Photography Websites: Web design tips for photo-driven small businesses

I met Nikkole of Nikkole Marie Creative Studio at a release party for our local Edible Magazine that I contribute to and a few months later I began hiring her for small projects here and there including helping me redesign my homepage last year.

As someone who wants to bring focus to my photos and the services surrounding them, I had special needs and wants that were different from the average business polishing up their website.

Nikkole helped me tremendously and a few months ago, she agreed to sit down with me and share some incredibly helpful tips. Tips geared towards websites for those creating photos for your own brand and those creating portfolios for their photography.

It’s finally ready for viewing and here’s what you can expect to learn about:

Knowing your why is as important for your website and portfolio as it is for your photography.
Best practices for brand colors for photo-focused websites.
Biggest mistakes we make on our websites as small creative businesses.
How tips for creative photography translate to high-quality page layout and web design.
Ways you can market yourself through image alt text.

You can follow Nikkole on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/n.marie.creative/

Want to create beautiful photos for your small business? Subscribe to updates and grab the free CreatingYOU.® Quick Course - 5 Steps to Better Food and Product Photography.

Quickest Way to Clean Vintage Props for Food Photography

I have a special place in my heart for vintage eating utensils. Set me loose in a flea market, yard sale, or upcycle vendor event and I’ll head straight to the forks, knives, and spoons.

While I love that dark, tarnished look sometimes it can get a little too dark and tarnished when I’m shooting for others.

But I don’t want to polish it all up so it's a pristine silver-shiny. It would break my heart to lose all of the aging and character.

The solution? It’s in your bathroom.

How to stop taking 100s of photos of each set

We’ve all been there. One food, product, or recipe results in 100 + photos on the camera card.

Question. How many times have you put all or even 50% of those photos to use?

Right.

Listen, you don’t need those photos. If you are like me, I suspect what you really need is the time back that you spent taking them all and sorting through them in Lightroom to find one you like best.

The urge to take a 100+ photos of one food or product results from two things:

A lack of confidence that you nailed a good shot.
A lack of a clear vision for your photo.

In a professional photoshoot, the goal is to nail the hero shot. A few extra angles and orientations are only thrown in for good measure and to make sure you have some options.

Apply this approach to your shoots for your own business.

Gaining the confidence that you’ve nailed it comes with practice, but there are other things you can do to end the day with a handful of very usable photos versus 100+ you’ll never touch again.

Know the number of photos you need. (e.g. 1 for a product website, 3 for your blog, 5 for a client to review).
Focus on one hero shot. Style and shoot to that shot only. Nail that one shot. When you see it, it should evoke the words - yep, that’s it! You might even shout YEESSSS! if you are alone. I speak from experience.
Take a few variations (e.g. overhead, horizontal, tight, pulled out) based on photo needs and to have some extras for your portfolio in case you find other uses in the future (maybe a cookbook, submitting for a story request in a magazine or ad, even future prints). We’re talking 5 to 10 photos max.

There is no reason to have a portfolio of 100s of unused photos of a subject. Focusing on a hero shot:

Saves you time shooting - work more efficiently
Saves you time editing - more productive
Saves storage space on your hard drive - more organized
Focuses on building your skills and creating the shots you envision - become a better photographer for your business

Each time you create a photo the photo speaks to that moment in time. Some people refer to it as the photo telling a story. I prefer to say that the photo captures the moment and serves a purpose. One soup, smoothie, or bowl of berries can’t tell multiple stories and capture multiple moments at once.

Focus on the one thing.

Nail the hero shot.

~ Lori

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