Links updated August 2020
If you’re looking for free photos for your own website, keep reading for the five best free photo sites with a brief description, a sample photo from each, and a few more resource links at the end of this article. Photos add interest, but if you use a photo without permission you might well end up attracting the wrong kind of interest! Blogger, beware, you can get sued for using photos you don’t own on your blog. Instead, take your own photos, or check out the sites I list below.
If you love Scripture quotes, keep reading for the quotes that I’ve added to the images below. All quotes are from the Common English Bible, and since I’m using free photos, I didn’t add any additional watermark. You’re welcome to share any of the images as they appear here–copy and save for your own enjoyment, send to a friend as an encouraging word, or share the inspiration in some other way.
Enjoy!
FreeDigitalPhotos – This site offers a wide selection of photos–no registration required and no fees as long as you stick to the smaller sizes and include an attribution to the photographer and Free Digital Photos as I’ve done below.
Pexels – Another great site for free photos, no registration, no fees, and unlike Free Digital Photos, this site doesn’t require attribution.
Pixabay – my current favourite site for free photos, no fee, no registration, no attribution required.
Stocksnapio – no fee, no registration, no attribution required, and there’s a subscription service for free photos each week. While each of these sites has a search bar to find photos, this was the only one that didn’t yield any results when I entered “hope” into the search field.
Unsplash – no fee, no registration, no attribution required, and a free subscription option to get 10 free hi-resolution photos delivered to your inbox every 10 days.
Other helpful links for free photos:
Where to Find Free Images Online to Use in Blogging & Social Media by Edie Melson says more about licenses and lists additional resources. Read carefully though since some may have extra conditions that you’ll need to know. For example, she includes a link to Site Builder Report, but the About section on their site says: “Stock Up is a search engine that searches across many free stock photo websites—each with their own individual usage guidelines. So refer to each individual website for usage guidelines.”
The Busy Blogger’s Guide to Creative, Compelling Images by Michael Hyatt lists his top five recommended sites for images, including some with fees, plus additional resources.
The Pattern Library which offers lots of design ideas.
Writing/Reflection Prompt: Do you have a favourite source for free photos that you’re willing to share? Do you have a favourite image with a Scripture quote?
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April Yamasaki 
Thanks, April. However, I am too technologically challenged to know how to go about this, so I guess I just have to pass. They are great! I don’t have a blog, don’t even know what that means, so…you can have a good laugh on me! Blessings.
Oh, I’m glad Irene won the book. She and her husband were at the last writers’ potluck where you spoke. She is a very special person!
Thanks, Mary – you may not know exactly what it means to have a blog, but here you are making a comment on mine! You’re more technologically with it than you know 🙂 Yes, Irene is a very special person – she even offered to come pick up her book to save on postage.
A fellow blogger turned me onto Canva. Most of the images are free, and those that are not are minimally priced. It’s really easy to use, too!
Thanks for the tip, Lisa. I added the quotes to these images with MS Paint, but I’d like to try Canva too. It’s been recommended to me before, but I haven’t used it beyond just taking a quick look. I’ll add it to my list of things to try!
Thanks for these suggestions, April. I’ll be having a look. I’ve been using rgbstock.com for images on my devotional blog.
As for scripture quote posters, I’ve put together a few of those myself. They’re on the “quote” page of my devotional blog. You can see them HERE
Thanks for suggesting rgbstock.com–I see that registration is required, but there’s no fee to do that. Your Scripture quote posters are GREAT. I’ll share on Pinterest tomorrow during day time hours 🙂
I should add that those are photos I took myself (not from a website).
And using your own photos is even better – you’re quite the photographer! I’d also love to know what program you used to add your text, whether MS Paint, Canva, or other. I love your choice of fonts and colours and the way you’ve added your website address in an unobtrusive way. Beautiful!
Thanks, April – I use Comic Life to put those together. It’s a program that came with my iMac when I bought it in 2007 (but not any more). I believe I paid for the newer version. I use it for various things so felt it was worth a few $$.
Thanks, for sharing, Violet. I’m not familiar with Comic Life, but I see that it’s available for Mac and Windows and can be used for making comics which is a whole other area!
Thanks for the info, April. I take my own photos for my blogs and website, but I suspect other members of our Christian Poets & Writers group on Facebook might want some help. I’ll highlight your post on the blog – http://www.christianpoetsandwriters.com.
Thanks for highlighting this article, Mary. As a writer, I focus mainly on my words, but I also have a regular practice of including at least one photo with each article, so I’d like to pay more attention to my visuals. I plan to re-visit a number of blogs and websites and take note of the photos.