver.
3. Unsplash
Another site that the experts at the best web design company in Kolkata use is Unsplash. It has one of the widest collection of free photos on the internet. It has a huge collection of standard and an increasingly growing collection of more creative images. It allows you to find the more marketable images, including the easily identifiable brands.
4. Life of Pix
It highlights one photographer a week to upload ten images. It means addition of a competitive angle to the website, as the photographers submit quality shots to get the exposure they need. Unless you are very fortunate, the ideal photo is not found in the current set. You need to click the ‘Gallery’ link, where you will have access to the shots that have been uploaded earlier.
5. Nappy
Unlike the ‘premium’ sites that are established to turn a profit, the free stock sites usually set out to address loopholes in the market. One such site is Nappy, which was developed to address the underrepresentation of brown or black people on many of the stock sites.
6. Burst
A stock site, offered by Shopify, to help new entrepreneurs or start ups find stock photos to help them showcase their products is Burst. As suggested by a developer at Digital Googly, regarded to be the best website development company in Kolkata, anyone can use these shots, although there is an inclination towards commercial images instead of the editorial ones. There is a good mix of photos that rival many premium sites.