Creating eye-catching videos is easier when you use stock photos. With extra attention to detail and creativity, you can get excellent results for your slideshows, promos, intros, as well as for effects, such as sky compositing, 3D animations and creating parallax videos. Your options are endless!
Check out these free stock photos from the Motion Array library and pick your favorites to use in your creative projects. Keep reading for some tips on how to include them in your videos.
Summary
Part 1: Top 15 Free Stock Photos You Can Download Today
1. Palm Leaves On Blue Sky
Blue skies, fresh air, swaying palm trees, you can almost feel this image! With its 5722×3815 large JPG file size and horizontal format is perfect for use in high-resolution videos. Use it as a presentation background, or overlay for animated text in your video.
Download Palm Leaves On Blue Sky Now
2. Nature Of Bali Island
Bright blue skies and a clear blue sea make it a warm and inviting summer image to use in a wide range of creative travel or blogging projects. Especially if you are showcasing an island trip with a natural look!
Download Nature Of Bali Island Now
3. Sunbathing Under Palm Tree
Give your audiences real summer vibes with this high-resolution photo with the shadows of the palm tree leaves and a focus of a subject most can relate to. Use it on its own or as part of a video project.
Download Sunbathing Under Palm Tree Now
4. Ready To Board A Train
This vintage-style image focuses on a woman posing with a hat in front of a train. A must photo for most women’s lifestyle blogs or social posts for fashion styles. A classy look for all video projects!
Download Ready To Board A Train Now
5. Playful Couple Embracing
If you’re looking for an image that represents a summer romance, this free stock photo has great warm vibes. This naturally happy couple is perfect for newly married or young family-focused projects and social posts.
Download Playful Couple Embracing Now
6. Wedding Bouquet
If you’re a wedding business looking for free stock photos for your marketing campaigns, this is a great high quality image of a wedding bouquet on a table next to a smartphone. No need to edit – simply download the JPEG and start using it right away.
7. A Resting Cat
If you are looking for an authentic photo that grabs your attention, look no further! Adding a cat photo to your online posts will make a difference in softer responses and build an emotional base.
8. Rosh Hashana Honey Bowl
If you are looking to promote healthier lifestyles as well as great food recipes, this photo is perfect for your next video project. Use colorful and tasteful images to not only impress your audience but also spend less with free stock photos.
Download Rosh Hashana Honey Bowl Now
9. A Healthy Dessert
This is the perfect image to represent healthy desserts, with products made up of yogurt, granola, and pomegranate seeds. This image has a beautiful depth of field that would be great for any food-related creative projects.
Download A Healthy Dessert Now
10. Homemade Margherita Pizza
This free stock photo is a top-down image of a margherita pizza with a hand taking a slice away. Definitely enticing any viewer! This photo can be used in any food content like videos, presentations, social media posts – simply download it and incorporate it into your project.
Download Homemade Margherita Pizza Now
11. Assorted Pastries On Buffet
Looking for some delicious inspiration? Satisfy your sweet tooth with this high resolution image of pastries arranged neatly in rows. The full-frame image of desserts is perfect for catering content. Simply download it and start using it right away.
Download Assorted Pastries On Buffet Now
12. Roman Columns
This is a photo of some stunning classical architecture, featuring Roman style columns above a clean marble floor. The framing of the photo would be great to overlay text as part of a presentation document or social media post.
13. Science Sport Lab Facility
This is a great shot to use for scientific research articles or news videos on health announcements. The photo can also be used in sports care projects and is also perfect for infographics, web content, and even books.
Download Science Sport Lab Facility Now
14. On Business Call
Perfect for your next business presentation this photo features a businessman servicing clients or a lawyer having an important client conversation. Use this photo as a background or overlay in your next company update post!
15. Bokeh On Dark
This abstract image of defocused lights in the dark is perfect to use as a background in presentations, videos, and social media posts, with text overlaid on it. Download this free stock photo for use in your creative projects right away.
Part 2: Tips on Using Free Stock Photos in Your Videos & Promos
You might be thinking that these photos are all fine, but how can they take the place of footage? Well, it’s perfectly doable to include still images in your videos if you design it for that purpose in mind. You can maintain interest by adding some slow movement to the photos, achievable by scaling the image up or down gradually over time with keyframes. And while we’re here, try these other suggestions of how to use stock photos in your videos in promos.
Adding 3D Effects
In Adobe After Effects, you can layer images and give a sense of depth that you don’t get from just stills. This is called a parallax effect, and is really useful for turning still photos into videos.
Using Text & Titles
By overlaying text and titles on a photo, the still image becomes a background for something animated rather than the main focus of the video. This helps prevent it jar with footage if you’re including it in a longer video, or you can make an entire video themed around animating text over stills.
Use Split Screens
When it comes to making still photos engaging and dynamic, animation is your friend. Using keyframes, you can animate split screens to see multiple images on screen at once. Create exit animations and cycle through several images to create an interesting montage effect.
Add Transitions
If you want to focus on one image at a time, create transitions to get from one to the other. This is great if you want to create a presentation but need something more premium and engaging than Powerpoint.
Use Color Grading
Make your images consistent in style by grading them in the same way. Add a specific color hue to bring the color in line with a single creative. If you’re using a lot of stock photos in your video, this will help make them feel like they have been designed together as a collective.
Use Sound Effects
Even if your images are not moving, sound effects help establish a sense of place and texture. Add relevant sound effects of the ocean, birds, breeze, a motorcycle engine, a plane – depending on what the image is depicting. This will help place your audience in your world and make your video more engaging.
You don’t need to feel restricted to video footage when you are making a video. You can easily use still photos in your videos and promos if you choose carefully. Without a budget for photography, Motion Array has a large range of free stock photos for you to pick from, featuring all kinds of subjects and topics. Stock photos are also great for including in presentations, website banners, and other kinds of creatives.
