How to Take Good Photos for Your Website
This is for people who need some solid photos to use on their website, and aren’t going to do a professional photoshoot at this time.
Website photos need to be high quality. This means not blurry and not super tiny. You can achieve this with most smartphone cameras these days, you don’t need a fancy camera.
Overview
High level, I'd recommend getting a wide variety of photos to give yourself lots of options to work with. There are two main types of photos you want for your website: headshots (posed – think LinkedIn profile picture) and candids (more natural photos). Ideally, you want the images on your website to help your audience connect with you and show them what it’s like to work with you!
Essential: The Headshot
You need at minimum, one good photo of yourself for your website. For this photo, the focus should be on your face. It should be from somewhere on your torso and up.
Ultimately, this is just a photo that you feel good about and feel like accurately shows you.
While you’re at it, try getting some full body portraits, as well as torso and up, and shoulders and up.
In-Action/Candid Shots
These are images that especially help your audience get to know your personality and better visualize your product, services, etc. These should be natural-feeling. They could be you giving a speech, writing in a notebook, holding a microphone, talking to someone across the table from you.
For each shot, try to get a combination of portrait and landscape orientation, and with and without negative space around the subject. Be sure to get plenty of horizontal images, as these are great for banner images and give us lots flexibility in how to use them. For those shots, try to get simple backgrounds, nothing too busy or pulling focus from the subject.
Make a shot list ahead of time, a list of specific shots you want to make sure to get so you don't forget in the moment. That can help you feel more prepared and at ease during the actual shoot.
Take a look at other websites (especially ones in your industry) and see what photos speak to you. Try to pinpoint what it is about the picture that resonates with you – the posture? facial expression? scenery? outfits? Use this information to help you plan for your photos.
Location – think about how the background adds to the photo.
Outdoors or in your office/work area make for good settings.
Props – can add further context and personality to your photos. It could be a laptop, favorite notebook or coffee mug, or materials you use in client sessions. Besides using the props in your staged photos, you can also take detail shots of them, photos of just the object that could be used as accents, backgrounds, or other embellishments throughout the site.
Have fun! Besides the few things on your shot list, don't worry too much about what photos you "should" get. Focus on having a good time and being yourself. The more comfortable you are, the more your personality will come through in the photos. This helps your clients get to know you and see what it would be like to work with you.