photography sources?

taff's picture

They have: 956 posts

Joined: Jun 2001

Is nothing free anymore? I don't have to resort to the web for images very often, but in the past I've always managed to find some free, public domain images to use - perhaps not perfect, but free with no strings attached (with the exception perhaps of a photography credit)

Now it seems that EVERYONE is a stock photography retailer. Can anyone point me towards a free photography source?

While I'm at it, does anyone subscribe to a stick agency ala Photodisc? If so - which one and do you find it worth the expense?

.....

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

I use stock photos a lot in my work. PhotoDisc CD's run about $400 US EACH, so I think those are only worth it if you're using them A LOT. Hemera photo objects is much more affordable - with their 50,000 Premium collection you can get 8 CD's filled with many more images than PhotoDisc for about $100 USD (not sure on that price there... too lazy to go look). The other major difference is that Hemera's images come with the backgrounds already cut out (which is often a bonus!) while PhotoDisc's are full photographs. Another problem with both is that some of the collections are getting pretty common. I mean, sometimes I can see an image on a site and name the PhotoDisc collection it came from.

Here's my list of free photo sources. Note that in many cases there are restrictions on the "free" status. Make sure you check the terms or conditions before using them.

Free Stock Photography - http://www.freestockphotos.com/
FreeFoto.com- http://www.freefoto.com/
FreeImages.co.uk - http://www.freeimages.co.uk/
Images of the world- http://www.imagesoftheworld.org/
iStockphoto.com- http://www.istockphoto.com/
NAIL Digital Images Search(US Government Archives) - http://www.nara.gov/cgi-bin/starfinder/0?path=images.txt&id=demo&pass=&OK=OK
TP: Images of American Political History - http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/_browse.htm

Canadian
Canada's Digital Collections - http://collections.ic.gc.ca/
Images Canada - http://www.imagescanada.ca/index-e.html
National Archives of Canada- http://www.archives.ca/08/08_e.html

Edit: Forgot Arttoday. Their photographs really aren't that great. Good for historical-type stuff though, and clip-art. I have a few more links too for educational use only if anyone's interested

mmi's picture

They have: 457 posts

Joined: Jan 2001

hey - yer right - a couple 'a years ago, there seemed to be a lot more attractive clip art on the web - I recently used some hardware at mmy local university to digitize some pictures of flowers one of mmy brothers took - came out ok I think and now he tells people about mmy site!! Smiling


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They have: 48 posts

Joined: Apr 2001

Your a lifesaver Megan!

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

You're Welcome!

They have: 48 posts

Joined: Apr 2001

Since there are so many free stock photo sites you'd think there would be free clip art sites as well.. Does anyone know if such places exist?

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

Oh, they exist alright. The problem is finding some actual quality in all the mess. I haven't gone looking for free clip-art in a long time so I can't reccommend any specific sites.

mairving's picture

They have: 2,256 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

Quote: Originally posted by Megan
Oh, they exist alright. The problem is finding some actual quality in all the mess. I haven't gone looking for free clip-art in a long time so I can't reccommend any specific sites.

Ain't that the truth. They all seem more intent on linking to other sites than quality clipart. Corel Gallery has some decent clipart on it. While not free, you can get the 380,000 image collection for $20 USD.

Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

Yeah, I was going to mention something about porn tactics. I think that if you're going to be using clip-art a lot you might want to consider investing in a collection rather than bothering with crappy online archives.

They have: 48 posts

Joined: Apr 2001

That is true. I'd rather pay 20 bucks and get three hundred thousand images.

Thanks!

He has: 1,758 posts

Joined: Jul 2002

This one has some free stock photos...

http://sxc.hu/index.phtml

ValleyPages's picture

He has: 46 posts

Joined: Nov 2001

andy206uk wrote: This one has some free stock photos...

http://sxc.hu/index.phtml

I was just about to post that one. It's great.

Also
http://stckphtgrphy.deviantart.com/

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