Professional photos are a business investment, because high-quality website photos communicate the quality of a business’s products and services. Here you’ll find Sky Media’s helpful guidelines for identifying website-worthy photos for your site.
How to Get Website-Worthy Photos for Your Site
To get high-quality photos for your website, you have 5 different options. You could use 1 or all of these options to create a high-quality look across your website.
- Utilise your best existing photos.
- Take some top-quality new photos.
- Hire a professional photographer.
- Ask suppliers/wholesalers for product photos.
- Use professional stock images from Deposit Photos.
Whichever option/s you choose, you’ll want to ensure all your selected photos meet the photo standards listed below. If they don’t, they’re simply NOT website-worthy. Find out how to get website-worthy photos here:
- How to Take and Select High-Quality Photos.
- How to Check a Photo’s Size and File Type.
- How to Take High-Quality Team Photos.
- How to Hire a Professional Photographer.
- How to Source Product Photos from Suppliers.
- How to Select Professional Stock Photos.
- How to Submit Photos to Sky Media for Your Website.
How to Take and Select High-Quality Photos
If you’re considering DIY photography (or using existing photos) it’s critical to consider clarity, balance, lighting, orientation, background, size, and file type, if you’re to achieve website-worthy photos.
Clarity
The image you’re considering must be 100% crystal clear. If the image is fuzzy, blurry, pixelated, or unclear in any way at all, it’s not website-worthy.
Balance
If the object of focus in the centre, or the image itself is not aligned with the photo’s outer frame, it’ll look wonky. Editing tools can adjust images to create balance (we charge extra for this), however it’s best if balance and focal points are considered before photos are taken.
Lighting
If images, products, people or spaces look dark, or hard to see, you’re not placing your offer in the best light – literally. D.I.Y lighting is best achieved outside on an overcast day.
Orientation
You’ll need to ensure photos are fit for purpose in terms of orientation. Most website photos are landscape, so that’s your best bet, but on rare occasions e.g staff photos, portrait orientation is suitable.
Background
The background of an image matters. It’s important that product images or staff photos have a clean clear uncluttered background that’s consistent. Attention to detail creates a high-quality look and feel.
Size
All photos need to be a minimum of 2400x1600px. When the size isn’t right, images may look blurry, pixelated or warped once they’re uploaded to your website. Find out how to check the size of a photo on Mac, iPhone, PC and Android below.
File Type
All photos need to be submitted as JPG, or PNG files. In most cases, your photos will already be JPG, JPEG, or PNG, but it pays to check. If they’re not the right file type, you can often use a file converter online to get the right file. Find out how to check the file type of a photo on Mac, iPhone, PC and Android below.
Quality Control Checklist for Website-Worthy Photos
If your selected photos tick all 7 boxes, then congratulations, it’s highly likely they’ve met Sky Media’s website-worthy quality control standards.
How to Check a Photo’s Size and File Type
All photos need to be a minimum of 2400x1600px. To check the size, or file type of any photo, follow the instructions for MacBook, iPhone, PC and Android below…
MacBook Instructions
Choose a photo > CTRL + Right Click > Get Info > Kind (file type) and Dimensions (size)
iPhone Instructions
Choose a photo > Click i > Get Info > Kind (file type) and Dimensions (size)Simply pull up the photo you’re interested in, click on it, then hit the little i for information button at the bottom of the screen and you’ll see the size and the file type, which is typically a PNG. Easy.
Microsoft Desktop and Laptop Instructions
Choose a photo > Right Click > Properties > Details > Kind (file type) and Dimensions (size)
Android Instructions
Open the image > more settings > then tap ‘Details’ to view image details
How to Take High-Quality Team Photos
Top-quality headshots or staff photos can be of great benefit to your business, because people feel more confident doing business with people they can see. All portraits and group photos must meet the photo essentials above, plus a couple of added points…
For team photos, it’s best to do them in house on the same day with the same background for consistency. If you’re asking team members to submit their own photo, then it’s wise to offer guidelines e.g
- Plain white background.
- Good natural lighting with no shadows.
- Head and shoulders only.
- No sunglasses, or hats.
