If you want to produce good content, you need access to good photos. More importantly, you need photos that are legal to use. You could take your own photos, but if that isn’t your strong suit there are plenty of free resources available that you should be using. This blog series will be reviewing photo sites that the Pipeline team uses daily. We want to help you create content that will stand out on social media and engage your audience! First up—Unsplash.
Unsplash- “High-Resolution Photos”
Unplash is where you will find tons of high-resolution photographs perfect for websites, blogging, and social media. This is a go-to site when you are looking to create content that people won’t just scroll by. You’ll notice all of the eye-catching photography right away.
Photo by Andrew Coelho
Photo by Joanna Boj
What can I legally do with these photos?
Photos on Unsplash are found under Creative Commons CC0. You may copy, modify, and distribute photos for commercial and noncommercial purposes.* You can take a look at some cool stuff people have made with Unsplash here—https://madewith.unsplash.com/
You do not legally have to give photographers credit. However, Unsplash does suggest that you give credit when possible to honor the creator for offering their great work for free. Click to find out more about their photo rules.
Unsplash does a great job with showing their appreciation and respect for artists’ submitted photos. They have a team of curators that pick 10 photos every 10 days to feature on the front page. This feature helps you find great photos while giving you some creative inspiration. And if you do decide to submit any photos, it would be pretty cool to get featured.
Photo by Lena Bell
Photo by Gabriel Beaudry
How to use Unsplash
You should definitely join the site, so you can unlock certain features. You have the option to view extra large images or a smaller group of images when scrolling through photos. Don’t forget to select the heart icon while you scroll to save photos for later use! When you’re ready, simply hover over your desired image, select the download button, and it will open up in a new window. From there you can right click to save the image onto your computer. There is also a search bar, so you can easily find specific photos.
What makes Unsplash stand out?
The best part about Unsplash is the Collections feature. It allows you to look through photos in categories that the Unsplash team and other users have put together. You will find tons of new photos this way and it’s fun! Among a variety of categories, you’ll find seasonal and topical collections as well. They are usually near the top for easy access. For example, we were looking for good Mother’s Day images about a week before the holiday and there was a collection titled “Mother’s Day” ready for us to look through. You can create your own collections by joining the site.
Lastly, Unsplash is very beautiful. Its simple, clean design lets the photos stand out and further shows their respect for the artist’s work. You’ll find yourself not able to stop scrolling through all the impressive images. Don’t forget to subscribe to Unsplash to get 10 new pics sent to your email every 10 days!
We’ll post again soon on another free photo site that you should be using. In the meantime, visit Unplash and start creating content worth sharing!
Photo by Daria Shevtsova
Pipeline Social Media is a social media marketing agency that offers three approaches to help you increase your social media presence: we can fully manage your social media accounts, we can teach your team how to do it in-house, or we can monitor your team and report back to you.
*Never use photos with notable persons, objects, or brands to endorse something without the owner’s consent. All use of photos must be lawful.
Maiya Wall
Social Media Community Manager
Pipeline Social Media
