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It’s still true, a picture does say a thousand words, or at least, they can certainly lure in the attention of your website visitors and keep them scrolling for more. Undeniably, one of the most impactful ways to bring the wow-factor to your website is through professional, unique photography. But high-grade photography can tend to come with a high-grade price. Fear not – we’re here to share some of the best ways to obtain engaging, beautiful photography for your website without it setting your wallet on fire.
1. AirBNB – Low Cost
We bet AirBNB isn’t the first place you were expecting to find on this list. Still, surprisingly, there are some amazing photography experiences on offer through AirBNB which can result in you getting your hands on a set of professional photos of yourself or your product, at a very reasonable cost.
Simply head on over to the AirBNB website and type in “photoshoot” along with your city, e.g. “photoshoot sydney” and click on the applicable drop-down result. We can’t speak for all cities or towns, but at least in high-population areas, you should be presented with a few good photoshoot options! Typically, photographers will offer 1-3 hour sessions around popular spots in your city, but some are more lenient on where they will do the shoot with you. If your website is a personal blog, this would be a great way to get some portraits of yourself. If however, you offer a specific product, such as clothing, jewellery, accessories, books, artwork or almost anything else (so long as it’s portable!), this may be a great way to get a few shots for your website or marketing materials. To be safe, make sure you message the photographer first, just to be sure they’ll be okay with whatever you have in mind.
2. AirTasker – Low Cost
This option you may have expected to find a little more. AirTasker is a great place to find budding and talented photographers who can quote you for exactly what you want. Whether it’s a specific location you need or a specific style of photography, you’ll be able to post your job requirements and receive a range of quotes to choose from. Be sure to specify how many images you expect, as well as any post-production or editing you may want.
3. Pexels – Free
Our first entirely free option on this list is Pexels! Pexels offers hundreds of thousands of royalty-free photos that you can use without any attribution or payment. Just remember, anyone else can use these photos too, so if you’re after something truly unique to your business, this might not be the route for you.
4. Unsplash – Free
Boasting over a million royalty-free photos, Unsplash is a good source to check alongside Pexels. Both have a similar offering, so you can double your chances of finding the perfect photo by searching through both of these sites for whatever you may be looking for. Most of the time, you’ll find completely different results on each site, with very little double-up between them.
5. Freepik – Free/Low Cost
Freepik is a unique source on this list as they offer not just photos, but also a huge library of illustrations in case you’re after backgrounds, icons, textures, maps or a whole range of other drawn elements. Freepik has a different licencing structure, however, often requiring you to include attribution links on your website in exchange for the use of their materials. If you’d rather skip the attribution, however, they do offer very low-cost licence options. The monthly fee comes to about $17 AUD after conversion, but even after you cancel your licence, you can continue using any images you downloaded during your subscription for as long as you like – making it a pretty great deal!
Found what you need yet? With all of the options above, there should be something for almost everyone when it comes to finding free or low-cost photos and illustrations for your website. Of course, if you’re looking for something extra special or unique to your business, and you have the budget the spend, hiring a photography studio for the day or arranging a professional product shoot may be more what you’re looking for. Whatever you do, high-quality photos and illustrations have the power to change the whole experience your visitors will have on your website, so whether free or paid, it’s always worth putting in the time to find high-quality imagery for your business.
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