How to take great business photos with a smartphone

Can you take good business photos with a smartphone?

Photos are often the first thing customers look at before visiting: on your Google listing, your website, Instagram. Dark, blurry or outdated photos give a poor impression even when your premises are spotless. Simple, bright photos make people want to come and show honestly what they will find.

Recent smartphones take excellent photos, as long as you help them. This guide brings together the habits that make the difference, subject by subject, then explains where to publish and which rules to follow.

What are the basics of a good photo?

Light first

Light is half of a good photo. The best is soft daylight: near a window, on a shaded terrace, or outdoors on an overcast day. Avoid:

• flash: it flattens food, makes sauces shine and creates harsh shadows;
• midday sun: black shadows and blown-out highlights;
• mixed lighting (a yellow lamp on one side, a window on the other): colours go wrong.

If light comes from one side and the shadow is too strong, hold a sheet of white paper or a light-coloured menu on the other side to bounce it back.

Framing

• One subject per photo, clearly identifiable.
• A simple background: a plain wall, a wooden table, a clean worktop. Remove clutter: salt shakers, phones, crumpled napkins, boxes.
• The grid: turn it on in your camera settings. Place the subject on a line or intersection and keep horizons and verticals straight.
• Move closer rather than pinching to zoom: digital zoom degrades the image. If your phone has several lenses, the “2×” or “3×” button uses a real telephoto lens.

Several attempts

Professional photographers take dozens of shots to keep one. Do the same: change the angle, distance and position slightly, then keep the best.

Which smartphone settings should you use?

No need for expert settings. Five habits are enough:

In a dim room, hold the phone with both hands or rest it against something: the photo will be sharper. The ultra-wide mode (0.5×) shows more space but distorts the edges: keep it for small rooms and hold the phone level.

How do you photograph each subject: food, shopfront, products, interior, team?

Food

• Overhead for flat plates, pizzas, sharing tables and boards.
• At plate height or slightly above for anything tall: burgers, cakes, drinks, stacks of pancakes.
• Shoot straight away after plating: a setting sauce or a wilting salad shows.
• Wipe the rim, add a touch of context (cutlery, a glass, a hand serving) without clutter.

Shopfront

• Straight on, phone level, so lines do not lean.
• On an overcast day or in shade to limit reflections in the glass; at dusk, a window lit from inside looks great.
• A photo of the front with a readable sign helps customers find you.

Products

• A clean neutral background, window light from the side.
• The product alone, then the same product in use (bread on a table, wine with a dish, clothing being worn).
• Show texture up close: the crust, the fabric, the label.

Interior

• Tidy up, turn on all the lights, open the curtains.
• Shoot from a corner of the room at chest height, phone level.
• An empty room looks sad: one or two laid tables or a few customers seen from behind (no recognisable faces) bring it to life.

Team

A photo of the team at work (at the stove, at the basin, on site) reassures and humanises. Natural gestures beat a lined-up pose, and always ask people’s permission (see below).

Before and after

For a hair salon, beauty salon or tradesperson, before-and-after is often the most convincing photo. The rule: same angle, same distance, same light for both shots, otherwise the comparison means nothing. Do not retouch the result: a haircut or renovation enhanced digitally leads to disappointment.

Should you edit your photos?

Yes, lightly. The editor built into your phone (the Photos app on iPhone, Google Photos or the gallery app on Android) is enough, and it is free. Useful edits:

• crop to remove a distraction and straighten the horizon;
• brighten an indoor shot a little;
• fix the colour if the light made it too yellow or too blue;
• a touch of contrast, no more.

Avoid heavy filters, oversaturated colours that make food look fake, and objects removed or added. For your Google listing, Google’s help asks for photos that are in focus, well lit, without significant alterations, with moderate filters and true to reality. It is a good rule for your website too: customers should recognise what they saw online.

Can you photograph customers and staff?

Yes, with their permission. The rules depend on the country (and, in the US, often the state), so check locally. Some reference points:

• In France, the official Service-public page on image rights says publishing the image of a recognisable person generally requires their consent, written and specific for an adult (which medium, what purpose, how long); agreeing to be photographed is not agreeing to publication. Parents’ written consent is always required for children.
• In the EU, the European Commission’s data protection explainer defines personal data as information about an identifiable living person and gives “posting a photo of a person on a website” as an example of processing it. The UK applies similar rules. Asking for consent is the simplest approach for marketing photos.
• Everywhere, Google’s Maps content policy forbids posting other people’s personal information without consent, and gives a face in a photo or video as an example.

In practice: photograph customers from behind or from a distance, or ask for written permission when faces show; never reuse a customer’s social media photo without asking; and for staff, get clear written permission that says where and for how long their photo will be used, and plan to remove it if they leave.

