Take better photos of your business with just your phone
You don't need a photographer or a fancy camera. Six habits that make phone photos look good enough for your website, Google and social media.
· 2 min read
Real photos of your business do more than any stock image. They show customers what to expect, and they are the raw material for your Google profile, your website and every social post. The phone in your pocket is good enough. What makes the difference is a handful of habits.
1. Wipe the lens
It sounds too simple, but a phone lens lives in your pocket and picks up smudges. A quick wipe on your shirt removes the haze that makes photos look dull. Do it every time.
2. Find the light
Light matters more than the camera.
- Use window light or open shade. Soft daylight flatters almost everything, including food, products and faces.
- Put the light in front of or beside your subject, not behind it. A bright window behind someone turns them into a silhouette.
- Turn off the flash. It flattens everything. Move closer to a window instead.
3. Clear the background
Before you shoot, look at everything in the frame that is not your subject. Move the trash can, the stray coffee cup, the pile of paperwork. A clean background makes an ordinary photo look professional.
4. Hold it level and steady
Crooked horizons and tilted shelves make photos feel sloppy. Turn on the grid lines in your camera settings and line up something straight, like a counter edge or door frame. Tuck your elbows in or lean on something to keep the phone still.
5. Get closer, then take more than one
Most photos improve when you step closer and fill the frame with the subject. Then take several shots from slightly different angles. Choose the best one later and delete the rest.
Do not pinch to zoom. Walk closer instead; zooming on most phones lowers the quality.
6. Shoot both ways
Take one version held sideways (wide) and one upright (tall). Wide photos suit your website and Google profile. Tall photos suit Instagram and Facebook stories. Shooting both means you never have to crop awkwardly later.
What to photograph
Build a small library you can pull from all year:
- The outside of your building, from the street, so people can recognize it
- The inside, tidy and well lit
- You and your team, at work, looking at the work rather than the camera
- Your products or finished jobs
- Work in progress
- Happy customers, with their permission
A light touch with editing
Your phone's built-in editor is all you need. Straighten, crop, and nudge the brightness up a little. Skip heavy filters; they date quickly and make your work look less real.
Do this today
Wipe your lens, stand near a window or doorway, and take ten photos of your business. Upload the three best to your Google Business Profile.