The holiday season is upon us and now is the perfect time to get some outstanding photographs of your shop in action while its looking its very best for Christmas! Having high-quality photos on your social media pages is one of the most important things you can do to make your business stand out from the crowd. But, as a business owner, you have a lot of responsibilities and likely don’t have a ton of time to get professional-looking pictures for social media.

Most of us have cameras in our phones that are more than adequate for taking spectacular photographs of floral designs, food, or anything else that tells the story of your business. In fact, our smartphones make it easier than ever for anyone to get great shots as long as they follow these four tips to help you achieve high-quality smartphone photos, quick and easy!

Background

Plain white or gray backgrounds will make your photographs look clean and professional, but that doesn't mean that all your photographs should be shot with a plain background. If you are trying to sell a particular floral design on your website, background objects tend to be distracting and won’t keep your customers focused on the flower arrangement so you'll want to avoid backgrounds or settings that distract from the main focus, the flowers.

But rules are meant to be broken, and flowers in real-life settings are typically preferred for social media. Your followers want to see more than just the flowers - they want to imagine what they would look like in real-world settings, so make sure to keep your audience in mind when selecting the shot.

Lighting

Lighting is an important aspect in capturing quality photographs. For still-life shots, we suggest shooting next to a window so there is plenty of natural light. The natural light combined with the white backdrop will really make your flowers stand out. Also, remove any surrounding objects to make sure that there are no shadows in your shot. This will ensure higher quality photographs.

Lifestyle shots, on the other hand - the kind you want for social media, will still require good lighting - and natural light is preferred - so you may need to take that into consideration, especially if your shop or business isn't brightly lit.

Angle

For still-life photos, position your camera vertically and directly in front of the flower arrangement or object you would like to photograph. Shooting straight-on shots are the best angle to display your flower arrangements; just make sure you're standing far enough away to capture the whole arrangement. The best way to get the whole product in the picture is to leave a little bit of white space around the edges.

Throw those rules out the window when it comes to social media photos and get creative! Some of the most interesting pictures you'll find are of everyday objects viewed from a different angle. The more creative you can get, the better - and the better your photos are, the better your reach will be.

Accessories

There are several budget-friendly accessories you can purchase to help you achieve high-quality photographs.

Tripod

Mounting your phone on a tripod is a great way to avoid blurry pictures. Instead of trying to hold your hand steady, simply clip your phone to a stand. There are several different tripod options for various types of phones. You can find extremely flexible and versatile tripods for less than $10 on Amazon and the beautiful photos will be well worth the investment.

Clip-on LensAdding an external lens to your smartphone will enhance the camera’s perspective. If you have smaller products that require you to zoom in to take pictures the external lens will be able to focus on the product without becoming blurry. A decent lens or set of lenses typically costs anywhere between $20-$99 on Amazon and can be customized based on your needs.

Remember, this holiday season, a picture is worth a thousand words and these outstanding pictures will be great to share on your social media platforms as well. If you need any help or advice on shooting better pictures, give Bloomerang Solutions a call or drop us a line below.