Unsplash
Creative
free stock photos
SHOW HN2013
357points
137comments
#22of 1,739 in 2013
Top 2%of 2013 by points
How HN took it
DebatedReal support and real criticism
18 positive, 18 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 33 critical, out of 72 comments about the project. Thread score -0.21.
Idea: 11 for, 14 againstDesign: 2 for, 6 againstExecution: 1 for, 6 againstDocs: 1 for, 4 againstPricing: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Photos look good and are useful for projects.
From 3 comments
Some really good shots here, they will come in handy at some point in my current projects release span. Thanks for the free images. I don't get why everyone here is being so…
DigitalSea on HNThank you so much for this. The pictures are beautiful, and I've used them to spiffy-up my medium profile. Just published a post with one of them as the header in "IMHO". Again,…
shayanjm on HNThe photos look amazing. May I ask what the license is on these photos?
yefim323 on HN
Free photos are a valuable idea; HN is too negative.
From 3 comments
Why all the hate? You guys are always telling people to launch early and at the end of the day the OP is sharing something that he created to help out his peers, for free and…
jameswyse on HNThis is awesome, I've also felt the same about finding photos. I hope this changes that. Keep it up! I'll contribute when I learn some post processing so you can have more…
yoshyosh on HNSome really good shots here, they will come in handy at some point in my current projects release span. Thanks for the free images. I don't get why everyone here is being so…
DigitalSea on HN
Tip jar and contributor offers suggested warmly.
From 2 comments
Awesome, really excited about this. Just a thought: You should have a "tip jar" so people can show their appreciation where it counts.
HunterV on HNThis is cool, good work. My startup is in the photography industry–don't worry about competing with Flickr's CC images or even microstock sites. Just focus on "Splash images for…
callmeed on HN
Objections
Almost all photos show Apple products, limiting usefulness.
From 4 comments
Why do all of the photo's have Apple products in them? I would recommend displaying the license in which these high resolution photos can be used, because "free" isn't a license.
footoverhand on HNIt's... just a bunch of photos of Apple products. Not even close to a full stock photo replacement.
kunai on HN10 free photos, and it's all Apple fanboy photos? Thanks anyway I guess, don't look a gift horse in the mouth :)
Aardwolf on HNWell this is great if you are looking for apple products displayed in a cafe environment with that natural wood feel. If not, I guess I'm out of luck.
sengstrom on HN
License unclear; 'free' is not a license and brand/model release issues.
From 3 comments
Why do all of the photo's have Apple products in them? I would recommend displaying the license in which these high resolution photos can be used, because "free" isn't a license.
footoverhand on HNI like the idea but this project badly needs all legalities fixed (license is missing, there is a person but no model release, maybe more).
Nekorosu on HNI think the developer took MVP to the extreme. For legal reasons it's critical to fully explain the license on the photos available for download, and the terms for anybody…
adventured on HN
Too few photos to replace stock libraries.
From 3 comments
There are millions (billions?) of stock photos in the world, and your plan is to replace all of them with 10 pictures of a MacBook Air? Even with more pictures it's unlikely…
jlarocco on HNIt's... just a bunch of photos of Apple products. Not even close to a full stock photo replacement.
kunai on HNAll of the comments here hating on the "only 10 photos on Apple" seem pretty ridiculous to me. Clearly, the author chose a theme for today and will add more non-Apple photos…
b0z0 on HN
Photo quality issues: chromatic aberration and posterization.
From 3 comments
Oddly, the first thing that I noticed is that the image of him typing at the keyboard has really bad chroma aberration (notice the purple around all the keys).
Osiris on HNInteresting, but a slight critique. There's some lens chromatic aberration in the bokeh/blur... a better lens that performs with little chroma wide open would solve it, or…
calinet6 on HNAs somebody who did pro photography for a few years, these photos are a good example of why you should never shoot JPG, but RAW instead, and process everything in 16 bit per…
rorrr2 on HN
Original title was negative about stock photo industry.
From 2 comments
It's amazing how much the title submission can influence comments. Original title: "Hated expensive, crappy stock photos so I made this." Current title: "Free hi-resolution…
bretthopper on HNAs others have said, the original title said "Hated expensive, crappy stock photos so I made this." So yeah, that's where he denigrated an entire industry. and for some reason HN…
corresation on HN
Requests
Add search and tagging system.
From 1 comment
Nice idea, but without a search/tagging system, how is someone supposed to find relevant images?
elmuchoprez on HN
Clear license statement on the site.
From 2 comments
Why do all of the photo's have Apple products in them? I would recommend displaying the license in which these high resolution photos can be used, because "free" isn't a license.
footoverhand on HNI think the developer took MVP to the extreme. For legal reasons it's critical to fully explain the license on the photos available for download, and the terms for anybody…
adventured on HN
Add non-Apple photos and more variety, including people.
From 2 comments
My problem with stock photos is, people in them look like robots. Understandable, since they are usually not actors. Many times when they are talking, they don't look at each…
utopkara on HNAll of the comments here hating on the "only 10 photos on Apple" seem pretty ridiculous to me. Clearly, the author chose a theme for today and will add more non-Apple photos…
b0z0 on HN
Include Photoshop files for placing screenshots.
From 1 comment
This is cool, good work. My startup is in the photography industry–don't worry about competing with Flickr's CC images or even microstock sites. Just focus on "Splash images for…
callmeed on HN
Questions
What incentive do photographers have to contribute?
From 1 comment
What incentive do photographers have to submit to your site? At least on the 'majors' (istockphoto, dreamstrime, shutterstock et al) they earn something. And if you are the only…
jkuria on HN
Why not submit to Flickr or Wikimedia Commons instead?
From 1 comment
Nice shots, but why not just submit them to Wikimedia Commons/Flickr/etc under Creative Commons license? Much better chance of people actually finding and using them, IMO.
azov on HN
Is the photo license permissive for commercial use?
From 1 comment
The photos look amazing. May I ask what the license is on these photos?
yefim323 on HN
Alternatives named
Flickr Creative Commons search
From 2 comments
There are millions (billions?) of stock photos in the world, and your plan is to replace all of them with 10 pictures of a MacBook Air? Even with more pictures it's unlikely…
jlarocco on HNAlso, Flickr has lots and lots of good quality CC and other free to use licensed photos. http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
kghose on HN
sxc.hu
From 2 comments
http://sxc.hu has a ton of free stock photos of varying licenses/quality. Also searching on flickr for cc'd images often will net you some good photos.
jjcm on HNYou can still obtain some decent free stock photos on sxc.hu, although many of the searches are filled with links to premium photos.
neovive on HN
Pixabay
From 1 comment
Another site with high quality public domain photography is http://www.pixabay.com
instakill on HN
Placeit
From 1 comment
I love stuff like this - super simple solution to a common pain point. http://placeit.breezi.com/ is a very similar service with CC images.
mikkel on HN