- Looking directly at the camera.
- Consider a team-wide dress code.
Tip: It’s really important that people look directly at the camera and make sincere eye contact, because just like the real world, that’s what builds trust.
How to Hire a Professional Photographer
Anyone can take a photo, but a professional photographer knows how to take high-quality photos. Professional photographers are often specialists in one, or more of the following areas:
- Portraiture and group photos.
- Product photography.
- Commercial/industrial photography.
- Food and beverage photography.
- Landscape and/or aerial photography.
- Event photography.
- Fashion photography.
- Action and sports photography.
- Property/real estate photography.
If you’re interested in hiring a photographer, it’s wise to ask for examples of their previous work to ensure they’re able to deliver top-quality photos suitable for your business.
Looking to invest in professional photos? At Sky Media, we have access to professional photographers starting at $200 + GST per hour, plus travel. Get in touch with our team to discuss.
How to Source Product Photos from Suppliers
If you’re an e-commerce store owner who sells products made by others, then it may be possible to source product photos from your suppliers? Many suppliers and manufacturers provide professional product photos to sellers for free, because they know it’ll boost their sales too. If you’re able to source products from a supplier, then it’s best to check that those photos meet the standards outlined above.
Essentials for Product Photos
- Product photos are best when they’re in a square format – 1500x1500px minimum.
- Products sell best when the photo is well lit.
- Products provided with shots from multiple angles are more likely to sell online.
- Products look best when placed in the centre of the photo in front of a plain white background.
How to Select Professional Stock Photos
We can source a range of professional stock photos for as little as $20 + GST per photo. As an example, if you sell bathrooms, we can source stock photos of bathrooms. Sure, they’re not photos of what you’ve done, but they’re photos of what you do. In many cases, that’s enough to get your website live online.
Our web design and development team know how to select the right images for the right position on each website for a clean look and feel site wide. For this reason, sometimes it’s best to leave stock image sourcing to us, but if you’d like to select your own photos, here’s our top spot for high-quality stock photos:
- Deposit Photos https://depositphotos.com/
If you find a photo you like on Deposit Photos, be sure to save the Image ID and send it to us via email, so we can source it for you at a discounted rate or as part of your package.
How to Submit Photos to Sky Media for Your Website
At Sky Media, you can submit your website-worthy photos via the following 3 ways:
- Google Drive Folder https://www.google.com/drive/
- Dropbox Folder https://www.dropbox.com/
- Microsoft OneDrive https://www.microsoft.com/en-ww/microsoft-365/onedrive
Before submitting, please be sure to label your images appropriately for easy identification e.g
- Headshot_CEO_Jacob_HomePage.JPEG
- Office_Outside_ContactUsPage.JPEG
- CompanyVehicles_AboutUsPage.JPEG
- TeamPhoto_AboutUsPage.JPEG
- Bathrooms_Bathtub_ServicesPage.JPEG
With properly labelled photos, we’re able to save a lot of time and ensure all images get to the right place on your website. When you submit your photos to us, you’re confirming that all key decision-makers on your team have approved all of the photos for use on the site.
By agreeing to Sky Media’s Limited Terms of Business, you agree that we may charge an additional fee for any time spent reorganising poorly labelled photos that are not fit for your website.
Google Drive Folder
https://www.google.com/drive/
Google > Google Drive > + New > New Folder Upload *Here you can upload a folder from your desktop
Dropbox Folder
Dropbox > Upload Folder (from your device) > Copy link > Share with Sky Media
Important: Be sure to add one of our team member’s email addresses to the folder with full permission to edit and then send us an email to be sure we’ve received your photos, as the system may not notify us automatically.
Microsoft OneDrive Folder
https://www.microsoft.com/en-ww/microsoft-365/onedrive
Click the ‘Upload’ button, then select the files/folders you want to upload to OneDrive.
Important: Be sure to add one of our team member’s email addresses to the folder with full permission to edit and then send us an email to be sure we’ve received your photos, as the system may not notify us automatically.
Now, you’re all set. We’re looking forward to creating an up-to-the-minute website that showcases your business in the best light online. Thank you for choosing Sky Media for your website’s design and development.