The 12 Photos Every Service Business Needs
A free, practical shot list to help you take better photos for your website and socials, using the phone already in your pocket.
The first three shots, free
These are the first three shots from the list, in full. No sign up needed. Take these three this week and your website is already in better shape.
1. The owner portrait
What it’s for: putting a face to the business. People buy from people, and this is often the first photo someone looks for. Where to use it: About page, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, email signature, media and speaking requests. How to take it: stand your person facing a window, about a metre or two back from it, so soft light falls on their face. Keep the background simple and step them away from the wall so there’s space behind them. Hold the phone at their eye level, not below. Take plenty, and ask them to breathe out and think of something that makes them smile. Shoot one landscape with room on one side for website text, and one portrait for social.
2. The team shot
What it’s for: showing there are real, friendly people behind the business. Where to use it: About or Team page, recruitment posts, LinkedIn, "meet the team" social posts. How to take it: group people close together, with shoulders slightly angled towards the centre and faces at different heights so it doesn’t look like a row of passport photos. Find even light, such as open shade outside or a bright room with the overhead lights off. Use the self timer or ask someone else to shoot. Take a burst so you get one where everyone’s eyes are open.
3. At work
What it’s for: showing what you actually do and how you do it. This is the shot that makes your service feel real. Where to use it: service pages, homepage, social posts, proposals. How to take it: capture people genuinely doing the job, not posing. Ask them to carry on as normal and shoot over a few minutes so they relax. Look for the moment of concentration or connection. On a worksite, make sure everyone is wearing the right safety gear, because people notice.
The other nine shots
- The space or premises
- Hands at work
- Close up details
- Before and after
- Customer interaction (with permission)
- The vehicle or signage
- Behind the scenes
- The product or result
- The wide establishing shot
The full how-to for all 12 shots, plus phone settings and a printable checklist, is in your free download.
What’s inside
- The 12 essential shots every service business needs, with what each one is for and where to use it
- Simple phone camera settings and habits that instantly lift the quality of your photos
- Easy light and placement tips that work in an office, a clinic, a workshop or out on site
- A printable checklist so you can tick off your shots as you go
- How to know when it’s time to bring in a professional photographer
Send me the shot list
All 12 shots, the phone settings that matter and a printable checklist. Free, and yours to keep.
Common questions
Yes. The shot list is completely free. Just pop in your name and email and it’s yours.
Not at all. Any reasonably recent smartphone will do the job. The tips in this guide are about light, framing and good habits, and those make a bigger difference than the phone itself.
New Zealand service businesses who want their website and socials to look like the real thing. That includes tourism operators, healthcare and wellness practices, construction and trades businesses, and professional services firms. If people need to trust you before they book you, this is for you.
No. You’ll get the guide straight away, followed by a handful of short, useful emails with photo tips, plus Seen on Thursdays. Every email has an unsubscribe link, so you’re always in control.
