Getting into the photography business could mean several things. For example, some photographers travel around the world and take pictures of bustling city streets and awe-inspiring mountain landscapes. On the other hand, some photographers manage studios where they take photos for families, weddings, sports teams, and more. But that’s the beauty of photography. There are so many different types that you can get your fix of the artsy kind, while also making money with client work.
Every good photographer knows that they need a website, but sometimes a premium WordPress theme is out of the budget or it’s not practical for a hobby. Therefore, we recommend looking at free photography WordPress themes to save a little money and to get a taste of what it’s like to manage a photography blog or portfolio. The options we outline below have a wide range of features and media support settings, so you should be able to select the one you like based on layout, colors, and overall branding opportunities.
What Should You Expect From a Free Photography Theme?
The goal with this article is to locate free themes that have similar features to premium photography themes. Therefore, we expect all of the themes to have some sort of large image display, such as a slider, header, or lightbox effect. In addition, many of the themes provide galleries or portfolios, some of which include filters.
A contact form is needed for people to call you for work, while a clean blog allows for more content, and a responsive layout ensures people can view photos on mobile devices. You might also want support for WooCommerce to sell your photos.
What Organizations and Individuals Would Benefit from One of These Themes?
Photographers and bloggers of all shapes and sizes should think about looking at these themes. For example, you might have a blog that covers celebrity news. If that’s the case, you probably need solid image support. The themes we’re about to talk about provide the proper features needed for professional photographers and amateurs. So, if you’re doing this for a hobby, you should be fine with these themes. Professionals also like to save money, so they could benefit as well.
The Best Free Photography WordPress Themes:
SKT Full Width
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The SKT Full Width WordPress theme has become a favorite for many photographers looking to save money with a site. The theme comes with demo content for quickly activating your site and replacing that content with your own photographs. Change around the background with your own images, and use the full width header to feature one of your best pieces of work. What’s cool is that the sidebar only appears when you want it to, keeping most of the focus on your photography.
Many photographers use the homepage as a portfolio, while you can also guide people to other work with the use of the sidebar menu. The blog post formats look great, and you can create a more visual interface with the beautiful featured images. The SKT Full Width theme fits all devices for clients to see photos on phones and tablets. Furthermore, the theme has clean HTML5 and CSS3 code, so your potential clients won’t have to wait around for your site to load.
Spatephoto
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The Spatephoto WordPress theme can work for either a photo blogger or a full photography business, since it features a large slider and a beautiful blog, rich with featured images. The SMT Framework theme supports both WooCommerce and Ecwid, meaning that you can sell your photos to customers. We like the custom sidebars for Instagram galleries and recent blog post lists. In addition, the Google Maps shortcode brings people to your business for a photo shoot.
The responsive theme supports custom widgets, so if you need to go out and get a social media bar or new image gallery plugin, that’s completely possible. The Contacts page connects you with clients, while the translation options ensure that you can communicate with people. Each blog post includes related posts at the end, so if someone’s viewing a photo blog post from Germany, they can jump to other articles about surrounding countries. Along with antispam, custom menus, and shortcode support the Spatephoto theme delivers on all levels.
Rokophoto Lite
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Consider the Rokophoto Lite theme if you’re trying to make a simple, minimalist photography blog. Both hobbyists and professionals will love the sleekness of the theme, since it has a generous header, no sidebars, and beautiful post formats. The header has overlaying text for talking about your photo blog, while the responsive design lets folks browse through your galleries from smaller devices. Social media buttons are included, and you can collect email addresses with the Follow Me button.
The localization lets you change around the language depending on what your customers speak, and each blog post preview shows a stunning featured image to introduce readers to your work. I’d recommend the theme for sports, outdoor, and adventure photographers, but you could really use it for any industry. Threaded comments sit towards the bottom of each blog post, generating conversation between your fans, while also giving you a chance to get feedback about your photos.
Infinite Photography
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The Infinite Photography WordPress theme displays an impressive image header and a grid-based gallery right below that. The simple and clean design is one of the easier ones to customize, making it possible for busy photographers to get their work online in a reasonable time frame. All major browsers are supported, and the theme has responsive layouts so people can see your photos no matter which device or browser being used. You can change around the entire site color to reach your branding goals, while also uploading your own logo.
Three layouts come with the theme: Right sidebar, left sidebar, and fullwidth. We tend to recommend the fullwidth structure for blogs and galleries, but some photographers may need that extra sidebar space. The custom menus, colors, and backgrounds improve the site look, while the threaded comments get people chatting about your images. The translation files are essential so that all photographers can use their own languages. Overall, the Infinite Photography theme makes quite an impression.
Surreal
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The Surreal WordPress theme comes from the folks at SMThemes, and it’s primarily used as a photography portfolio or blog. Selling becomes simple with Ecwid and WooCommerce support, while the dynamic content loader enables quick loading of all your images. The SMT Framework theme provides a Google Maps shortcode so all your photography clients can find you, and the responsive design lets users scroll through your photos on any device they please.
The custom sidebars support all types of widgets, and the social sharing bar gets your photography work into the social world. We recommend combining the Google Maps shortcode with the Contacts page, since all of your contact information should be in the same area. The theme is slider-ready, so displaying a large version of your best work comes easy. Utilize the antispam to protect your content, and play around with the custom menus to guide people to the most relevant photos.
Water Lily
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The Water Lily theme presents a pleasant take on the standard photography portfolio, with somewhat feminine tones and a simple grid for sharing thumbnail images. The theme has plenty of free space for a minimalist feel, and the menu resides on the side for a more unique look. The theme is designed to showcase artwork and photography, and it all comes to fruition with the beautiful masonry structure. You can change the background color to match your logo, and the minimal sidebar supports widgets.
Although you’re free to extend the code with a child theme, I figure most photographers will be satisfied with the currently elegant theme presentation. The menu does have custom elements, and the featured images from your blog posts can serve as your portfolio. The theme is completely responsive to see all of your photos on tablets and phones, while the language support potentially expands your reach to new clients. Along with two columns and threaded comments, the Water Lily theme offers simplicity and clarity.
PhotoMania
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The PhotoMania theme can be found on the WEN Themes website. Once you download the theme you’ll notice that it has a similar look to sites like ShutterStock, where you have a search bar for a large database of photos. So, it lets you sell photos that way, or you can turn it into a powerful portfolio. After a user searches, the site reveals all of the relevant items. They also have the option to scroll below the search bar and view a portfolio with filters.We like the theme for offering both search methods, since not every customer is the same.
The responsive design snaps photos into place when shown on smaller devices, and the custom CSS option is there in case you’d like to further customize your site. We enjoy the featured slider for showcasing some of your best work, or you could opt for a static header image. The footer widgets support items like social media buttons and blog post lists, while the custom site banner could potentially work as an advertisement. Some of the other features include multiple slider options, custom menus, logo customization, and more.
PhotoMaker
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Phonow
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Photo World
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Make
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Vanilla Lite
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Zerif Lite
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Photo Session
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Fukasawa
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Sparkling
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Parallax One
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Clearly
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Sixteen
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Snapshot
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Quest
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Full Frame
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Aileron
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SKT Photo Session
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Snapshot
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Influence
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Delish
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Blackoot Lite
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Ravel
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Panaroma
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Tracks
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Origami
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Portfolio Press
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Premium Photography
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Make
<img class="nimbus_ss" alt="Make" src="https://cdn.nimbusthemes.com/blog/free-photography/make.j
