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Hello fellow bloggers and/or content marketers!
Today I’m sharing a helpful guide that will help you discover the best Unsplash stock photos to align perfectly with your branding and convey your chosen lifestyle or aesthetic.
I’ll share my personal favourite Unsplash photographers for beautiful blog photos, and reveal my tips on how to avoid over-used stock photos.
Although I typically use my own photography on my blog, I do often need to fill in the gaps with stock photos.
It makes sense for my blogging niche to take my own photos – books, lifestyle, London travel, etc. However, sometimes I simply don’t have time or enough daylight (thanks England) for decent photos.
Many bloggers prefer to solely use stock photography so they can focus on writing.
Perhaps you’ve even invested in a professional styled stock photo library. Although I purchased some stock photo libraries in the past, Unsplash is still my go-to for blog photos, due to the huge variety available.
Let’s jump into my favourites and how you can make the most from Unsplash.
What is Unsplash?
I’m sure you’ve already heard of Unsplash if you’re a blogger or writer on Medium.
But in case you haven’t, Unsplash is a free stock photo website that allows creatives to share their high-resolution photos for personal and commercial use.
No attribution (credit) is required when using Unsplash photographs, but it’s nice to credit the photographer where possible. Unsplash provides a useful copy-and-paste caption you can use for this.
The site has over 6 million images uploaded by contributors from all around the world.
What I love most about Unsplash is that they have a team of real humans approving, curating and tagging photos. This is why their platform is full of excellent photography, and their search feature results are great.
6 Ways To Use Unsplash Photographs
- Throughout your blog posts to break up the text.
- As featured images for your Medium articles.
- Social media posts, e.g. backgrounds for Instagram graphics.
- Pinterest pins to drive traffic to your blog.
- To make moodboards, collages or vision boards.
- As references for creating art!
How To Find Perfect Unsplash Stock Photos
My biggest tip for finding perfect Unsplash stock photos is to know your branding.
Whether you’re a blogger or an Instagrammer, you’ll want to create a consistent aesthetic or vibe.
5 ways to create a consistent photography aesthetic:
- Stick to a colour scheme.
- Find a couple of go-to Unsplash photographers. You can follow creators on Unsplash, and curate photos you like into collections. This feature is incredibly helpful for visualising how the photos work together as a whole.
- Think about what textures work with your branding? Silk, wood, leather, grass, paper, brick, marble?
- Consider whether you prefer busy and eclectic images, or minimalistic photos with one main focus.
- Do you prefer styled stock photos like flatlays or natural candid shots of nature and cities?
Some Unsplash stock photos are wildly popular, as you’ve probably noticed yourself. I often come across the same images on many blogs and Medium articles.
If you’ve seen a photo over and over again, try to find something a bit different!
How do you avoid using an extremely popular stock image?
If you haven’t already, make an Unsplash account. Trust me.
I mentioned the ‘follow’ feature on Unsplash above, but here’s why it’s really helpful: if you like a particular photographer’s work, following them means you can snag their latest pics before they get blasted all over the blogosphere.
Avoid the popular page. Get lost in a rabbit hole. You’ll find something unique to help your article or social media post stand out from the crowd.
Oh, and be as specific as you can when searching.
Tags To Search on Unsplash
Tags are really helpful for finding the perfect photos.
You can also use them to find collections curated by other Unsplash users. They’ve essentially done the work for you!
Make your own collections based on themes, colours, and textures. That way you don’t need to download and organise every photo you like to your computer.
You can make your collections public or private, it’s up to you.
Some Unsplash tags I find helpful:
Use Photography Terms for a specific look. I mentioned the famous ‘flatlay’ above, but you can also search for things like ‘macro’, ‘low angle’, or ‘bokeh’.
‘Ready For Type’. This tag brings up photos with blank space, perfect for adding text. These make great featured images for blog posts, or quote graphics for Instagram.
‘Flatlay’ or ‘Overhead’. This one will help you find those aesthetically pleasing styled photographs, often featuring laptops, notebooks and props.
Try metaphorical tags, like emotions or feelings. You don’t always have to be literal, try searching for nostalgia, loneliness, or solitude.
Combine your keywords and use phrases. For example ‘smiling woman wearing sunglasses’.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Use synonyms. E.g. baked goods vs pastries, or person vs portrait.
Search by Colour and use the Visual Search Feature
Don’t forget that you can also search Unsplash stock photos by colour! Unfortunately, Unsplash doesn’t have a specific colour searching feature (e.g. by using HEX codes), but photos are tagged by colour.
