02 Aug 2010, Posted by Kevin Mullett in marketing tools,photography, 7 Comments

my 49 STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY sites mega list

The following are sites I have accumulated for stock photography over the years. Google Images and many others are intentionally left out as I am only interested in ones with a high volume of royalty free or creative commons rights. I never use rights managed imagery in mockups / comps unless specifically requested by the client. And yes, this has ballooned way past 49 stock photography sites. Enjoy! (all open in a new window, oh and the image in the header is one I shot, so don’t bother looking for it.)

Please check here if you are looking for sites that search stock photography sites and creative commons photography locations.

Inexpensive but generally good quality:

• http://www.adigitaldreamer.com/gallery/index.php
• http://www.bigstockphoto.com
• http://www.dreamstime.com
• http://www.fotolia.com
• http://www.istockphoto.com
• http://www.photrade.com
• http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml (free but read guidelines)
• http://www.pixmac.com — (added 11/19/2009)
• http://www.cutcaster.com — (added 11/19/2009)
• http://publicphoto.org — (added 01/05/2011, free but read the guidlines)
• http://www.tssphoto.com — (added 03/08/2011, free for personal use but read the guidelines)
• http://www.mediabakery.com — (added 08/22/2011)
• http://www.photocase.com — (added 08/22/2011)

Expensive professional stock photography sites:

• http://www.all-royalty-free.com — (updated)
• http://www.comstock.com
• http://gettyimages.com
• http://www.jupiterimages.com
• http://library.mira.com
• http://www.photolibrary.com
• http://pro.corbis.com/rfshop/default.aspx
• http://www.veer.com
• http://yotophoto.com — (currently not loading 09-19-2010)
• http://www.blendimages.com — (added 11/19/2009)
• http://www.stockphotopro.com — (added 03/08/2011)

Find paid and freebie stock photography:

(Note: please check usage and rights carefully!)

• http://www.freerangestock.com
• http://www.imageafter.com
• http://www.morguefile.com
• http://www.nationsillustrated.com
• http://openphoto.net
• http://www.photogen.com
• http://photolib.noaa.gov — Photos that are free to use from U.S. Government sites
• http://www.photorogue.com
• http://www.photoshelter.com
• http://www.pixelio.de
• http://www.public-domain-photos.com
• http://www.stockvault.net
• http://www.unprofound.com
• http://www.cepolina.com/freephoto
• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
• http://www.deviantart.com
• http://www.digitalrailroad.net
• http://www.flickr.com
• http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
• http://www.freefoto.com
• http://www.freepixels.com
• http://geekphilosopher.com/MainPage/photos.htm
• http://www.moodboard.com
• http://www.nationsillustrated.com
• http://www.photorack.net
• http://www.ultrashock.com
• http://www.unprofound.com
• http://www.viget.com/inspire/i-can-has-stock-images
• http://www.picapp.com — Photos stay on their servers. (added 11/19/2009)
• http://www.rgbstock.com
• http://imagebase.davidniblack.com — Creative Commons Attribution
• http://www.freestockphotos.biz — check carefully as they have mixed rights
• http://www.freewebphoto.com — free only if you provide backlink otherwise there is a charge
• http://www.freephotosbank.com

Specialty providers:

• http://www.foodanddrinkphotos.com
• http://www.sciencephoto.com
• http://www.creationswap.com — religious and church graphics, logos, and pictures (added 02/25/2011)

Search and Stock tools:

I split the stock photography search tools into a separate post. See this post if in search of stock photography search tools! And remember just because you find an image does not mean you have rights to use it! Always confirm usage rights.

I hope this list has helped you on your design project, blog post, or slides. If you have found any that don’t work or are not relivant anymore please let me know. You can follow my shenanigans on twitter or see my photography on flickr.