Need a free stock photo? Free … meaning you don’t have to pay anyone cold, hard cash for its use? Look no further. I’ve compiled my top 10 list of favorite stock photo sites that don’t cost you anything. Make sure you read any terms of usage, however, as you may need to attribute its source via a link or mention.

EveryStockPhoto – Excellent place for searching multiple sites for just the right pic. It also includes some nice social aspects allowing everyone to rate and tag photos. I’ll be using this one a lot from now on.

Morgue Files – Don’t be turned off by the name of this one. It refers to the name that newspapers gave to the storage area where they kept files, old stories, photos, etc. In any case, this site offers some really nice photos.

Stock Xchng is a very popular user-contributed source of photos. Definitely bookmark it.

Image*After – Has a nice collection of photos and textures, with good search functionality.
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Photogen – Nice collection of good quality photos.
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Free Digital Photos – Good quality photos for free, although their best quality pics come with a charge.
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NOAA Photo Library – This is just one example of the many photos you can use for free from the US Government sites. You’ll find more listed at the directory at the bottom of this list. This batch contains some amazing oceanic and atmospheric photos.
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BurningWell – Not the prettiest site in the bunch, but so what? It’s got what you need – free use photos.
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Backgrounds Archive – Pretty photos. Big photos. Pretty and big photos. What more can I say?
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PD Photo – Lots of travel and country-specific photos, along with some more general categories too.
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Public Domain Photos – Claims to be the largest collection of public domain photos. It also has clip art.
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WP Clipart – Speaking of clip art this site has lots of clip art to choose from, with some photos as well.
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Uncle Sam’s Photos – As promised up above, this is a nice directory listing more of the U.S. Government’s repositories of free to use photos.

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And yes, I know there are more than 10 in the list. Consider it lagniappe. If you can’t find the image you need from one of the above places, it just might not exist! Good luck, and happy photo hunting!

Affiliate Marketing Tip

Using attractive or attention-getting photos can mean the difference between making an affiliate sale or not. If you are promoting an affiliate product, make sure you show as many pictures of the product as possible. It also never hurts to add additional pics, such as the ones you’ll find at the sites listed above, that help the user envision how great his or her life will be once the product is purchased. Look for happy, smiling faces, and beautiful nature pics. These can enhance your promo article or blog post.

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2007. | Permalink | 81 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bob Nolin, clip art, free pics, free stock photos, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA Photo Library, photos, pics, prettiest site, search engine, search functionality, stock photos, ultimate search engine, US Government
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