To pay or not to pay that is the question?

There are plenty of places on the internet to get free images usually under a Creative Commons Licence. However you do need to be careful about a couple of points.

Creative Commons Licence might restrict you to non-commercial use only.

Images that are claimed to be free of copyright or offered under a Creative Commons Licence might actually be owned by someone. People do steal and post images on the internet, they also take and manipulate images to make it look as if they own them.

If you want consistently good quality images that you can be confident are copyright free then the cost of buying an image from a stock photo company is really quite low.

Finding Free Images

The following list is believed to be sources of free images. Some may be copyright free, some may be copyrighted or under a Creative Commons Licence. In the later two cases you may be expected to include an attribute listing the source and/or credit for the photographer. Make sure you read the instructions and conditions before using any images.

Word to the Wise: downloading images, especially free images, comes with a degree of risk. Some sources may include malicious code so do some research about the source before committing to a download. An internet search will often indicate if there might be a problem. To the best of my knowledge the sources in the following list are kosher.