If you’ve ever been asked to supply photos for your website—or you’re trying to improve your site’s visuals—you might be wondering: Can I just use my phone? The answer is yes, but it’s not as simple as just snapping a few pics and calling it a day.
Over the years, I’ve received tons of website photos from clients, and I can tell you that many of them aren’t website-friendly. They’re either cropped too tightly, taken in the wrong orientation, or have distracting backgrounds that make the site look unprofessional.
So today, I want to share a few simple tips to help you take high-quality, website-ready images using just your phone. Let’s dive in!
1. Horizontal, Not Vertical
One of the biggest mistakes I see? Photos taken in portrait mode (vertical). I get it—social media has trained us to hold our phones upright when we take pictures. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook… they all prefer vertical content.
But websites? They need horizontal (landscape) photos to work well across different devices. Even on mobile-optimized sites, images are typically displayed wider rather than taller.
📌 Pro tip: Hold your phone sideways when taking photos for your website. This ensures they’ll fit headers, banners, and backgrounds without awkward cropping.
2. Give Your Photos Some Breathing Room
Another common issue? Over-cropped photos.
Many people take pictures where the subject is right up against the edge of the frame, leaving no space for adjustments. But website images get cropped in different ways depending on the screen size (desktop, tablet, mobile). If there’s no extra space around your subject, important parts of the image might get cut off.
📌 Pro tip: Take a step or two back and leave some extra room around your subject. This makes it easier to crop and adjust images as needed.
3. Mind Your Background
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a great photo ruined by a distracting background. Messy desks, garbage cans, cluttered spaces—sometimes even workplace safety violations (oops).
Before you snap a photo, look at everything in the frame. Is there anything distracting? Can you tidy it up or adjust your angle to avoid it?
📌 Pro tip: Run your eyes around the edges of your screen before taking the shot. If something looks off, move the subject or change your position to get a cleaner shot.
4. Lighting Can Make or Break Your Photo
Lighting is everything in photography. Good lighting = sharp, clear images. Bad lighting = dark, grainy, or underexposed shots.
📌 Quick lighting tips:
✅ Use natural light whenever possible. A window can be your best friend!
✅ Avoid harsh fluorescent lighting (it can make people look sickly).
✅ Watch for shadows. Make sure the light source isn’t creating awkward dark spots on your subject.
If you’re outside, position your subject so the light is hitting them from the front or side rather than behind. If you’re inside, get close to a window for softer, more natural lighting.
5. The “Four Shot Rule”
To make sure you capture the best possible images, I use what I call the Four Shot Rule. Here’s how it works:
1. Wide
- Use your phone’s ultra-wide (0.5x) lens to get a broad view.
- This works great for banner images or photos that need space for text overlay.
2. Medium
- Use the standard 1x (or maybe the 2x) lens to get a closer, well-balanced view.
- Perfect for team photos, product images, or service shots.
3. Close
- Move in to capture fine details or textures.
- Great for product highlights or small elements of your business.
4. Weird
- Try a unique angle—get low, shoot from above, or frame through objects.
- Adds a dynamic, artistic touch to your website visuals.
By following these four steps, you’ll always have a variety of photos to choose from, making it much easier to find the perfect shot for your website.
6. Always Send the Original Files!
Here’s a final golden rule: Send the original, uncompressed files—not images that have been resized through email or text.
Often, when a photo is sent via text or social media, it loses quality. By the time it reaches your web designer, it might be too small, pixelated, or blurry to use.
📌 How to send full-quality images:
✅ Upload to Dropbox, Google Drive, or WeTransfer instead of texting.
✅ Airdrop (iPhone users) if you’re sending to someone nearby.
If you’re unsure, just ask your web designer for the best way to send files—they’ll appreciate it!
Final Thoughts
Taking great photos for your website doesn’t require an expensive camera or fancy gear. Your phone is more than enough—as long as you use the right techniques.
To recap, here’s what to keep in mind:
✅ Hold your phone horizontally for website-friendly photos.
✅ Leave extra space around the subject to allow for cropping.
✅ Check the background for distractions before snapping.
✅ Use natural lighting and avoid harsh fluorescents.
✅ Follow the Four Shot Rule (Wide, Medium, Close, Weird).
✅ Send the original, high-quality files, not compressed versions.
Have any questions? Let me know in the comments! And if you found this helpful, feel free to share it with someone who needs better website photos.
Happy shooting! 📷✨