Any idea who is behind all the free royalty free websites such as all-free-downloads, pixabay, pexels etc? It seems that Shutterstock is the main advertiser there but are they also the owners?

And also , where are all these free photos coming from?

I am new to this forum. Please let me know if this is not the right place for this question.

I am not a photographer. I am looking to purchase extended licenses for about 80 photos of specific themes to use in a board game. Currently I am searching on several stock sites. With some themes, I am not finding the photos that fit the need. What is the best way to put out custom requests for photos? (For example, I need a pair of photos, one of a child kicking a soccer and one of a dog chasing the same soccer, with the same background, to indicate the two events are happening in the same place.) I would prefer to purchase the licenses through the stock sites, not directly from photographers, to simplify the licensing process.

Thanks for your help.

For what you are describing I would purchase one image that I like and photoshop the second image with the other object, in order to make it look like a continued scene. Or, purchase a panoramic image and cut it in half so that the two sections are taken from the same scene. I really think Photoshop is your best option here :-)