iPhone in leather case being held in hand
Every business website should have its own unique look and feel to represent their brand through the design and content they have used. So its easy to see how images play an important role in how a business is seen by their audience and impact a users’ first impressions.

So when do you to choose between professional photographs, Do It Yourself images and stock photos?

Each choice has pros and cons and reasons why they might get chosen.

Professional photographer

A photographer brings amazing knowledge, expertise, experience and photography style and the right equipment to take great photos for you. No matter what type of photography you need there is a professional photographer that can hep you.

Do some research and find the right person that creates images that you feel will represent you and your brand well, it can feel costly when you’re starting out but its definitely worth investing.

I recently had my brand shoot with the wonderful Jules Williams, I was really nervous as I hate having my picture taken! However, Jules made me feel relaxed extremely quickly and it wasn’t long before I was having fun, laughing out loud and smiling at the camera.

Black and white image of woman sideways laughing and messy hair

Doing it yourself images

The cameras on smart phones are amazing now and can be good to use for social media images, however not always the best choice to provide images for a website.

If you are struggling with your budget…because we all know how expensive it can be to set up a new business, then this can be one way to save some money until you can pay for some professional images. You still need to have some photography knowledge to do this well. For example how to set the correct focus, the light and how you frame each shot.

Ultimately you can’t beat a professional with the right equipment. If you’re looking for some tips on how to create your own images then professional photographers often share lots of tips on ways to make this work. Check out brand photographer Susan Heaton who shares some amazing tips for taking your own selfies.

iPhone in leather case being held in hand

Stock photos

There are so many choices when picking stock images both free and paid options. Using solely stock images doesn’t give your audience a real view of you and your brand and products (if you have any) as the use of personal photo of yourself and your team makes your business personable and trustworthy and people can start to put a face to a name. However stock images can help to tell your story if used wisely alongside your own images.

Here are a few options to consider if your looking for stock images:

Free stock images:

Pixabay
negativespace.co
unsplash.com
www.pexels.com

Paid for options:

Hautestock.co
envato.com
Shutterstock

Working with my clients I often help source their stock images through Envato and recommend some awesome UK based photographers that I know create some beautiful images.

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