Photo release I, [Full name], allow [Business name] to publish the photos taken on [date] at [place] in which I appear, on [its website, Google Business Profile, Facebook and Instagram pages], to present the business, for [duration]. I can withdraw this permission at any time by writing to [email]; the photos will then be removed within a reasonable time. Signed at [town], on [date]. Signature:

This is a simple starting point: for major advertising use (posters, paid campaigns), have it checked by a legal professional where you operate.

Which photos go on Google, your website and social media?

Google Business Profile

According to Google’s help page on business photos, photos should be JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, at least 250 × 250 pixels, with 720 × 720 pixels recommended. Videos can be up to 30 seconds. Google suggests a logo, a cover photo, exterior shots (to help people find you) and photos of what attracts customers. A photo that breaks the rules is marked “Not approved” and does not show. Customers can add photos too; you can ask for problem ones to be removed. For the rest of your listing, see our Google Business Profile guide.

Your website

A strong cover photo (the room, the shopfront or your signature product), a gallery of 8 to 15 varied photos, and one photo per featured product or dish. Website photos should match reality today: change them when the decor or menu changes. With a Voxtya website, the photos from your Google listing are imported when the site is created, and you add or replace your own in one click (see the Website service).

Social media

Instagram and Facebook display square and vertical photos well; horizontal ones appear smaller in the feed. So shoot some photos vertically, leaving room around the subject for cropping. Exact sizes change regularly: check each network’s help pages. For a posting routine, see our social media guide.

Which 30 photos should every business have?

One hour on a morning with soft light is enough to build a solid library. Tick them off as you go:

• The front, straight on, sign readable
• The front from further away, with the street, for landmarks
• The entrance and door
• The window in daylight
• The window lit up at dusk
• Your logo, sharp, on a plain background
• The whole room or shop, from a corner
• A second angle of the room
• A cosy corner (window table, armchair, counter)
• The terrace or garden, if you have one
• The counter or reception
• Your signature product or dish
• Four to six other key products or dishes
• A product close-up (texture, material)
• A product in use (served, worn, used)
• The menu board, display counter or well-stocked shelves
• A seasonal product
• The owner, with their agreement
• The whole team, with everyone’s agreement
• A craft gesture in action (kneading, cutting, pouring, repairing)
• Behind the scenes: kitchen, workshop, tidy stockroom
• A supplier or producer, with their agreement
• A before-and-after (hair, treatment, job), same angle and light
• A decor detail
• A laid table or a ready workstation
• A vertical version of each key subject, for social media
• Access: parking, nearby stop, ramp if there is one
• Service atmosphere, customers from behind or with their agreement
• A past event (tasting, workshop)
• One photo per season, redone every quarter

Which photos matter most for your kind of business?

• Restaurant, bar: signature dishes, the laid dining room, the terrace, the kitchen team, a drink at table height. Reshoot with each new menu. See our restaurant page.
• Bakery, patisserie: the full morning display, bread cut open in close-up, the bakehouse, seasonal products.
• Hair or beauty salon: the bright salon, before-and-afters with clients’ written consent, the products you use, the team at work.
• Shop, wine shop: the window, tidy shelves, key products on a neutral background, a gift selection, a tasting.
• Tradesperson: finished jobs, before-and-afters, the van and equipment, the team in work clothes. Keep customers’ house numbers and number plates out of shot.
• Hotel, B&B: every room, the bathroom, breakfast, the garden, the view, the surroundings. Guests want to know exactly what they are booking.

What mistakes should you avoid?

• Dark or blurry photos: no photo is better than one that works against you.
• Stock photos passed off as yours: customers will not find what they saw, and on Google photos should reflect your actual business.
• Outdated photos: old decor, old menu, a team that has changed.
• Over-editing: heavy filters, unreal colours, objects erased.
• Recognisable people without permission, especially children.
• Text on every photo: big prices, slogans and logos spoil the image; keep text for the caption.
• A messy background: boxes, bins, cables, dirty dishes.
• Photos that all look the same: vary subjects, distances and angles.

To check whether your Google listing has enough photos and information, run our free visibility check.

The steps at a glance

The steps to take good photos of your business without professional equipment.

1. Prepare. Tidy up, clean, lay a table or dress the window, and clean the phone’s lens.
2. Choose the light. Shoot in daylight, near a window or in shade, without flash.
3. Frame. Turn on the grid, one subject per photo, simple background, phone level.
4. Pick the angle. Overhead for flat plates, at subject height for anything tall, straight on for the shopfront.
5. Take several shots. Several photos of each subject, both horizontal and vertical.
6. Edit lightly. Crop, brighten, fix colour, no heavy filters.
7. Publish in the right places. Google listing, website and social media, with written permission from anyone recognisable.

This guide for your trade

• Restaurant
• Bakery
• Hair and beauty salon
• Shops and retail
• Tradesperson
• Hotel and B&B

Go further

• Optimise your Google Business Profile
• Social media for a local business
• Build a small business website
• Email newsletter for small business
• Promote a new business opening
• Restaurants: 15 Instagram post ideas