When you create a web video – regardless of whether or not it is meant to be educational – you’d like your video to be as visually interesting and stimulating as possible. Speaking directly at the camera is less effective than incorporating a PowerPoint presentation. Incorporating a PowerPoint presentation that includes bullet points alone is less effective than one that includes visual stimulation like pictures. Get where I’m going with this?

There are three major types of learners in the world:

• Visual learners – people who learn through seeing things, such as graphs, videos, maps, diagrams, and outlines.
• Auditory learners – people who learn by listening to teachers, audio books, reading out loud, and being read out loud to.
• Kinesthetic learners – people who learn from experiencing things, such as role playing, lab classes, and using memory games.

Of course, many of us learn best through a combination of the above styles. What’s unique about video is that can incorporate all three styles, though visual and auditory learners will benefit most. Adding music, video clips, etc. can greatly increase the effectiveness of your video and keep people watching.

Why is this important, you ask?

Making that first sale to a person is easier than making a repeat sale. Your preview can only show so much of your style, but once someone has made a purchase, they have already had the YOU experience. The longer a viewer remains engaged with your video, the higher the chances are that they will purchase another video course from you.  Get where I’m going with this?

To start you off, here is a list of free stock photo sites that you can use to find photos that you can use in your videos in alphabetical order. In my next post, I will also list the paid stock photo sites.

Best Free Stock Photo Sites

Cepolina has free nature and travel photos. Why I like it: The photo descriptions appear in over a dozen languages, and the photos are divided into many categories that you won’t find on other sites, such as by country and region.

EveryStockPhoto is an enormous site that indexes millions of photos. Why I like it: EveryStock is a search engine that searches through many stock photo sites, and it allows you to search by license type.

Bear with me on this one. Flickr, for those of you who aren’t yet familiar with it, is a user-generated photo site. Photos range from incredibly professional to as amateur as it gets, but their tagging service and easy-to-read copyright permissions make photos easy to find and use. Why I like it: If what I said wasn’t enough, using user-generated photos, as opposed to regular stock photos, decreases the chances of someone else using the same photos you’re using.

FreeDigitalPhotos.net have both free and paid photos. Why I like it: All photos (that I’ve browsed) are free, but they are lower-resolution. You can purchase a high-res version, too, so they actually cater to both sides. I just really like their pictures.

FreePixels is very search-friendly, and I usually find what I”m looking for very quickly. Why I like it: Everyone always uses the same business/corporate-type images from other stock photo sites, but this gives you a new pool of photos that you won’t see everywhere. This is more important than you think – you want people to concentrate on what you’re presenting, not trying to remember where they saw that guy with the chalkboard before.

ImageAfter has thousands of great images in many categories. Why I like it: You can use their images for printed brochures that are for sale, so you can most likely use them for your videos (that are also commercial). Be sure to choose the images drop down, and not the textures (depending on what you’re looking for).

ImageBase has lots of really great photos, all are creative commons. Why I like it: Other than having photos that are different than others, ImageBase has a group of really beautiful PowerPoint templates that you can use for your presentations. If you don’t have the time to create your own original backgrounds, but want something different, ImageBase has you covered.

Kave Wall doesn’t have a huge selection of photos, mostly because they’re a studio, not a stock photo site. But the ones they have are incredible. I can’t remember where I first heard about them, but I’ve used them over the last year or so. Why I like it: My friend got me into macro photography, and they have great macro photos. They’re colorful and fun.

Don’t let the gruesome name deter you – MorgueFile is one of the largest free stock photo sites out there. This user-generated photos are free to use commercially, so they’re great for video courses on Sparkeo, but be sure to check the terms on each photo. Why I like it: Once you perform a search, you can filter images by license type, geo-tagging, and category. You can even filter them by color!

NationsIllustrated is also a user-generated photo site that has pictures from all around the world. They are divided by continent, country, and area. Why I like it: The pictures are all incredible, and they are very easily searched and indexed. Plus, if you’re bored, you can click on “Play puzzle” and it will mix it up for you.

NOAA has a really interesting collection of science-related photos that are all part of the US government’s collection. Why I like it: The site encourages use of its photos for educations purposes – they might as well write “use us on Sparkeo!” Also – the pictures are so beautiful that sometimes I just surf the site for fun.

PD Photo is a great public domain photo site. Almost all the photos are available for free use, but be sure to check the licenses before you download, just in case. Why I like it: PD Photo has some really awesome and unique photos that you can’t really find anywhere else, like this one. Seriously – you want to click it.

Photl is hands-down my favorite on the list. It has very unique photos with a style and quality that are equal to paid stock photo sites. You are limited to 35 MB a day, but it’s totally worth it. Why I like it: You can perform a search by keyword AND select the color of the photo from the drop down menu. Plus, when you click download, you can chose to crop the photo and only download the part that you want!

Photogen requires you to register, but you can download all their high-resolution photos for free. Why I like it: All photos free and available for commercial use, and you can even download photos in clusters in a zip file.

Photoree is a search engine for stock photos that allows you to keyword search by license type. Why I like it: If you don’t have lots of time to browse through multiple sites and need a quick fix, Photoree will search across multiple sites for you. The photos themselves are really nice, and they have a ranking system that you can use so it can find more photos that match your taste better. You can also save the photos on the site and access them later.

Photo Rogue has an awesome concept. Why I like it: You can request what you would like a photo of, and their photographers will actually go out and take it for you! Just know that not all requests will be fulfilled, but it’s worth a try!

PhotoVaco has incredible photos that are absolutely free to use, and are very clearly indexed and easily searchable. Why I like it: They have pretty nifty vector sets that you can use.

Public Domain Images is just that – copyright free images that everyone is free to use. Don’t let the Google Ads deter you. Why I like it: There are some real special photos scattered across the site, and all photos are available for commercial use, so they can all be used in your video courses on Sparkeo.

RGB Stock is a growing site of stock photos, many of which are user-generated. They are all free to use. Why I like it: Like  some paid stock photo sites, you can view great previews of the photos when you hover over them, which is a huge time saver.

No free stock photo list would be complete without Stock Exchange, possibly the most well-known site of the bunch. I have personally been using Stock Exchange for years, and have rarely had to search another site. Why I like it: Their lightbox lets you save pictures for later, and their browsing is a breeze. I also like changing the view to 60 pictures to minimize scrolling, and you can see large previews of the photo when you hover over it. Plus you can see how many users have downloaded the picture, if uniqueness is important to you.

Stock Vault is another user-generated stock photography site that has free and premium pictures. If you sign up for free, you get a bunch of extra features that make the search process a lot nicer. Why I like it: In addition to a great selection of photos, and the obvious “user-generated, so less popular” that I’ve mentioned about other sites, they also have Photoshop tutorials that can help you create the look you want.

It’s may not be the prettiest of the bunch, but Uncle Sam’s Photos has a large selection of government photos that anyone is free to use in their projects. Why I like it: Uncle Sam’s Photos is actually a directory of all of the US government’s stock photography base, making it easy for you to find what you’re looking for in one place.

As always, whenever you use media that you did not create on your own, check the site’s particular terms of use. Most of the site will allow for both personal and commercial use, some ask for links back, others want nothing in return. It’s important that you comply with the terms of the site, and we recommend taking a couple minutes to review their permissions, especially since you will be selling your video courses.

What free stock photo sites do you like to use? Which would you recommend and why?

No tags Hide