One of the first things that we recommend to people when they build a website is to invest in professional photography.

Sometimes it is not feasible to hire a photographer for every photography need your business has. For example, a lot of technology companies rely heavily on stock photography to show different groups of people using and interacting to portray improved productivity. Some small marketings who run a marketing blog rely heavily on stock photography; hint: take a quick look around our website!

When Stock Photography Works

Stock photography has some advantages over paid photography too. Stock photography can be cheaper, more diverse, and faster. Take a look at some of our favorite stock photography vendors at Stocksy.com, Adobe Stock, and iStockPhoto.com.

When You Need the Real Thing

Sometimes stock photography should not be the answer for your business. We have been exploring working with a hair salon and started talking about photography. The owner of the salon insisted they can just use their iPhone to take pictures of the salon and some example hairstyles.

We countered that they would increase the number of appointments by solely having a professional take hundreds of professional photos of their salon and hairstyles. The professional photos would be used on social media and their website.

The difference between amateur phone photos and professional photography is the difference between looking like a hobby and looking like a business that takes itself seriously. Your potential customers can tell the difference — and they make judgments based on it.