How To Find Stock Photos For Your Campaign

What are Stock Photos?

Stock photos are professional photographs that you can buy and sell on a royalty-free basis. They can be used and reused for different design purposes. These photos could be photographs of nature, landmarks, events, places or people.

Why Would You Need Stock Photos?

Stocks photos are used to enhance the effect and impact that content has on different individuals. With recent studies showing that humans respond more to images than they do to text or spoken words, this makes stock photos valuable in the commercial and editorial industry.

Experts on Calgary graphic design say that the use of images in branded content has improved communication making it easy for companies to send out messages to their target audience.

How to Use Stock Photos:

Small Marketing Campaigns: Stock photos are affordable and brands that are running a low-budget campaign can use these photographs in their marketing efforts. Stock photos take away the financial burden of a photoshoot or a studio rental.

Short Timelines: If you have only a short time to organize a marketing campaign, stock photos can make your work easy. They are readily available and come in a variety of designs and colours.

Website Design: Whether you are looking to build an eye-catching website or improve the aesthetics of an existing design, stock photos can give your website a breathtaking look.

Social Media Posts: Do you want your content to capture the attention of your readers as soon as you post it? Well, stock photos can attract curious internet users to your post on social media.

The Benefits of Using Stock Photos:

Cost Effective
You will need to spend some good money if you choose to hire a professional to create a custom image for you. However, if you choose to use stock photos instead of the services of a photographer, you will save yourself a lot of cash. Stock photo prices range from $1 to $15 per photo which is quite affordable when compared to the hundreds or even thousands of dollars that professional photographers charge for their services.

Time Effective
With stock photos, all you need do is find and pay for the photograph, download it and use it. It takes a few clicks to get this done. Stock photos eliminate the stress of creating and editing images for your brand. They are available for download and use at any time you want.

When choosing stock photos for your brand’s use, it is imperative that you pick those that align with your brand values. The photos should not convey a different message from what your brand stands for. It should be able to tell your brand’s story and make your content more compelling. It should also fit in with your overall aesthetic.

How to Find the Best Stock Photos:

5 Paid Stock Photo Websites

1) Shutterstock
If you are looking for a  website with royalty-free stock images for both commercial and personal use, Shutterstock is the site for you. With over 235 million stock photos, music tracks and stock video clips, you can be sure to find something that will suit your needs.

2) Getty Images
This stock images website was established in 1995 and it is the first online licensing image site. They have millions of stock photos, videos, images and illustrations in their library.
3) Flickr
This site holds the title of the world’s largest online photo management and sharing platform. It is home to billions of photos. However, not all images on this platform can be used for commercial purposes.

4) Adobe Stock
This service has over 50 million royalty-free photos, 3D content, videos, templates, illustrations, and vector graphics. Its compatibility with Creative Suite design tools makes it possible for users to purchase images directly in Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

5) iStock (by Getty Images)
This website offers a variety of high-quality, and royalty-free stock photographs at an affordable rate. iStock offers users who join their website free stock files weekly.

Top 5 Free Stock Photos Website

1. StockSnap
There are a variety of eye-catching free stock photos on this site and hundreds of images are added every day. The search feature makes it easy to check out the thousands of photos available on the site.

2. Pexels
This site provides free, high-quality stock images licensed under Creative Commons Zero (CC0). The discover pages of the photos make searching easy.

3. Burst (by Shopify)
Burst offers a library that contains thousands of royalty-free, high-resolution photos. They provide free images for your blog, social media accounts and website.

4. Picjumbo
Picjumbo is a great site to find free stock photos for both commercial or non-commercial uses. They make new additions daily and offer a variety of photo categories to choose from.

5. Unsplash
This service offers a wide range of free, high-resolution photos. All the images on the site are released under the Unsplash license. The best photos of the site are often displayed on the homepage.

Conclusion:

Stock photos can help you create a captivating Calgary graphic design. However, you need to find one that suits your brand’s identity and campaign objectives. Invest time in searching for the right stock photos so that your target audience can quickly grasp your message.

  If you’re looking to improve the branding for your business, look no further. Our Calgary graphic design team can help. Click Here to learn more about our custom Calgary graphic design services.