Get the most from your website with some great photos
Posted by Fiona on Oct 12th at 04:35 PM. Filed under: Bands & musicians Tutorials Web Design
Want to know the quickest way to ruin a good website? Poor quality or amateurish photos! The most beautifully designed website in the world can easily be ruined by poor quality shots. It doesn’t matter how talented your designer is or how much work they put into creating your site. If your photos aren’t up to scratch then the overall quality of your site is going to suffer.
Investing in a few high quality photographs is really important if you want your website or MySpace page to look good. And if you’re a band and you're putting together a press kit, then professional photos are absolutely essential!
It’s perfectly ok to include the less professional looking photos in your website or MySpace photo galleries – most fans love these kind of candid shots and they’re great for promoting tours and CD signings and other events. But for your homepage photos and default MySpace pic, you need those killer photos to really make an impact.
I know that professional photo shoots can be expensive and if you’re an indie band, then your budget may not stretch to this. But there are other ways.
- Try contacting the colleges or art schools in your area to find out if they run any photography courses. If they do, then ask if any of the students would be willing to photograph you or your band, either for a small fee or in exchange for CDs or concert tickets. Many art students will jump at the chance to add some professional work to their portfolio.
- Look out for smaller photography studios that specialise in portraits or family photos. While this doesn’t sound very glamorous, it will often be an affordable option. As long as the photos are taken by a professional with a good camera in a properly lit studio, the actual setting doesn’t matter too much. Ask for the photos to be taken against a plain coloured background – your web designer will be able to edit out the background and add something a little more interesting!
- Do a little networking on MySpace and reach out to photographers in your area, particularly freelancers who are starting out in business. They may be willing to offer you a discount in exchange for some publicity.
If you end up with even just 5 or 6 great photos, that will be enough to build a website or MySpace page around. Plus they’ll look great on your promotional flyers and in your press kit, too!
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