Say no to cheese – top photography tips for your business

(Posted on 29/07/24)

Imagery for your business is so important. A picture paints 1000 words after all.

Whether it’s for your website, social media, corporate literature, exhibition or event, here are some helpful hints we can share that will help you take and choose the best possible photos for your website or communications:

It’s always best, if budget allows, to hire a professional photographer. But if you can’t, use the best camera you have available.

If it’s a charity/donation photo, no big cheques! The media really don’t like to share these photos.

In team shots, no eyes shut, no thumbs up, no hands in pockets, no sunglasses, folded arms, etc. Make sure it’s not a huge group of people, we call these ‘firing range’ shots. 3-4 key people is fine. And do have everyone looking at the camera.

If you’re on site, make sure all correct PPE is being worn and that everyone looks clean and tidy, any company vehicles look clean and well kept. Some mud is OK, but no rust!

Consult with your Health and Safety expert to make sure no rules are going to be broken in the photo which some well-meaning (or not) member of the public will quickly point out to you. Make sure nothing commercially sensitive is revealed either.

If people outside of your business are included in the photo, make sure you have permission from everyone who is in the photo and that you have details of their name, job title and organisation.

If you’re sending out a photo to the media, pictures massively increase the chance of your press release being picked up so it’s really important to include at least one-three high-quality photos to be sent out with every press release.

Include some of your company branding if you can in a subtle way that can’t be easily cropped out – such as a branded fleece or hard hat or signage on a vehicle door. If signs of commercialism can be cropped out by a picture editor, it will be, so you need to make it hard to do.

Pictures need to be around 1MB in size – don’t send some huge 10MB monster or a tiny 30kb one which won’t reproduce at all well.

Don’t just take generic photos off the internet – these are very unlikely to be copyright free and could land you in hot water. Photo libraries such as Pixabay or Unsplash do have some photos that are free to use – described as royalty free, but real life photos are always better. Stock photos are often originally from the US too so if you do have to resort to stock photos, make sure nothing obvious is used, like an American bus or traffic lights, which are a dead giveaway.

Have a go and don’t get hung up on whether you are doing it right. And if you’re in any doubt, at least you know a good marketing agency to manage it for you!