Nowadays when someone wants to find out more about you as a business/product/service they will whip out their phones and head to Google. From there they will visit your website or any social media platforms that you have and do you really want them seeing you promote yourself with shaky or dark photographs? Of course not.

Taking a few minutes to set up your shots will make all the difference when it comes to the viewer appreciating what they see instead of being put off by the low-quality images. When we talk about setting up shots, we aren’t talking full-on studio lighting/ gear/ special effects, we simply look at the arrangement of items/ angles and the natural light available. It’s really simple to enhance your image by thinking about it that little bit more.

Here are some key tips to make your quick social posts stand out!

Tip 1: Use Available Light

I would recommend trying to use large windows or other forms of natural light sources to keep your images bright. If you shoot in direct sunlight, you’ll tend to get overexposed images with really harsh shadows. If you’re photographing someone outside, it’s best if you turn them away from direct sunlight as this will save them from squinting which never looks good! Often if you photograph near a window the light will come in and bounce around to create a soft light instead of direct sunlight.

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Tip 2: Remember To Focus

This is something that is forgotten about a lot with mobile photography! Nowadays your mobile phone can take fantastic photographs and has been adapted to be able to control a lot of settings like a DSLR, so more often than not people forget that you can actually focus on a subject with the click of a button. Simple touch the screen where you want to focus and your phone will do the rest, this often adds depth and wonderful thing called ‘bokeh’ instead of being completely flat. Newer iPhones, after the 7 also have a ‘Portrait’ feature which adds the effect of using a different lens for adding even more bokeh. REMEMBER: This is an effect, not the real thing so don’t over do it. Sometimes the iPhone doesn’t read the situation right and you’ll end up with half a subject in focus…

Tip 3: Ignore The Filters

Seriously stay away from the pre-made filters on iPhone and the Instagram filters aren’t any better. Download apps like VSCO/Darkroom and tweak an image with the settings and create your own image. Try not to go over the top though, a little bit of contrast increase and sharpen is your main focus. Using the settings helps you create a more redefined image yet still keep it subtle.

EXTRA TIP: DON’T USE ZOOM. SERIOUSLY THIS WILL HEAVILY DECREASE THE QUALITY OF YOUR IMAGE AND PIXELATE THE IMAGE DUE TO THE INABILITY OF YOUR MOBILE TO ACTUALLY ZOOM… LONG STORY JUST DON’T!

Just remember that practice makes perfect and you won’t get the shot on the first go (okay sometimes you will… but don’t rush). Hopefully, with these tips, any passer-by will have no idea that you used your smartphone to take photos and you’ll start to have a beautiful feed of high-quality photographs.

Chances are someone else did too!

This is the general response any time the idea of arranging a bespoke photo shoot with a client is mentioned. It doesn’t need to be cost prohibitive. You are looking to sell your product/service, why would you not want to show exactly what you are selling/providing? Yes it’s an extra money spent but honestly it’s well spent, think of it as an investment. Your visual representation is the best advert a brand can have. To create the cohesive narrative and say more about a product than you can in words. A picture paint… and all that! Too many times we see websites using the same stock images as other websites trying to sell something completely polar. This dilutes a brands message and creates a confused marketplace and consumer.

Don’t get us wrong stock photography has it’s place. Filler content can be vital for websites and collateral if used thoughtfully but it should NEVER be used as main imagery for your business or brand. You don’t have ownership over them.

The image above was shot for our client, The Torridon, and shows one of the instructors teaching some guests the basics before getting in the water. He is a genuine Torridon instructor working with guests, the person you would physically meet if you were to book lessons. This is the emotive content, the ability to immerse the consumer in YOUR product. Make them feel what it is to be there, to taste it, to experience it. To use a generic Kayak stock shot would remove the USP, to explain an experience not BE the experience.

On Twitter, images accompanying text garner a larger audience with 18% more clicks, 89% more favourites, and 150% more retweets. We live in a visual world. Consumer expectation is key, most preferring to see reality rather than be let down by false pretence. Many times this interaction is the first one with a brand/product long before any tactile or physical experience.

If you hire a photographer remember the photographs will be YOURS (apart from the photographer of course but that’s a discussion for another time…). You won’t see the local chippy using your the image from your restaurant selling their new fish supper or the local pub using images of your product as a special cocktail they make.

You will also get more than enough images that you can use for the rest of time instead of forking out for a single shot each time you want one from a stock site which your competitor can download just like you did.

Now, step away from Stock photography and put some equity into understanding the power of taking ownership of your imagery.