The Power of Photos

Taking website design seriously means automatically taking photography seriously. It can be tricky to find the right photos for your website, and to make sure you have the proper permissions in place.

Too many websites like to use a variety of smiling people who look at a computer screen and point to it with huge smiles. Photos like that could work for an insurance company, a travel related organization and a nursing home, but doesn’t really do much for the visitor. It would be much more interesting to show a real insurance agent visiting a real client, to show off an actual travel destination or to show the actual retirement village with real people enjoying playing a game of cards. I am sure you are getting the feeling.

As a webdesigner and photographer, I have taken on a lot of different projects, and keeping it real always seems to give the website that much more appeal. I have taken pictures in a boiler room, have photographed workers injecting insulation, farm animals, a countless amount of buildings and a simple hand full of fasteners. I have taken pictures in a small kitchen where servers walked out with plates in their hands sporting a big smile, and I have taken pictures of a simple glass of pop with an ice cube that worked great to symbolize a concept. Keeping it real helps to build trust. A visitor knows that you actually operate in the area, that you are not hiding behind fake photos and what to expect when they hire you or pick your business for a service.

Is it too complicated to hire a photographer? Take along your cell phone and take a picture of a vehicle with your business’ logo, offering services to a client, or take couple of pictures of your products in use. In modern webdesign, most photos need to be taken horizontally, so they can easily be used in a big banner.

What if you need to use photos by third parties such as suppliers? You need to ask for permissions! Feel free to contact Blue Snow Imaging for more information on how to get those permissions and to learn what the advantages are of doing it properly. We are here to help!