As you may or may not be aware, I frequently share presets both on our Etsy and in our newsletter for subscribers (yay for freebies). It was something we started doing earlier this year because I got tired of not seeing enough presets for people of color – particularly with my skin tone. I always ended up looking gray or washed out and I wanted something that instead emphasized it. I shared a few of the ones I created as a freebie and a lot of you loved it as much as I love using it, so I decided to start being more intentional about making them and selling them in our store.
The plan was and still is to make presets that flatter various skin tones, so I’ve always said that I wanted to start stepping outside of my comfort zone and offering to take photographs of people I know, who’d be willing to have their photograph shared in promotional posts. Then the ‘rona came into the world and life as we all knew it changed. In fact, as I’m writing this, things are still very different than they were in 2019. As a result, I stopped my pursuit of photography sessions with loved ones and decided to continue using photographs with myself and my husband.
Then, sometime over the summer, that sentiment returned where I really wanted to get some photographs other than my own, so I could create new presets featuring skin tones other than my own. I couldn’t find anything until recently and it’s honestly been a HUGE help for me. I was able to not only create some new presets that I’ve been wanting to make for a minute, but it gives me a lot of photographs to use for FREE use according to their websites that are unedited.
For those of you interested in creating presets or practicing with your photography, I figured it would be helpful to share with some of the amazing sites I found that allow you to use free use unedited, RAW images.
Using the Hazelnut Latte Preset
Signature Edits:
This site has presets, resources, courses, and even posing guides for photographers and influencers looking to perfect their craft. While I have not purchased any of the above things yet, I HAVE utilized their free unedited photographs that they’ve shared on their website. What an incredible resource for people looking to practice editing photography!
It allows you to upload your own photographs to be used, if you would like to, and download others for free commercial and personal use! This means that while you cannot of course sell the RAW photographs or play them off to be your own, you can use them for presets, for social media posts, for stock photography for your website after you’ve edited them, and more!
Related Photography & Preset Posts
Shuttershock Stock:
If you have Shuttershock or are interested in trying out, it’s a great place to also find unedited images for practicing your editing on. I’d recommend, if you’re not interested in paying for it, try the free trial version and download the photographs you desire to. If you love it and can afford to do it, you can keep it, but if not, you can cancel your trial once you’ve downloaded the files you want.
However, if you’re someone who wants to regularly sell presets for things like travel or portraits, but you’re having trouble getting enough images to get started, it may be an investment that might be worth it for you to make.
Using the Iced Caramel Latte Preset
Deposit Photos:
This is another website that provides stock photography, including unedited RAW photography. It is not a free service, however, so if you’re interested in downloading any of the photographs, you will have to pay a fee. However, it’s set up where you pay per month, per image. For example, the most inexpensive option of what they provide is $29 a month, which includes up to 30 photographs, but if you go past that it’s an additional $1 for each photo.
Our Etsy Shop
As you can see, there are some sites that currently exist that are created to help give you some options for learning how to create presets or practice the editing process. Whatever you’re looking to do, we hope that these sites will serve as an additional resource to enable you to do so. Speaking of additional resources…
If you aren’t already, we’d love you to join our little online family of influencers and photographers who love photography! One of our newsletter groups for Freshly Brewed is a newsletter specifically for people interested in photography. We share our editing tips, preset freebies, and resources that I’ve found to be helpful. If you subscribe below you’ll get our free, fall-themed presets the moment you sign up!
