Photos are a great way for businesses to showcase their products and services to a wider audience. Photos give the viewer an instant glance at what your business represents and what are its values. To celebrate World Photography Day, observed annually on 19 August, this blog looks at how photography can benefit your salon or barbershop.

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In a creative industry, using social media and photography for your business can be as essential as scissors and hairdryers. You want to shout out your successes and promote your business, and there are no better platforms to do it on than your social media channels.

Using social media is your digital 'shop window', and what you put on your social media channels reflects your businesses brand. You wouldn't put a misleading impression of your business on your salon/barbershops window, so why would you put any old post on your digital one? This is where taking good photos becomes essential.

Photography goes hand in hand with social media. As social media has become popular, so has taking photos. Gone are the days when you had to insert a film into a camera, wind the film up and then take a picture, hoping for the best. And you only knew if the photo is any good once it was developed a few days later. You can now instantly capture special moments and share them with your audience immediately.

Smartphone or DSLR?

Most of us now carry a smartphone with a powerful camera built-in that can meet most of our photo needs. You may consider using a DSLR camera to take your photography to the next level. Whatever type of camera you choose, when it comes to taking photos for your businesses social media channels, the thing to do is ensure what you put out there reflects your business in the best way. This is why it is essential to understand a few basic techniques to take a good photograph.

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Online resources

You don't need to be a professional photographer to take a great photograph. You don't need expensive equipment to create appealing visual content for digital channels. Knowing where to begin can be overwhelming. It takes a bit of know-how that can be found in an array of places from how-to videos, podcasts, tips and tutorial sites, eBooks, in-depth guides, and online courses. Once you have understood some of the basics, all you need is a nice bright window, point your camera at your chosen subject and shoot. To bring extra character to your photo, perhaps some editing to the image before sharing online.

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Photography top tips

To create professional and engaging photos, here are some photography tips for social media that you should consider every time you make a post online.

To get viewers to look at your photos longer, do not place your subject directly in the centre of the frame; take your picture with the subject in the right or left third of the frame.

Be consistent with your photos. As a salon/barbershop, keep your photos to what your business does. For example, if you style and colour hair, keep to that theme, i.e. anything characteristic of your business in an obvious way works.

Be relatable and show your personality/brand for your business. The best way to do this is by creating behind the scenes photographs. Add descriptions to your images, tell your audience what is happening in the photo.

Good lighting takes your photography from good to outstanding. The best kind of lighting is natural light. However, to get the best natural light is not always possible; invest in a ring light or some other artificial lighting.

To take your photos to the next level and before your post them online, consider editing them. You can download free editing apps like Adobe Lightroom that enables you to enhance photos and even resize for social media use.

Try to capture your image in landscape format. This orientation is much easier to crop into an Instagram square later on.

If you are using a DSLR camera, don't be afraid to come off auto mode and use manual with various settings. The important thing to do is practice shooting in different modes and settings and observe the effects of settings on photos.
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Remember GDPR

Make sure your salon or barbershop complies with data protection laws when using social media. For example, don’t automatically assume that you can post ‘before and after’ pictures of your clients; you must get their specific permission to do this. View our blog post about GDPR for more information.

Download NHBF’s detailed Members-only guide to GDPR.

Download our GDPR toolkit, which includes templates to help you comply with GDPR.

Not yet a Member? Join us now for less than 80p a day to access this user-friendly in-depth guide and make sure you are complying with GDPR.

Photographs and copyright

Under UK law, the person who takes the photograph usually owns its copyright, but there are some exceptions.

Copyright law can be complex. Always take legal advice before taking any action. NHBF Members have access to a free 24/7 legal helpline.

Further blogs to improve your business:

Find out more about using social media to boost your salon.
Here are more details on paying for adverts on social media.
Marketing your Salon.

Checklist

  • Use a smartphone or a DSLR camera (whatever you are comfortable with)
  • Seek tips from online resources such as how-to videos
  • Use good lighting
  • Enhance photos with free editing software
  • Shoot in different angles
  • Be consistent
  • Show your businesses personality/brand
  • Shoot in landscape, where possible
  • Keep practising in different modes
  • Keep within the law and ask for permission before taking a photo and sharing on social media.

 

Author: NHBF | Posted 19 Aug 2021