Travel photographs have a distinct quality. They are beautiful, awe-inspiring, eye-catching, breathtaking, and arresting. Ultimately, these types of images provoke you into packing your bags and setting out to vacation in the destination of your choice.
However, the decision to travel requires inspiration. And whether you are the one seeking motivation to travel or giving travel advice through your blogs and social media handles - you need travel-niche photographs.
In the travel industry, pictures are everything. You can explain the attraction of a city in as many words as you want, but a single image can leave a more lasting impact than words. Remember, a photo speaks 1000 words.
Where can you Find Travel Images?
But then, there is the question of finding travel photographs. You cannot possibly travel all over the world unless you have a six-figure bank account. And you cannot just take any photo from the internet and claim it as your own as it will be considered a violation of copyright.
Luckily, this is where stock photographs come into use!
Many stock websites cover the travel sector. Some of them are paid, while others are free to use.
If you are just starting out, free stock photos work fine. However, when you look to buy stock photos, you will come across more unique images. You can even get exclusive rights to some pictures. They usually have better quality as compared to ones that are free as well.
But regardless of which option you choose, you are sure to find some great photographs for your visual guidance. In this guide, let’s look at some of the best stock image sites for travel photographs. We have categorized them according to free and paid services to help you find the one more suited to your requirements.
Shutterstock - Quality Images with Great Editing Option (Paid)
Shutterstock is the premium choice for stock images because the quality offered here is unmatched. The content library is continuously filled with thousands of various photos, illustrations, and videos.
One of the notable features of Shutterstock is its built-in editing tool. After buying an image, you can edit and resize it with easy-to-use tools provided by Shutterstock. It’s a great feature for travel bloggers who require tons of amazing customized photos.
The team at Shutterstock is tirelessly working to stay way ahead of others by providing high-quality images, best-searching facilities, and editing tools. The pricing plans are affordable if you commit to a yearly package. Otherwise, monthly plans or single image purchases are costly.
Shutterstock’s paid plan starts with $29 for ten images per month (charged annually). The highest package goes up to $199 per month (charged yearly) for 750 shots.
iStock - Top Notch Travel Images (Paid)
iStock has been around since 1999 and is known for its finest image quality. The stock photo resource has many images, photos, illustrations, graphics, audio, and video.
The search functionality is pretty advanced. With the help of this function, you will be able to narrow down your required image quickly. iStock also offers a reverse search feature where you can find out if any other business has used a particular image.
iStock offers different packages, with the basic one starting from $30 per month for ten images and the most premium costing $125 per month for ten pictures plus videos.
You can also avail an iStock promo code that will give you 15% off discounts on selected images, videos, and vectors.
Adobe Stock - Affordable Alternative (Paid)
Adobe Stock is a known name and contains millions of travel photos. The website is pretty intuitive and user-friendly.
It has different categories, including travel. They have displayed the photos in the form of collections as well. The collections are divided into core, infinite, and instant - where “core” and “infinite” have photos for desktop use and “instant” has photos for mobile devices. You can search for travel images in different collections as well.
The basic account costs $29.99 per month for ten assets, and the premium account is priced at $199.99 every month for 750 purchases.
Pricing-wise, Adobe Stock is budget-friendly. You won’t have to dig a hole in your pocket to buy travel photos here. However, the quality of images is not at par with other paid stock photo websites.
Unsplash - the Best for Travel Photos (Free)
Unsplash is the best stock photo website for any niche. The library has over 2 million free high-quality images. You can use Unsplash photos with or without giving credits.
The travel photographs are added with the location tag, which makes searching easier. There are generic travel photos as well as destination images.
Unsplash has more than 100,000 contributors from all corners of the world. It means you can find travel images of far-flung areas or even not-so-popular destinations.
Pexels - Powerful Search Tool (Free)
Pexels is another great name in stock photography. The content library is generous, while the contributors are global. In fact, it has over 200,000 travel images alone. Most images have a creative commons license, which means they can be used freely.
In addition to all those qualities, Pexels has the most thorough search process. All the images are tagged and categorized by the employees. It is more accessible and quick to find your desired image on Pexels.
Moreover, the quality of travel images is exceptional. Pexels is a fantastic choice for free travel images and has outstanding search capabilities.
Pixabay - Realistic and Natural Travel Images (Free)
Pixabay is among the top-tier free stock images websites. It has more than 2 million photos from contributors spread across the globe.
Pixabay travel images are different because they are realistic and natural. The quality of images might not be as great as Unsplash or Pexels. However, it provides a better perspective of any country or location.
Also, the search bar has multiple options. So you will be able to narrow down your required image within a couple of searches.
Final Words
Stock photo websites have made it possible for everyone to fill their blogs and social media accounts with incredible photos from all corners of the world. They are also helpful in finding amazing holidays, staycations, and road trips.
In the above guide, we have listed plenty of free and paid resources for travel photos. Choose the one that fits you better. If you know more stock websites with exceptional travel photographs, share with us in the comments section below.
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