Photo Gathering
Finding, collecting and choosing the right photos for our clients’ websites.
Websites need photos
Most websites are made up of a mixture of real photos from the business and stock photos to add flavor.
Supporting vs background photos
Images can support text (help give meaning to the text), or they can act as background fillers and not have that much meaning or relevance.
Why is finding the right photos important?
Photos, along with minor styling, bring the website to life and give it a cohesive look.
A website may need up to 10 stock photos that have a similar look and feel.
Working out a photographic theme that is achievable and fits in with the other constraints takes time and effort.
How and when to do it?
Since photos are a big factor, you should start collecting early into the project.
If you do it after a Competitive Analysis, you can use that to help inspire you.
It doesn’t have to be done in one sitting.
Start by collecting a few random samples, then building out over time.
Read about how to find photos
Pairing with graphics and styling
Sometimes it’s easier to style the websites to match the photos, rather than the other way around.
Having a collection of photos collected helps you merge these ideas together.
Learn about Graphics, icons, and styling
Types of photos to collect
Photo Themes need thinking through. Are you going for emotional angle? Are you looking for background images, images that reflect clients.
Don’t be literal and cheesy. For example, law websites don’t need photos of lawyers or judges.
Mixing Real Photos with Stock Photos
Are images necessary?
If the image isn’t serving a purpose, and it’s hard to find a nice image, can you change the layout so that there is no image?