Our phones have made us all photographers, haven’t they?
I don’t know about you, but I’m at like 523,042 pictures of my two-year-old daughter on my phone right now. Most of the photos have about five variations that I don’t have the heart to delete. It’s just, she’s making a cute face in one, and she's smiling in another, and she’s grumpy in the third … Anyone else feel the pain of too much data to organize and not enough grit to purge?
Cell phone fishy faces are great for the photo albums that go to Grandma at Christmas, but photos on your website should be left to the pros if possible.
I do think you can do a lot on an iPhone camera for photos for social media, pdf downloads or other items you distribute in your day-to-day business. But websites are a little different.
Here are three reasons you should use professional photos on your website:
1. Photo composition
A good branding photographer will know how to compose your photos so they look the strongest. They have an eye for placing the subject (you!) in the right place. You can even work with them on this for particular needs on your website. For example, if you know that you want a hero image of you (the large image at the top of your home page) with room to write text on one side, they can help frame that photo for you.
They can also give you ideas of what other kinds of photos you might need in different orientations. For your website, you will want a headshot, a casual shot, an action shot and a direct, eyes on camera full-sized image. You will want some in portrait (vertical) and some in landscape (horizontal).
Make sure they get a variety so when you go to do your website design, your designer will have a lot to work with.
2. Photo quality
Photos that come out of a DSLR camera are going to have much higher quality than a phone picture. They have a higher capacity for photos with better resolution and a larger size. This means that when you blow a photo up to cover the entire width of your site, it won’t look pixelated or blurry.
This is important for credibility. Nothing says amateur like a blurry, dark or stretched photo.
3. Photo editing
Most photos right out of a camera do not accurately represent the color and the feel of something in real life. It takes some tweaking in photoshop to bring out the tones and light that give it a professional feel.
Photographers have the magic tough to make a nice photo look even brighter, smoother and high quality. They will edit your photos to look natural but a bit more polished. You can often work with them to ask for a certain aesthetic. Are you looking for light and airy? Or maybe you want the color to be more rich and vibrant. Your photographer will know how to accomplish this.
I know that when you are starting out that adding another cost to your website design is tough. But all of the investment you put into your brand will be worth it when you book clients who take you seriously because they see the best picture of you possible on your website.
Your personality and your brand will shine through best when the images you use match the quality you want to deliver your clients.
Don’t forget to make sure your brand photos match your brand.
Still uncertain about your brand? Take my free quiz: Is your brand making maximum impact? See how you can better make it stand out in a crowded industry and speak to your dream clients.