Stock photos look like stock photos. Visitors can tell, and it makes a business feel generic. Real photos of your people, your place and your work do far more, and your phone is good enough to take them.
Before you start
- Wipe the camera lens. Pocket smudges cause most blurry, hazy photos.
- Turn off the flash.
- Shoot in the highest quality setting, and turn on the grid lines to help keep things level.
Light is everything
Use daylight whenever you can. Stand your subject facing a window, not with their back to it. On a job site, shoot with the sun behind you or to the side. Avoid harsh overhead lights that cast shadows under eyes.
Photos to take
- **Team:** each person, head and shoulders, against a plain background, plus one natural group shot.
- **Work in progress:** hands doing the job. It shows skill better than a finished result alone.
- **Before and after:** from the same spot and angle each time.
- **Your place:** the entrance, the workspace, the vehicle, whatever customers will see.
Framing
- Hold the phone at chest height for people, not below the chin.
- Leave some space around the subject so the photo can be cropped for different layouts.
- Take both landscape and portrait versions of important shots. Websites use landscape; social media often uses portrait.
Permission and privacy
Ask before photographing customers or their homes, and avoid capturing addresses, number plates, screens or paperwork in the background.
Getting them to your web team
Send the original files, not screenshots or photos sent through a messaging app, which shrink the quality. A shared folder works best. Your web team can resize and optimise them so they don’t slow the site down.