08-23-2017, 05:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2017, 03:27 PM by featherstone.)
Photo Resources
Looking for a picture for your avatar, signature, post? Here's a list of resources that'll help you find Public Domain, Creative Commons, or otherwise free images you can use for any purpose, and without copyright headaches.
First of all, my all-times favorite: UNSPLASH, a collection of high-definition, often very beautiful pictures licensed under Creative Commons Zero (=do whatever you want). Human subjects are supposed to have a model release, so feel free to use the faces you find there.
Similar conditions apply to PEXELS and PIXABAY; these sites often link to each other, so no surprise if you see a pic in more than one place; however it's worth taking a look to both.
Morguefile is a community-based photo site, made by the contributions of photographers all over the world. Quality may vary, as contributors are sometimes professionals, sometimes more or less casual hobbyists. Anyway it's a great resource especially if you're looking for objects or locations. All images are free to download, edit, and reuse for whatever purpose. However, I don't advise using it for avatars, as some of the people portrayed are not models, but private citizens who may not be happy with that.
FREEDIGITALPHOTOS has a large collection of stock photos, including many images of people that could be useful for avatars, if you're looking for descriptive ones. Some of them are free if you provide attribution (which is required on this site anyway). In most cases you'll find several photos of the same model, too - which could be interesting for those who want to vary their avatar on occasion. Another similar site is STOCKFREEIMAGES
Then, of course, there's WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; a very extensive resource for pictures of all sorts; most of them are Creative Commons, but please check their conditions case by case - some may not allow editing or have other limitations.
FLICKR is very rich of resources, too, and it lets you select photos according to their licence. If looking for faces, I add the tag 'model release' as I don't want to stumble on the photographer's unwitting neighbour.
N.B.: if you know any other site that's good to get free pictures, let me know and I'll add it to the list.
