Tag Archive for: stock photos

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Get the Most Out of Stock Photos With These Three Tips

Graphic of Polaroid with title Stock Images: Get the most out of your stock photos with these three tips!

Whether you are using stock photos for social media, your blog posts or your website, knowing these tips to get the most out of your search will help make your content more original. Here are 3 things to keep in mind when searching through stock photos: 

Pay Attention to Trends In Stock Photos 

Trends are constantly changing, whether it’s fashion, social media, or even the phone we use, these trends can sometimes be easily identifiable in photos. When using stock photos, you want to be careful that the image doesn’t showcase an out of date trend, unless of course that’s what you would like to show. It’s critical to review the date of the stock photo and ensure it doesn’t look dated. A stock photo that was taken in 2010 will likely look very different from an image that was taken in 2020. For more trendy stock photo, we like to use Unsplash.com. This is a free stock image website that provides 2021 quality images.

Not All Images Need To Have Faces

Landscapes, everyday objects and images that don’t show the model’s face are great substitutes for when you aren’t able to take your own professional brand photography. We love and recommend using stock photos for social media stories. For example, if you want to share some responses from a question you asked on social media, you can use stock images of the answer topic for the background. This is a really easy way to get great visuals! 

Get Very Specific With Your Search 

Getting extremely specific with your search on websites such as 123rf.com or Adobe Stock help you get the images you need and want, and limits the time spent sifting through images that aren’t reflecting your vision. When getting specific, try describing the people you would like to see, or the action that they will be doing. Another great reason to get specific is that you are more likely to find unique images, which will allow you and your content to stand out! 


The next time you need content and are looking to use Stock Images, try these tips! If you need help stepping up your social media game, book a discovery call with us!

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Top 3 Stock Photo Websites

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A picture is worth a thousand words. This saying is very accurate! Using photos is extremely important as people are drawn more to photos rather than text. Using stock photos has become a very popular choice for people as it saves you the time and money of hiring a photographer. Stock photos can be found online and are already created and ready to be downloaded for your use. Before downloading a stock photo, you will need to pay for it in order to hold the license (although some websites do offer free stock photos).

Types of Uses for Stock Photos

There are two most common uses for stock photos: commercial use and editorial use.

Commercial Use:

  • Marketing
  • Social Media
  • Branding
  • Used on Your Website

Editorial Use:

Accompanying text content such as:

  • Blogs
  • Articles
  • Magazines
  • Newspapers

We have done extensive research on various stock photo websites and have come up with our top 3. Best of all, we have included paid and free options.

Pexels (Free)

Pexels is a royalty free, high-resolution photo marketplace. All photos on Pexels are free for commercial and personal use. Pexels offers thousands of photo options all at high resolution, and they even offer free stock videos as well. Unlike many stock photo websites, Pexels does not require you to register for an account – anyone can upload and download photos! Giving credit to the author is not necessary but is definitely appreciated by both Pexels and the author. Just remember, you CANNOT use these photos for resale.

Pixabay (Free)

Pixabay is another free stock photo website that offers photos, videos, vectors, illustrations and more. Currently, there are more than 1 million options to choose from on Pixabay. All contents are released under Creative Commons CC0. This makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the author/artist. Like Pexels, Pixabay does not require you to create an account in order to download the photos, although certain features do require registration. You may not use the photos and videos from Pixabay for resale, but you can most definitely use the graphics they offer for personal or commercial use.

123rf (Paid)

123rf is a paid stock photo website that offers millions of options to choose from, however this is our personal favourite here at Rosewood. This stock photo site offers thousands of photos, videos, audio, and vectors. You can choose to either do a monthly subscription plan or pay for credits and top them up as you need them.

Each photo/video is downloaded based on size. You can choose to download small (2 credits), medium (4 credits), large (6 credits), or extra-large (10 credits). Typically for most uses, small will work just fine. However, if you require a higher resolution photo, you may want to purchase medium, large, or extra-large. Like Pexels and Pixabay, the contents offered on 123rf are not allowed for resale, unless you purchase an extended license. One thing that is especially great about 123rf is the customer support they offer. When you create an account, you will be assigned an account manager who can help you with any questions or concerns you may have.

Let’s Recap

After looking into Pexels, Pixabay and 123rf, we can honestly say that all three of the stock photo platforms are great! If you aren’t looking to spend money at this time, Pexels or Pixabay is a great option for you. If you are looking for a little bit of an improved and efficient library to choose from and are willing to pay for it, 123rf is your best option.

Let’s Connect

Rosewood is a digital marketing agency outside Toronto dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and small businesses grow their online presence. We work with clients across North America and Europe to identify, strategize and reach their marketing goals!

You can join the conversation online on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Or contact us to chat about your marketing goals for 2020!

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Until next time,

Cassandra

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Using Stock Photos for Your Business’s Online Marketing

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If you’re using social media for business, chances are you’ve used stock photos. The challenging part is knowing whether the photos you are using could be cause for a lawsuit! If you use stock photos, as a marketing manager or even HR manager who posts to social media, you’re going to want to read this one. I’m talking all about stock photo use and giving you my best kept secret stock photo source!

Copyright Infringement Can Lead to REAL Lawsuits

It’s easy to believe that the World Wide Web is so large that “no one will find out.” However, it is very simple to do a reverse lookup search for an image on the web.

A few years ago, stock photo giant Getty Images was actively searching out illegal uses of their images and mailing legal action warnings to businesses. I personally know of two business owners who received these letters (not my clients at the time!). The proposed fines were approximately $4000! It was a big news story, and really forced people to pay attention to their image sources.

Since that time, you really have to be careful about where you are getting your images.

Depending on budget, there are stock photos out there for every interest and industry. From healthcare to automotive, entrepreneurs to large corporations. I have researched many stock photo sites over the years and have narrowed my list of where I go for images down to these five.

My Top 5 Image Sources:

  1. pexels.com (Free!)
  2. pixabay.com (Free! This is my best kept secret, until now!)
  3. 123rf.com (mid-range)
  4. istockphoto.com (premium photos)
  5. fotolia.com (premium photos)

Watch for Licensing Regulations and Restrictions on Stock Photos

While the aforementioned sites offer images for sale, it’s important to check the license information. Some photos may be “for editorial use only”, meaning you cannot use them for business, simply for story-purposes. These are typically images of private buildings/events or government-related images. There are other regulations as well, such as using an image on items you plan to resell. It’s always best to double-check.

Common Questions:

Q: But I just shared the post, so I’m not liable, the other person is.

A: Technically, you have now shared it to your networks and are also responsible for the unlawful distribution of the content.

Q: Do I need to give author credit?

A: With stock photos that you have purchased, this is not required. I would recommend giving credit when you share an artist or colleague’s work with their permission, as a thank you.

So, before you use an image for your blog or social media marketing campaign, always remember to check the license and restrictions on image use. A little bit of extra legwork in the beginning can save you a major headache in the end. When in doubt, ask the author directly about use and photo credit.

What are some of your favourite stock photo websites? Please share in the comments!

If you’d like to discuss your website needs with us, or for more tips like these you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Don’t forget to sign up for our monthly newsletter as well for more education and inspiration!

Deanna

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