Pets stock photos and royalty free images

Finding images with pets on Shutterstock is easy. First and foremost, you can simply scroll down to browse our curated collection of pet images, with selections from photographers all over the world. If you're looking for a specific type of image, simply head over to shutterstock.com, and type your search term into the search bar at the top of the page. Once you get your results, you can begin filtering them by relevance, type, orientation, and even color scheme. If you already have an image, and you'd like to find a similar one to use in your project, simply click "search by image" in the box to the right of the search field. Here, you can upload your own image, and Shutterstock's A.I. will find similar images.

Popular images that mention pets include happy pets, pet shop logos, and pet icons. Happy pets are a no-brainer — people don't particularly enjoy seeing images of sad animals, and a happy pet can easily lift our own spirits, whether that's in a social media feed or in a marketing campaign. Pet shop logos are popular because the idea of a pet shop is the idea of a happy place. It's where children can see puppies in the window, and families can browse all kinds of happy animals to bring a new family member into their home. Pet icons are also popular because they're very usable. They can be mascots, logos, or even just simple contour-line images that evoke the idea of pets without using photo-real images.

Images with pet animals are engaging because many viewers can quite easily project themselves into the image, either by thinking of their own pets at home or referencing other pet images they've seen in the past. Pet images aren't charged with political or philosophical information, so they are relevant to users of all kinds. This brings people of different paths together, and we often enjoy belonging to groups that have shared interests. Images of pets remind us of the special relationship between animals and people, and we never get tired of looking at them.

Pet photography can be very challenging, so good pictures of pets are worth their weight in gold. Pets, like small children, are easily distracted and prone to doing whatever they want. That means it can be difficult to get them to sit still long enough to get a good photo. They're also inclined to play with people, so when photographers need to get close to get a good, detailed image, they're just as likely to end up wrestling with the pet as they are taking its picture. However, skilled pet photographers have tricks they use (like commands and distractions) that allow them to get the professional images that many of us struggle to get using our phones. That makes these images ideal for creative projects that need to look professional.

There's a good reason why images of pets are so cute — it's survival. Researchers know that people are positively inclined toward the features of cute or baby animals, like large heads, large eyes, small ears, chubby bellies, and soft fur. It's thought that these features improve baby animals' chances of being taken care of by other animals or people. While our pets grow out of their baby phases, they never lose these features entirely, so they remain cute to us throughout their lives. When we see pets doing things that look human, like "smiling," we easily think of them as smaller, furrier people — people who we find very cute.