Photography tips

Get inspired

Preparation can be key to getting the right images at the right time for the right channels.

Spend time looking online for inspiration and consider:

• what images are similar businesses using?
• which photos leave a lasting impression?
• what style do I like that suits my brand?

Getting an idea of what you like, what other businesses are doing and how images are engaged with online can help.

Why do you want new images?

Maybe you want to:

• replace existing images that were taken a long time ago
• showcase a new physical space at your business
• showcase a new product at your business
• attract a new audience – such as the US or accessible market
• tell a new story – about your friendly staff or sustainable journey

Being clear on what the goal is of the new images can help you think about what you need to capture, whether you want customers or staff in those images, and how many images you might need.

Where are you going to use these new images?

You might need new images for your:

• website
• social media channels
• email newsletter
• business listings across partner websites such as destination marketing organisations (DMOs) and online travel agents (OTAs)

Different channels can have different image requirements. Your website may require landscape or banner images, while your social media channels need a particular size for Instagram, or potentially even video might work best.

Be clear on what channels these images need to be suitable for and include in your plan to take different orientations and angles.

What do you want these images to say about you?

• Think about your business history and ethos – why do you exist?
• Think about customer feedback – why do people enjoy visiting you? Is there a feeling or description that comes up often in reviews?
• Think about your staff – what do they most enjoy? Why do they work for you?
• Think about your product – what makes you unique?
• Think about other factors – do different seasons change the experience at your business?

This will help you be clear on what you want to say about your business, and what message you want to leave the viewer with.

Prepare ahead of time

The great news about photography is that we all have access now to excellent equipment. An up-to-date smart phone can take extremely high quality images and offer good editing software.

Get the spaces you want to use ready – make sure they have been checked against your quality standards and are as you would want them to be for a customer.

Get the people you need ready – make sure you organise who you need to turn up at the right time, and have permission forms signed for any models.

Think about time of day (and year) – think about how the light comes through the space and what time of day would be best. Even the best smart phones can’t help if the light is coming the wrong way!

Edit your images

Remember to optimise your images for the right channel – this could be cropping the images for social media or reducing the size and quality so that they can load quickly onto your website.

Smart phones have inbuilt software available which offers a good number of features for editing. Or there are options including Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Express.

Taking images of people

You need to get consent from people featured in your images where they are recognisable. This means getting them to sign a permission form and storing that correctly as per the rules of GDPR. You must also allow them to rescind their consent later and remove the image as per their request.

Find out more at GDPR UK.

For staff, you may wish to include this in their standard contract that you have permission to take and use images of them while they work for you.