Where to get photos for your website

As the online world is increasingly visual, it’s important that your website content includes images. Here are three ways to get images for your business’ website.

Get stock photos

Stock images are supplied for public use under a license. Using stock photography can be a good way to reduce your website project’s budget and timescale.

You can get stock photos that your business can use for free from unsplash.com. If you need something more specific, shutterstock.com has a range of photos and illustrations at a low cost.

If you’re looking for free photos of people, check out the great list of sources and tips for inclusive stock imagery in this post on the Charity Digital website. You can also get diverse stock images from Canva (for example, their natural women collection) and for a fee, you can get disability photos from PUSHLiving.

Unsplash website — Get good free stock photos from Unsplash.

See my tips for choosing stock images ›

Take photos on a smartphone

Thanks to the latest mobile devices, we can take high-quality photos without using extra equipment.

Some clients have told me they don’t want to use photos that they’ve taken themselves because it will make them look unprofessional. But using an unpolished photo can help you look more authentic and trustworthy.

A post on Instagram by Balenciaga showing a photo of models taken with a flash

The grid on Dolce and Gabbana's Instagram account showing photos taken outdoors in natural light of women who don't look like skinny models — Even luxury brands like Balenciaga and Dolce & Gabbana use images taken with a phone.

A screenshot of the Cancer Research website — This photo on the home page of Cancer Research’s website looks like it’s been taken using a phone.

See my tips for taking photos on a smartphone ›

Hire a photographer

My favourite type of website project is one where I work with a photographer to create the images.

If you want to hire the photographer yourself, it’s good to keep in mind that photographers have different specialities, e.g., portraits, architecture, events, product photography, or food photography.

A photographer taking a photo using a Canon camera with a zoom lens — Photo by Ailbhe Flynn on Unsplash.

What to do before the photoshoot:

Create a list of the photos you need – you don’t want to realise afterwards that you’re missing something.
If they’re photographing your premises, make sure everything is clean and tidy and let your staff know what they should wear.
Get permission to use the photos from any people being photographed.

Choose the right images

Now that you know where to get your images from, find out how to choose the right ones for your business’ website.