Social media photos: when your phone is good enough

For everyday posts, your phone is good enough. A new product, a plate coming out of the kitchen, the team at work, a finished job: a phone handles all of that well, as long as you have good light and a clean frame. A photographer is worth it for the images that stay in one place for a long time and do the heavy lifting: your homepage, paid campaigns, your catalog.

When a phone is enough

• daily posts and stories, where fresh and real matters more than perfect;
• behind the scenes: prep work, the workshop, an installation, people on the job;
• new products posted quickly, before the "big" photo shoot;
• Google profile updates: the terrace is open, a seasonal menu, a new window display.

People follow a local business to see what's happening there. A photo taken today on a phone says that better than a perfect photo from two years ago.

When to call a photographer

• the core photos for your website and brand, the ones you'll use for a year or two;
• a product catalog, where every photo needs the same light, background and colors;
• large interiors (a hotel, a restaurant, a gym), which need a wide lens without distortion and controlled lighting;
• team portraits, so everyone looks equally good, not one person by the window and another under fluorescent light.

The simple rule: if the photo will sit in the same spot for months and every visitor sees it, have a professional take it.

How to take good photos with your phone

1. Wipe the lens. Your phone lives in your pocket and on tables; one fingerprint makes the photo hazy.
2. Use window light. Natural light from the side is the best you'll get. Avoid the flash and harsh midday sun.
3. Tap your subject on the screen, so the phone sets focus and brightness on it, not on the background.
4. Skip digital zoom. Walk closer instead. Digital zoom just enlarges pixels.
5. Keep the background quiet. Clear the table, move the boxes out of frame. The background is half the photo.
6. Hold the phone straight, with the room's vertical lines parallel to the edges of the frame.
7. Go easy on filters. Fix brightness and contrast, but keep colors true to life.

The right format

Shoot vertically. On Instagram and Facebook the phone screen is vertical, and Meta's ads guide recommends a 4:5 ratio for Instagram feed images. A 4:5 photo takes up more of the screen than a square or horizontal one. For stories, frame for the full height of the screen and leave room at the top and bottom for text and buttons.

If you're shooting once for several places, frame a little wider and crop later for each format.

What Google expects for your Business Profile

Photos on your Google Business Profile have their own rules. Google asks for JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB, recommends a resolution of 720 × 720 pixels, and says photos should be in focus, well lit and free of significant alterations or excessive filters. In short: show the place as it really is. Any phone from the last few years clears the technical bar easily. The "as it really is" part is the one businesses break most often.

People in your photos

If customers can be recognized in a photo, you need their consent before posting it. A face is personal data under the GDPR, and people can withdraw their consent at any time. The easy route: photograph your team, hands, products and the place itself, and customers only when they've said yes.

You'll find how we plan a month of posts and photos on our marketing services page. For your Google profile, see also what changed in 2024 for posts, Q&A and photos.