In this challenging time for small businesses and creative people photography can fall down the ‘to do’ list and easily be put off for another day. Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start so I thought I’d share a few ideas to get you thinking about photography content for your small business and share a few tips on how to take better photos on your iPhone (while you might have time to practise).
Give it some thought…
What is it that you want to achieve with your photos? Are you trying to increase your visibility on social media? Are you promoting a new product? Are you aiming for more consistency in your look? Have you planned your content marketing but need photographs to support it?
What is the story that you are trying to tell? Remember that you don’t have to tell the story in one go, it is made up of lots of chapters and may develop in to a trilogy! I would start by breaking it down and thinking of it in small parts. Once you have decided on the focus think of this as a short story that needs to be told and then plan your photographs around that. For example, you might have a workshop that you want to promote so you can take photographs of the activity, of you, of the materials, of the end result, of the location and so on. Write a shot list to make sure you have included everything you think you might want. If you think about this beforehand you can take photographs during a workshop to help promote the next one. The more thought that you give to your photographs the more you are likely to get what you want. Whenever I am working with someone on their business photography the most successful shoots are always the most well planned ones. This will also be true even if it is just you and your iPhone.
As you can imagine I would recommend working with a photographer that you trust and can share your ideas with to create your content but that is not always possible (especially right now as we are housebound for a while). So if it is you and your iPhone be reassured that you can take great insta-worthy pictures on your iPhone by spending a little time thinking about the light and the composition in your photograph even if it is a ‘retro’ iPhone as mine was called recently!
These iPhone pictures are both unedited:
So the first photograph was taken in direct sunshine from the window to the left. This does create a warmth and depth to the photograph with the contrast between light and shadow which is good for this shot but if it is your face that’s the subject it’s better not to have the strong side light as it creates shadows across your face, or if you’re shooting products, your product.
In the second image I pulled the curtain across a little so there was still plenty of natural light but it creates a much more even look. This is really something to think about when you are taking photographs. It is often better to find some open shade so that it is still light but there is no direct harsh light on your subject. You can then create more depth by adding contrast to your image when you edit.
iPhone tip*
Did you know that you can change the exposure of your photo by clicking on the screen to tell the camera what your subject is and that you want that part of the picture exposed correctly? It’s really simple but super helpful in creating a well exposed shot.
The yellow square above the flowers means that the camera is trying to expose for that area. You can also move the sunshine up or down to make it darker or lighter as you like it.
In the images above look at the square to see the difference. The first one is where I wanted it as the diffs are the subject I wanted them to be at the right exposure. Then when I click on a darker part of the photograph it lightens up the darker parts of the image but look at the daffs, they are totally over exposed and have lost detail. In the third image the camera is confused as its trying to expose for the sunshine and shade on the table and not quite getting it right.
A really simple but effective way to have a little control over your images.
Anyway hope that helps to get you started. I’ll add more tips in the coming days and weeks, here and on Instagram. If you have any questions please let me know.