Clear photos make a cleaner site. Follow these standards when you supply images so design can move faster and the finished pages still look professional.
Many businesses supply their own photos rather than hiring a professional photographer. A professional shoot is still the best path when brand quality matters most. If you are shooting in-house, use this checklist so images stay sharp, consistent, and ready for the web.
Photography Checklist
- Image quality: Use at least 12 MP with low compression to avoid artifacts. 20 MP RAW is preferred when possible.
- Keep it simple: Avoid creative angles, filters, or effects. We handle edits and colour work.
- Staging: Remove distractions such as sticky notes, garbage bins, loose papers, and cluttered dashboards.
- No heavy Photoshop: Do not apply heavy filters yourself. We retouch in a way that preserves image quality.
- Shoot generously: Take lots of shots and small variations (poses, expressions, angles). We can choose the best frames.
- Staff presentation: Ask people to wear brand-appropriate colours, keep clothing neat, hair tidy, and avoid sunglasses.
- Backgrounds: Use simple, uncluttered backgrounds. Avoid busy trees, glass buildings, or reflective surfaces that distract when compressed.
- Cutouts and reflections: If a vehicle will be cut out, capture the entire vehicle in-frame and avoid messy reflections. See the example on Cascade Carriers.
- Composition and orientation: Prefer landscape orientation for banners and hero images. Follow the rule of thirds and leave extra space around the subject so important details are not cropped on smaller screens. Portraits work for bios or print, but they limit web layout flexibility.
- Date and time stamps: Turn off stamped text on photos. Removing it later adds time and cost.
- Focus, lighting, and settings: Keep sharp focus and even lighting with soft shadows. Use reflectors or whiteboards to bounce light. Prefer low ISO, a wide aperture, a tripod when needed, and HDR if available.
- File naming: Use clear names such as company-location-truck-01.jpg so assets are easy to identify.
- Licensing and permissions: Confirm everyone pictured has agreed to be featured and that you have the right to use location, vehicle, or branded assets publicly.
- File delivery: Provide original, uncompressed images (JPG or RAW). Do not embed photos in Word or PowerPoint files.
