As a website owner, your images are often the first point of contact between you and your potential clients or audience. Whether it’s a professional headshot for your ‘About Us’ page or photos of your team, what you choose to wear can significantly impact your audience’s perception of you and your brand.
Why Listen to Me? I was a professional photographer (Bauman Photographers) for 12 years. I educated pro photographers at the highest level (Creative Live). I now run a marketing agency that grows and manages websites for businesses (201 Creative). We know a lot about how to look your best in pictures.
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1. Understanding Your Brand
The first step in deciding what to wear for website photos is understanding your brand. Your brand’s personality should be reflected in your attire.
If your brand is formal and professional, like a law firm or a corporate consultancy, then a suit or other business attire would be appropriate.
On the other hand, if your brand is casual and creative, like a design studio or an artisan bakery, then casual or artistic attire might be more fitting.
For example, my previous career was as a professional photographer. We’re expected to be casual, less formal, and even a bit more fashionable and quirky. I actually went out and bought a pair of designer jeans, just to wear for when I was meeting with clients.
Here are a few tips for nailing your brand in your photographs:
- Define Your Brand Identity: Understand your brand’s values and personality. Choose outfits that reflect this identity.
- Use Brand Colors: Incorporate your brand colors into your outfits subtly, creating a visual connection to your brand.
- Reflect Brand Aesthetic: Align the style of your photos with your brand’s aesthetic. For a minimalist brand, opt for simple outfits against neutral backdrops. For a vibrant brand, explore unique, colorful outfits.
- Maintain Consistency: Strive for uniformity across all photos, including attire, lighting, composition, and editing style. This helps reinforce your brand image.
- Seek Professional Help: If in doubt, hire a stylist or a photographer who specializes in brand photography. They can provide expert advice on presenting yourself in line with your brand.
In essence, aligning your photos with your brand involves understanding your brand, reflecting its colors and aesthetic in your attire, maintaining consistency, and seeking professional help when needed.
We have a course that helps brands better understand how to take photos for their website.
2. Color Choices
Colors play a critical role in photography. They can influence mood, evoke emotions, and contribute to the overall aesthetics of your website. When learning how to take quality images for a website, color choice is key.
As a rule of thumb, it’s generally best to avoid extremely bright colors, as they can cause color casts on the skin and are generally distracting.
Instead, opt for colors that complement your skin tone and match your brand’s color palette.
Here are a few more color selection tips:
- Use Color Psychology: Colors evoke emotions. For example, blue can convey trust, red can signal excitement, and green can imply growth. Choose colors that align with the message you want to convey.
- Embrace Contrast and Balance: Photos should have a balanced mix of colors. Ensure there’s enough contrast between the subject and the background for the subject to stand out.
- Avoid Distractions: Steer clear of overly bright or neon colors that can be visually distracting or cause color casts on the skin.
- Complement Skin Tones: Choose colors that complement the skin tones of the people in your photos. This can enhance their features and make the images more appealing.
Color plays a bigger role than you think in how we perceive images. Focus on getting your color selections right in your website photos.
3. Patterns and Textures
Patterns and textures can add visual interest to a photo but can also be distracting if not handled carefully.
Small, busy patterns can create a moiré effect, causing the image to look distorted in digital formats.
Instead, it’s a lot safer to opt for solid colors or large, simple patterns.
Other considerations for picking patterns and textures for your website photos:
- Avoid Small, Busy Patterns: Small, intricate patterns can cause a moiré effect in digital photos, resulting in a distracting, wavy appearance. Stick to larger, simpler patterns or solid colors.
- Balance Pattern and Texture: Too many patterns or textures can make a photo feel cluttered. If you’re wearing a patterned piece, balance it with solid colors elsewhere in the outfit.
- Consider Brand Aesthetic: Your brand’s aesthetic should guide your use of patterns and textures. For a minimalist brand, less is more. A bohemian brand might embrace more varied and bold textures.
- Use Textures Strategically: Textures can add depth and interest to a photo. Use textured clothing or accessories to draw attention to or away from certain areas.
- Take Test Shots: Patterns and textures can look different on camera compared to the naked eye (remember what we said about moire!!). Always take test shots to ensure they appear as you intended.
In essence, the right use of patterns and textures can add visual interest to your photos without distracting from the main subject.
4. Comfort and Fit
Comfort is essential when taking photos, even for your website. If you’re uncomfortable in your outfit, it can show in your posture and facial expressions.
Choose clothing that fits well and makes you feel confident. That doesn’t mean that you need to pick casual clothing, but just make sure you don’t feel out of place in your outfits.
5. Other Considerations
There are a few other things you can do to improve your website photos.
- Accessories can be a great way to express your personal style and add a finishing touch to your outfit. However, they should not distract from your face or the main message of the photo. When in doubt, less is more.
- Consider investing in professional makeup. Makeup for photography is typically more heavy-handed than everyday makeup, as the camera and lighting can wash out color and contrast. Similarly, ensure that your hair is neat and styled in a way that suits you.
- Finally, take the time to prepare for your photoshoot. Ensure your clothes are clean and wrinkle-free, and bring a few different options to the shoot. Try on your outfits beforehand to see how they look and feel, and consider getting a second opinion.
Conclusion
In conclusion, what to wear for website photos largely depends on your brand and the image you want to portray. By taking into account your brand identity, color choices, patterns and textures, comfort and fit, accessories, makeup and grooming, and adequate preparation, you can ensure that your attire enhances rather than distracts from your website’s images.
