Imagery is important in communication. As cliche as it may sound, a photo really can be worth a thousand words. For many small businesses just starting out, it can be difficult to collect a bank of photos and videos from existing resources as a photo shoot can become very expensive and time-consuming. When chosen carefully, stock photos and videos are an effective way to add life to your website, social media platforms, or advertisements. 

We have compiled a list of some of our favorite resources for stock photos and videos to share. These sites can come in handy for a variety of projects and can help capture the attention of your target audience. 

Unsplash

Unsplash is a stock photography platform that currently boasts 3 million images. Unsplash was created as a Tumblr blog in 2013. The creators of this platform created the site because they were having trouble finding high-quality stock images with a variety of content. Unsplash is a platform powered by a community of professional, amateur, and hobby photographers that have donated their own photos to Unsplash for public use.

Click Here to learn more about their licensing information

Pexels

Pexels is a free stock photo and video website and app that helps designers, bloggers, and everyone who is looking for visuals to find great photos and videos that can be downloaded and used for free. Pexels is run by Bruno Joseph, Ingo Joseph, and Daniel Frese. Bruno and Ingo co-founded Pexels together in 2014 and Daniel joined them in 2015. Pexels accepts photos and video submissions from everyone.

Click Here to learn more about their licensing information

Canva

Canva is a popular tool that offers templates and design tools that anyone can use to make eye-catching graphics and animations for a variety of different projects. Within their platform, Canva offers millions of stock photos that can be used to enhance visual content. With a paid upgrade to Canva Pro, you can have access to Canva’s full library of stock photos and videos that can be edited and added to templates within the same Canva platform. 

Click Here to learn more about their licensing information

Adobe

Adobe Stock is a paid tool that offers stock images. However, if you don’t have the budget to pay for a stock photography subscription, Adobe Express is a new tool that offers templates and design tools similar to Canva. Like Canva, Adobe Express offers stock photos that can be used to enhance visual content. If you already pay for Adobe services, you will have access to Adobe Express’s premium plan which includes even more stock photos and videos that can be edited and added to templates within the same Adobe Express platform. 

Click Here to learn more about their licensing information