Photo No No's
5 Photo mistakes you must fix to up your photo game
1. The wrong crop
Before you snap away, don’t forget to ask yourself “where is this photo going to end up?”. The answer to that question will likely affect the way you take the shot. How will the intended platform display the image? For example, photos intended for Instagram look better in square or portrait formats. Landscapes, not so much… The picture will look smaller and definitely won’t stand out as much when your audience scrolls through your feed. And that’s just Instagram!
If you want to use the same image across multiple platforms that all display their images differently, then make sure your photo will survive a good cropping by insuring that the subject is in focus and has enough space around it to allow for the most cropping options. A caveat: Don’t assume that you’ll be able to crop an image as closely as you’d like. Zooming in on the image may just make the image look blurry and that never looks good.
2. No photo focal point
If your photo doesn’t have a main point of interest, you likely won’t draw attention to your photo. Pick a subject for your photo and focus on it. Instead of allowing your iPhone to autofocus, tap your main subject so that the photo is focused on your point of interest instead of the background.
3. Using zoom
Never use the zoom setting on your iPhone. When you zoom in on an iPhone, it reduces the pixels in the photo resulting in a lower quality photo. You will capture a better photo if you snap it full screen and crop it later.
4. Under/Over Exposure
The iPhone automatically adjusts the exposure while you take photos. This can make the photo extremely under-exposed (too dark) or extremely over-exposed (too light). To avoid this, you can easily adjust the exposure on your iPhone screen. After you have tapped the screen to focus, simply swipe up (make brighter) or down (make darker) to adjust.
5. The over-edit.
Sometimes it’s tempting to edit the hell out of a photo to highlight certain aspects or even just to make a boring photo pop. This may be necessary sometimes, depending on the job or the style of photography you’re shooting for. But in any case, make sure that your edit choices reflect the brand. Steer clear of boosting the color (saturation) too high and it’s usually safe to avoid anything like “clarity” or “vibrancy” in editing apps. Plus, when it comes to editing portraits, careful of over-smoothing skin as it can just make things look fake. But above all, don’t assume that adding a filter will automatically make your photo better! Think tastefully! Think of your brand message and edit accordingly!
Use these photo tips across all your business social media platforms to boost your engagement and drive more traffic to your photos!
