Product Photography
Stop Using These 5 Bad Stock Photos For Your Business. Please?
OH MY! We’ve all come across images like this before haven’t we? It’s totally cringe-worthy and can be an immediate turn-off – but not all stock photography will make you LOL at your computer screen! It can actually be a great resource for professional level photographs for your website. It’s just up to you and your discerning eye to choose the best ones to represent your brand and avoid the ones that are just plain… not right! We understand that stock photography isn’t something that every site needs, but it can add a layer of human connection that shows you are more than just pixels and icons. We’ve compiled a list of The Five Things to Avoid when using stock photography to guide you to finding your best images!
1 | Outdated Clothes & Looks
The easiest way to show your clients you are behind the times is by using stock photos with outdated clothing. We all love a good throwback look, but what we don’t want is your customer thinking you are living in the past. If the clothes are shimmering, sequined, bell-bottomed or ruffled you probably want to steer clear! Stay away from trendy or distracting clothes, in almost all cases clothes should compliment the photo NOT distract from it.
Things to watch out for: perms, graphic tees, and the oh-so-special Ugg boots & denim skirt combo.
2 | Weird Facial Expressions
If our goal is for the photos to help build a human connection, we need to choose images that customers can relate to, not be afraid of! Don’t think of only the obvious and dramatic (tip: they should not look insane, or like they would fit in at the Rocky Horror convention) but also think about the subtleties that might influence a consumer’s feelings about your images. Do they look happy? No one wants their brand to be associated with sad or bored expressions.
Things to watch out for: crazy eyes, creeper smiles, and faces that are bored, unhappy, or in pain. Make sure their mood matches what you want the image to reflect!
3 | Unnatural Posing
One of the offenders that can creep up on you with a touch of subtlety is awkward and unnatural posing. Sometimes it’s going to be screaming at you through the screen “this does not look right!” (…have you ever seen someone leap for joy in a field with a shopping bag? Me neither, although shopping can make us feel blissfully happy!) But other times a weird angle can make a person’s body look disjointed and unnatural or even like they are uncomfortable in their own skin. The main thing is we want the image to look natural and not posed at all!
Things to watch out for: gorilla arms, disjointed limbs, and overly emphasized movements.
4 | Fake Photo Treatments
Napoleon Dynamite glamour shots anyone? I think we can all agree, those little “extras” placed on top of photos take us all downtown to cheesy-town. Unless you are own a 1-800 future prediction hotline, or are trying to channel your inner Sabrina the Teenage Witch (we don’t blame you, btw), you would probably find it in your best interest to stay away from fake stars and sparkles in your stock photos!
Things to watch out for: fairy dust, cotton candy puffs, sparkly stars of wonder!
5 | The “Thumbs Up” Epidemic
This may just be something that rubs us the wrong way…but if we see one more thumbs up we might just freaking lose it! It’s an unsettling epidemic that seems to be spreading like wildfire across the web. But here and now, we can join together, rise up, and make it stop! How often are you in the workplace shooting a thumbs up at your coworkers? It’s one of those weird poses we turn to when someone points a camera at us unexpectedly at a wedding, and we don’t know what to do. We can do better!
Things to watch out for: THE THUMBS UP, among other fingers.
Now you know the The Top 5 Things to Avoid When Choosing Stock Photography for your business! You have developed a keen eye for spotting crazy-eyes, bored facial expressions, awkward daydreamers, disjointed limbs and the thumbs up (shudders). We couldn’t be more proud!
Keep it simple by making a general rule that the people in your photos are the right age, live in the same world as your customer and look natural. Click To TweetTo make things even easier, check out our Best Small Business Stock Photography Resource Guide HERE.
What is the worst stock photo you’ve seen lately? Leave a link to one of your favorite offenders, so we can all share in a laugh together. We also want to play a game with you – caption the ridiculous photo above in the comments section! We seriously can’t wait to read what you guys come up with!
