Resolutions To Step Up Your Photography In 2019

It’s a couple of weeks into 2019 already (I know, isn’t that crazy) and people are already quitting on their New Year’s resolutions. Every year it’s usually the same thing, I am going to go to the gym more, no more potato chips ever again, or I am going to watch less TV. Why don’t you set New Year’s resolutions that are going to stick, why don’t you set some for your business? Every business should set goals on a yearly basis to make sure that they are always moving forward and growing. Why don’t you make this year the year that you are going to step up your businesses photography?

I know as a photographer that I am a bit more critical when it comes to images and maybe also a little bit more observant especially when an image is falling short when it’s on a website or an ad. But this is one area where you can easily separate yourself from your competitors and you absolutely should. Here are 4 resolutions that you should make in 2019 to make sure that your photography is the best that it could be.

Be More Personal

Personality is key with any successful site and business! People are coming to your website to learn about you and they don’t want to come to a site to see a bunch of stock photography especially with people that don’t work there. They want to get to know you and they want to see the people that they will be working with. It builds trust and a stronger relationship with your clients just because they are actually getting to know the real you and not just some stand in.

I also feel that sites designed with real photography rather than stock photography tend to look better especially because no one else has the same images on their site. I hear one excuse why people don’t use real photography all of the time and that is, “Our office is ugly”. There are a few things that you can do to combat this problem. First thing is to hire a professional photographer. He or she will know how to compose and light any area to make it look as good as it can. She will also know what area or areas of your space would be best to work best for the type of images that you are going for.

Another option is to rent another space. With this option, I’m not saying that you should fake that a space is your office but rather have images of you and your team working in a team setting. This way at least you are still getting the real faces of your business in the images. While having this space, it may be a great time to knock out any headshots that you need done just so the style of the imagery matches.

Don’t Be Boring

With your photography, step out of the box a bit if you can but use this sparingly. You want to do something that is eye catching and something that people are going to remember bug make sure you also stay on brand. When I say don’t be boring, I don’t expect you to do something crazy and something that doesn’t match what your company is. All that I’m saying is, if you built up a culture of a bunch of different cultures and personalities, then you are going to want to show that. Every business is unique and you want to show what makes yours so special.

Cheesy headshots on a plain seamless not your thing? I agree! Why not do some environmental portraits in your space or another cool space in the area? Just the look alone would set your images apart from what your competitors have right now. If you wanted to take it a step further, you don’t even have to look at the camera. These could be captured in a staged action shot and will demonstrate what you do. Are you an accountant and you don’t want to use images of stacks of your paper work? Why don’t you try using interesting images of your plants in the office giving your site a bit more of an organic feel or if that isn’t your thing, you can show things on your desk that mean something to you. Do you have a framed photo of you and your significant other? That could give your site a nice personal touch while also showing people that you care about your personal connections with people.

Hire A Professional

A lot of the tips in this article you can easily do yourself, and hiring a professional photographer has been pointed out already but I can’t encourage it enough. Photography is obviously what a photographer is good at and they see things differently than most people. They break down a scene into lines and shapes, light and shadows, composition and poses. He or she knows what they are doing and they will take your images to the next level. They will also know the most efficient way to plan and execute the shoot so it would take pressure off of you.

A professional photographer will honestly pay for themselves in the long run. A lot of times I hear the situation where people say, “well, my uncle has a professional camera.” Hearing this drives me crazy. It’s all about the skill of the person behind the camera and not the actual camera itself. It’s all about the posing, lighting, and composition and less about megapixels, battery life, and chromatic aberration. You don’t have to make a decision right away, talk to your photographer and see what their plan would be and if they are the right fit for the job. You will know right away if he or she knows what they are talking about.

It’s Time for Fresh Photos

I realize that it’s easy to just build a website and just forget about it. But you should be updating your site throughout the year or at least at the end of every year. People come and go in the work force, that is a completely normal part of running a business but you want to have photos of what your business looks like now! If you started the year off at 10 employees and you now have 20, you should definitely be showing that growth. Even if you have the same size of workforce, peoples look changes as well as the space that you work in. Your space is almost as much as a living thing as the people around you because it is always changing, growing, and evolving.

Fresh content is also great for SEO for your site but that’s a topic for another day. Every business wants to keep fine tuning their process as well as their product no matter what it is, there’s no reason that this shouldn’t apply to your website as well. The better the site, the more likely that it is going to work for you and photography is one way that you are going to make it better.

It’s so important that you have a strong online presence for your business. You want to be as personal as possible while also making sure to show what separates you and your team for the rest of the competition. If you stick to these resolutions for 2019, you are setting you and your business up for success!