Of all the content your website will display, quality images are probably the most important, as we all know... a picture tells a thousand words.
That being said, hiring a professional photographer is expensive, so in most cases we look to utilize the vast libraries of Stock Photography found online.
This does not mean jumping on google and picking a few images that look cool. Often these images are from another website, and are usually under copyright by the owner.
Instead we are talking about professional images supplied with a creative licence to use and reproduce in your own work, either fre,. or via a paid Royalty Free licence.
Free Suppliers
- Unsplash.com - Provide use of all their images for free, optionally you can attribute credit to the photographer if you would like.
- more to come...
Paid Suppliers
- iStockPhoto.com - 10 images for $29/month on a subscription.
- ShutterStock.com - offer a free trial of 10 images for new sign ups with a credit card or 10 images for $29/month
- more to come...
Conclusion
Where you get your images from will depend on what images you need. Whilst the free options are amazing, you won't always find the image you are looking for, so it is usually advisable to check out all your options before committing.
The importance of finding that perfect image/s should not be overlooked, and can often be the difference between an amazing website and an OK one.