Photography is imperative to creating good content for your business. Without original photography, your brand will lack authenticity, consistency, and strong identity – the fundamentals of creating a strong brand presence in the market. Having your own bank of photography also allows for quick turnaround on campaign material.
Both the quality and type of image affect how powerful your message is that accompanies the image. There is the saying that an image speaks a thousand words and this could not be more evident in the marketing of your business.
A trained chef can use a fully stocked commercial kitchen, or a simple open fire, and create culinary delights, but give a trained photographer the highest quality pots and pans available on the market, and you might only get a so-so mac and cheese!
A camera is just a tool, and it’s the skill of the user that determines the outputs.
Yes, one can create phenomenal art and social media content with an iPhone, or with a 100megapixel camera, but the question is, can you create the kind of imagery you need to represent your business?
Here are some easy-to-remember tips to help you level up your photos:
1. Keep the subject obvious
It should go without saying, but whatever you’re trying to highlight in your image should be obvious, especially if you’re using it for social media. People scrolling past aren’t going to pause if the scene is cluttered and distracting, or they can’t tell what they’re supposed to look at.
2. Lighting
Make sure that your subject is well-lit. Our brains are wired to look at the brightest part of the image, then explore the shadow areas. Make sure your subject is the first thing a viewer sees.
3. Leading lines/ Rule of thirds
Composing an image is all about balance, and helping direct focus to your… you guessed it, your subject. Using S-curves, vanishing points, and placing your subject “off-centre” helps keep the viewer engaged with the image.
There are plenty of resources online to learn more about how to create better images yourself. Sometimes, however, it just makes more business sense to hire a professional.
When you hire a professional, it is important that you research their style, and make sure the images they create match your business’s needs. At birr agency, we write a creative brief for all creative jobs, to ensure our designers, photographers, and art directors are all on the same page for creative expectations. You can download our Photography Brief Template to draft your own briefs for photographers that you might hire.
Click the download link and enter your email address below to receive your FREE photography breif template!
