Where To Find Quality Stock Photos
A picture REALLY is worth a thousand words.
All too often though, photos are not given enough thought and are ‘less than carefully’ selected for things like PowerPoint Presentations, Quote Cards, FB Ads, Blog Posts, etc.. As a result, we end of having an inconsistent look and feel (or even a feel we don’t want) for our brand. Images are a key component in communicating our brand look and feel, so it is worth taking the time – and making the investment – to find good quality stock photos that help to further your brand reputation, reach and recognition.
To that end, I want to point you in the direction of some resources I think you might just LOVE.
Paid (but totally worth it) Resources for Stock Photos
HAUTE STOCK – Haute Chocolate is the ‘new girl’ on the block. It is the creation of Rachel Rouhana and features bright, beautiful and stylish stock photos for women entrepreneurs. Rachel has put together a number of different collections of images, including collections that are more ‘flowery’, more whimsical, more modern urban vibe, as well as collections around health and wellness that I think you’ll find fresh and fun. Haute Stock offers a 3 month, 6 month and 12 month membership. AND you can go to the site and download 3 images for free if you want to give them a try. Rachel also has a very helpful blog all about branding, images, your website, etc. Check it out.
123RF – 123RF is my go-to resource for stock photos. They have photos and vector images, as well as video and audio clips… and they have those funny Jack Russell photos that I LOVE :). I like that they offer a combination of serious, funny and even edgy photos. Once you find a collection or photographer that you like, you can ‘favorite’ them and then search just within their photos if you want. I find that helpful. They offer monthly subscription plans, as well as On Demand packages where you buy a certain number of credits. That’s what I usually do. And I usually download images that are medium/large and cost 3 credits. Now I have a collection of images that I have purchased that I’m able to use in my presentations.
Here are some additional paid sites I’ve just discovered…
CREATIVE MARKET – They have WAY more than just photos here. Fonts. Templates for flyers, cards, emails, etc.
Completely FREE Stock Photo Resources
UNSPLASH – I know LOTS of coaches who LOVE Unsplash and use it for their quote cards, webinars, etc.
PIXABAY –
DEATH TO THE STOCK PHOTO – Yes, this is a real site!
PEXELS – OK, this is a site I just found. The images look great and you are able to download 40 images for FREE. Photographers who want to share their images are able to upload them to Pexel… and you get to spread their images around the world. Of course, you can also follow your favorite photographers. Check it out, do some searches and I think you’ll be really happy with what you find.
GOOGLE IMAGES – Although I love the consistency of quality I find on 123RF – just keepin’ it real here – there are still times I’ll grab images off of Google Images. Here are some guidelines to follow when or if you do that as well. When searching, under the search bar, click on the button that says ‘Search Tools’. Under the SIZE menu, select Larger than… 1024×768. This will insure that the image has good quality for things like a PowerPoint.
Resources for Photo Editing and Creation…
CANVA – This is my “go to” image creator for quote cards and Facebook Ads in particular. I have the pro version so that I’m able to save templates and easily re-size images for different platforms.
Your Turn
Have you determined yet the kind of look and feel you want for your brand? Femme and Fancy? Outdoorsy and natural? Corporate and Professional? Family feel? Fun and whimsical? Fresh and healthy? Once you get clarity around the kind of look and feel you want to convey, then take a look in some of the resources I’ve suggested and begin to ‘LIKE’ and or download images that help create that look and feel.
If you’re already using a stock photo service… Please share what is your go-to resource of images and why do you like it?
One more suggestion… if you really don’t know what kind of look and feel you want, head on over to Pinterest and create a ‘mood board’ and begin to gather together photos that convey the kind of feeling you want for your own brand. That will give you a great starting point and some ideas to build on :) Click here to view my website mood board on Pinterest.
Have fun with this… and let the pictures speak.
Pam