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Guide

Great photos with your phone

You don't need a professional camera for your new website. With a few simple tricks your phone photos turn out really well.

The photos I need from you

Not every business needs everything. Take what fits you, and rather a few more than too few.

  • You

    A friendly portrait for “About me”. Ideally at work, not just in front of a white wall.

  • Your shop from outside

    So customers can find you. During the day, an overcast sky often looks best.

  • Your rooms

    Two or three views into the shop, studio or workshop. Tidy, with the lights on.

  • Your work

    What you do or sell: a haircut, a dish, a finished piece, a happy customer.

  • Details

    Close-ups of tools, materials, products. They make a website come alive.

  • Your team

    If you're not on your own. Together, or while working.

Eight tips that make the difference

Light from the side

1. Stand by the window

Daylight is the best light there is. Place yourself or your subject sideways or facing a window. Turn off ceiling lights and flash, they create harsh shadows and wrong colours.

Backlight: only an outline

2. Never against the light

If someone stands in front of a bright window, they become a dark silhouette. Turn around: the light should fall on your subject, not come from the background into the camera.

3. Turn on the grid

In the camera settings you can show a grid. Don't put the most important thing right in the middle, but on one of the lines or an intersection. It immediately looks calmer and more professional.

iPhone: Settings → Camera → Grid. Android: in the camera app under Settings → Grid lines.

Eye level

4. At eye level

Hold the phone at the eye level of the person in front of you, not from below and not from above. For self-portraits, rather ask someone or use the self-timer, it looks more natural than with an outstretched arm.

5. Walk closer instead of zooming

Zooming in with two fingers makes the picture blurry and grainy. Rather take a few steps closer. The exception are the fixed steps of the camera app like “2x” or “3x”, they're fine and often even nicer for portraits.

6. Clean the lens once

Sounds trivial, but makes the biggest difference. The phone lives in your pocket, the lens has fingerprints, the picture turns milky. Wipe it once with your T-shirt, done.

7. Tidy up before you shoot

Cables, coffee cups, boxes and notes at the edge are distracting. Take two minutes, clear the frame and check along the edges once before shooting.

8. Rather too many than too few

Take several photos of every subject, slightly shifted, some portrait, some landscape. Choosing is easy, reshooting is annoying. Feel free to send me everything, I'll pick the best ones with you.

How to send me the photos

Important: sent as a normal picture on WhatsApp, photos get heavily compressed and look blurry on the website. This is how they arrive in full quality:

  • Into your folder: After you say yes, you get your own Google Drive folder from me. In the Drive app, open the folder “Fotos”, tap the plus, “Upload” and select the pictures. On a computer, simply drag them in.
  • Or on WhatsApp as a document: Attachment (paper clip or +) → Document → select photos. That keeps the full quality.
  • Don't edit: No filters, no cropping. I'll do that to fit the website.

A word on rights

  • Only use photos you took yourself or that you have permission for. You may not simply use pictures from the internet or from other people's Instagram.
  • If people are recognisable, for example customers or your team, ask them beforehand whether they want to be seen on your website.

Questions about your photos?

Just send me a test photo, and I'll tell you if it works. You can do that on WhatsApp or at alex@anker42.de.

Alex from Anker 42