How to Photograph Your Work With a Phone

Good photos of real jobs are the most persuasive thing on a trade website. Customers cannot judge your pipework or your pointing, but they can see whether a finished job looks sharp. You do not need a camera. The phone in your pocket is more than enough if you follow a few rules.

Before you take the shot

• Wipe the lens. It lives in a dusty pocket. This one step fixes most hazy photos.
• Tidy up. Move the tools, dust sheets, mugs and offcuts out of frame. Customers notice the mess before they notice the work.
• Turn the lights on, open the blinds. Light is everything.

Taking it

• Hold the phone straight. Wonky walls and leaning door frames make good work look bad. Turn on the grid lines in your camera settings and line them up with an edge.
• Landscape for websites, portrait for social. If in doubt, take both.
• Step back. Get the whole job in, then take a couple of close-ups of the detail you are proud of.
• Do not use the zoom. Walk closer instead. Digital zoom makes photos grainy.
• Avoid the flash indoors. It flattens everything and causes glare on tiles and gloss. Use the room lights.
• Take more than you need. Five shots, pick the best one later.

Outdoors

Bright overcast days give the most even light. In strong sun, keep the sun behind you and watch for your own shadow in the shot. For roofs, driveways and gardens, early morning or late afternoon light looks best.

Before and after

The most powerful photos you can take. The trick is remembering the "before". Make it the first thing you do on every job, before a single tool comes out. Stand in the same spot and hold the phone the same way for the "after", so the two line up.

What to photograph

• The finished job, wide
• The detail: a neat joint, a clean cut, tidy cabling
• Work in progress, especially the parts that get covered up
• You or the team at work
• The van outside the job

What to keep out of shot

• House numbers, street signs and car number plates
• Family photos, post and anything personal in a customer's home
• People who have not agreed to be in it

Always ask the customer before you use photos of their home. Most say yes.

Editing

Keep it honest. Straighten it, crop it, brighten it a touch if it is dark. Do not use heavy filters, and do not edit out flaws in the work. The photo should look like what the customer will get.

Get into the habit

Make it part of finishing every job: clean up, take the photos, ask for the review. Then send them on. Each photo can go on your website, your Google Business Profile and your social media. FOUND customers just email or text them over and we add them, as part of unlimited changes.