Content / Field notes
Photos that explain the job, not just decorate it
A picture earns its space when it answers a customer’s question. Here is how to take and use photos that do.
By Ben Foskey ·
What a good job photo does
A customer looking at your website is trying to answer a few questions. Will this company do the kind of work I need? Is the quality good? Are they real? Your photos can answer all three faster than any paragraph.
A wide shot of a sparkling driveway is nice. A side-by-side of the same driveway before and after, taken from the same spot, with a caption that says “Concrete driveway, Osprey. Rust stains and mildew removed” is better. It shows the surface you clean, the result and the area you work in.
Take the before photo first
The before shot is the one people forget. Make it a habit: before you unload anything, take one photo from a spot you can find again. When the job is done, stand in the same spot, hold the phone the same way and take the after photo.
- Keep the same angle, distance and framing for both photos.
- Shoot in similar light if you can. A before photo in shade and an after in full sun looks like a trick, even when it isn’t.
- Hold the phone level and wipe the lens. A greasy lens makes everything look hazy.
- Take a few extra. Storage is free, and you can delete the bad ones later.
Ask before you share
A customer’s home is private. Before you post photos of their pool, kitchen or front door, ask. A simple text works: “Mind if I use a photo of the driveway on my website? I won’t show the house number.” Most people say yes. Keep their answer.
Leave out house numbers, license plates, faces and anything inside the home that identifies the family, unless the customer has clearly said it is fine. If you are not sure, crop it out.
Write a caption that says something
A caption turns a pretty picture into proof. Say what the job was, where it was and what you did. One sentence is enough: “Screen enclosure, Lakewood Ranch. Pressure washed and treated for mildew.”
Google’s image guidance says the same thing in technical terms: use descriptive file names and alt text, and put images near relevant text. Alt text is the short description screen readers read aloud for people who can’t see the image. Describe what is in the picture in plain words. Don’t stuff it with a list of towns. Search engines and real people both see through that.
Stock photos and AI images
Stock photos have a place: a generic picture of a Florida street or a palm tree can set the scene. They should never stand in for your work. If a photo is meant to show what you did, it has to be something you actually did.
The same goes for AI-generated images. A fake “after” photo might get a call, but it falls apart the moment the customer sees the real result. If you use stock or generated images for decoration, keep them obviously decorative.
On this site, the trade photos are licensed stock, and the credits page says so. The portfolio screenshots are real sites, captured directly.
Keep a small library
Make one album on your phone called “Website” and drop the best before-and-after pairs into it as you go. Aim for two or three good pairs for each service you offer. Once a month, pick one and send it to whoever updates your site, or add it yourself.
Use the same photos on your Google Business Profile. Google’s tips for business photos encourage adding clear photos of your work and your team. Fresh photos give returning visitors something new, and they show you are still in business and still busy.
Photograph more than the finished job
The finished result is the obvious shot, but customers also want to see how you work. A few other photos earn their place:
- Your truck or van, clean and lettered, parked at a job. It tells a customer what will pull into their driveway.
- You or your crew at work, with permission from anyone in the shot.
- A close-up of the problem: the mildew, the cracked tile, the cloudy water. It helps customers recognize their own situation.
- Your equipment, if it is part of why you do the job better.
Size them before you upload
A photo straight off a modern phone can be several megabytes. Upload a dozen of those to a page and it will crawl on cell signal. Most website builders resize images for you. If yours doesn’t, shrink photos to about 1,600 pixels wide before uploading. Your customers won’t see the difference, and the page will load much faster. More on that in making a page lighter.