The visual search feature on Unsplash allows you to find similar images to any photo you upload.
If you use Pinterest, you’ll notice that it’s like their visual search, or when Google Images recommends visually similar images. The difference here of course is that Unsplash stock photos are free to use commercially without attribution.
Don’t ever use a photo from Pinterest in your blog post, because you could have a copyright claim on your hands. As a Pinterest creator myself, I’ve sent a lot of DMCA takedown requests to websites that have used my photographs without permission. It’s not fun.
18 Unsplash Photographers You Need To Know About
I’ve been using Unsplash for years, so it’s about time I share my favourite creators with you.
Here are 18 Unsplash Photographers you need to know about!
There are over 330,000 photographers on Unsplash, so if you don’t like any of these, start browsing and find your own favourites.
1. Content Pixie
Content Pixie create stunning photos that are perfect for lifestyle blogs in niches from business to wellness. @contentpixie on Unsplash.
2. Nicola Styles
If you’re into the ‘girlboss’ aesthetic, make sure to check out Nicola’s photography. Nicola herself is the founder of Hey Beauti Magazine, and an illustrator. @nicolastyles on Unsplash.
3. Toa Heftiba
Toa’s natural lifestyle photography showcases earthy tones, a minimal neutral aesthetic, and a lot of food. Their city travel shots are stunning too! @heftiba on Unsplash.
4. Ella Jardim
Ella is a Brazilian photographer who takes lovely home office stock photos, featuring lots of pinks and florals. @DaniellaJardim on Unsplash.
5. Karly Gomez
Primarily known as a food blogger, Karly Gomez also shares styled food photography on Unsplash. If you have a food blog, check out @KarlyGomez on Unsplash.
6. Georgia de Lotz
Georgia is a styled stock photographer from Bristol, UK. Her elegant Unsplash stock photos feature a lot of botanicals! @GeorgiadeLotz on Unsplash.
7. Liana Mikah
If you’re looking for beautiful minimal home decor photography, have a browse of Liana’s Unsplash profile @LianaMikah.
8. Jingxi Lau
Jingxi’s photography is eclectic and colourful with a bohemian look – definitely my vibe! @Imajingation on Unsplash.
9. Fa Barboza
If you’re a faith blogger, Fa Barboza’s photography will be ideal for you. Their shots feature prayer, the Bible, and lovely portraits. @Fan11 on Unsplash.
10. Laura Chouette
Laura’s work focuses on fashion, minimalism and beauty. She has certainly mastered the self-portrait, with lots of creative poses!
One thing I love about Laura’s Unsplash is that she uploads many variations of the same photograph, which is perfect for a blog post. @LauraChouette on Unsplash.
11. Paige Cody
Paige Cody is one of my all-time favourite Unsplash photographers. Her work is very whimsical with creative styling. You can tell that a lot of thought goes into her photos! @Paige_Cody on Unsplash.
12. Priscilla Du Preez
Priscilla’s photographs look like they belong in a fashion or lifestyle magazine. You’ll find a huge range of stunning photos on her profile: @priscilladupreez on Unsplash, including pics of an adorable pug!
13. Elena Mozhvilo
Elena’s photos are perfect for art and craft bloggers. They feature handwritten quotes, doodles, bullet journals and watercolours. @miracleday on Unsplash.
14. Sincerely Media
If you’re looking for clean, minimal photography and lifestyle snaps, Sincerely Media is the one for you! @SincerelyMedia on Unsplash.
15. Pure Julia
Julia is a photographer from St Petersburg, Russia. Her bio reads ‘in love with twigs and bokeh’, which sums up her dreamy nature photos pretty well! She also shares photos of her beautiful art journals. @PureJulia on Unsplash
16. HelloimNik
If you need tech and gaming-themed photos, check out Nik’s work! You’ll find a range of creative shots, featuring fun patterns, unique concepts and even Lego. @helloimnik on Unsplash.
17. Beazy
Beazy is ideal for anyone in the home decor or interior design field looking for professional free stock photos. Their work is very Pinterest! @beazy on Unsplash.
18. Alexandru Acea
Finally, here’s another great photographer for gaming and tech bloggers. Check out @alexacea on Unsplash for stunning tech flatlays.
I hope you’re inspired to level up your blog posts with the best stock photos on Unsplash!
Why not contribute your own photographs to Unsplash as well? Mine have been featured by companies like Squarespace, and on Buzzfeed quizzes… pretty cool, huh?
All the best,
