Visual communication has more sticking power with your audience. So where do you get your visuals? Here are some of our favorite stock photo sites.
Shutterstock
Shutterstock is one of the ‘Big 6’stock photo agencies on the internet today and refer to themselves as simple, elegant and user friendly. This is the largest microstock in the world which is currently selling around 20 millions of royalty free images, with this figures increasing by 90-100 thousands weekly. With a long history of stock image selling and buying, Shutterstock caters to designers and corporate accounts that require large inventories of stock photos. For this reason their buying model is subscription only.
Getty Images
Getty Images is arguably the most prestigious and well-known stock photography agency in the world. Its strong global presence, huge pool of images including exclusive collections, and impeccable reputation make for a first-class, premium stock photo service like no other.
You can buy this premium photos on demand. Rights Managed images’ price vary according to intended use, ranging from a couple hundred to up to thousands of dollars. Royalty Free photos on the other hand, cost from $125 to $500. But you can get them for as low as $100 to $375 each using an Ultrapack. If you’re after top class stock photography, Getty Images is definitely one agency to explore.
Dreamstime
More than 15 millions of royalty free images, presented on Dreamstime, can be purchased either on an individual or on a subscription basis.
Since the minimum payment constitutes only $9.99, almost everyone can afford single purchase of images at Dreamstime. The payment is transferred to your balance as 8 credits which can be spent within one year from the date of payment. Images and photos are priced from 1 credit for small-scale versions, which are good enough for blogs and websites’ posts. Medium- and large-scale images can be purchased for 3-5 credits.
Pond5
Pond5 is an online hub for stock footage. You can buy or sell royalty free footage. The clips range in length anywhere from 3-60 seconds and they are each individually priced by the artist. From a quick scan, the average price range seems to be between $20 – $50 per clip. Some clips are even free and others are priced much higher for speciality footage.