Choosing good website photography that’s both interesting and strategic can be one of the biggest challenges of building a website for a wedding or creative business owner. Here are some tips to help.

Wedding vendors and ESPECIALLY photographers have the benefit of having so many photos to choose from for their websites. The wedding industry is aesthetically pleasing, right? But less is more when it comes to selecting what types of photos to highlight on your website.

If you’re wondering how to choose website photography that showcases your best work, look no further. I’ve put together some big picture and actionable tips to help you curate your website photography.

1. Become best friends with your photographers and videographers. Here’s looking at you, wedding planners, florists, caterers, venue owners, and basically anyone else who isn’t spending the whole wedding day behind a camera. There’s nothing that makes the following steps easier than having a plethora of wedding photography to choose from when designing your website. Understandably, photographers and videographers are protective over their work and who gets to share it. If you can show that you respect their work, will give them credit on your website, and are a nice human to work with, you’re more likely to get access to the beautiful photography you need to level up your website design. 

2. Think your business, 5-10 years from now. What kind of events/weddings are you working? How much are you charging per wedding? What are your clients like? Think of those goals and post only the weddings that are like those weddings you want to be working. This applies to your website galleries, portfolio, and Instagram. Even if you’re only able to showcase a few photos from each wedding, it’s smartest to show your best work. Dress the part until you have the part, my friend.

3. Make sure your potential clients can see themselves in your photos. Does it really need to be said in 2022? Yes, yes it does. Show inclusivity and diversity through the weddings/events you choose to feature, on all pages. This can actually mean a lot of things. Think through how you can be more inclusive to the LGBTQ community, BIPOC, clients with disabilities, and clients from various religious and cultural backgrounds.
   
   But before you go crazy and choose a bunch of photos, make sure this is natural. There’s a difference between being inclusive just to say you are, and backing up what you show with who you are behind the scenes. If you have questions about this, feel free to contact me, and I can help you find the right resources. Altared is another great resource for wedding vendors to get connected with resources that help to make the wedding industry more inclusive overall. 

4. Show those potential clients who you are! People LOVE people. Use photos of yourself and your team (if relevant) on the about page that reflect your personality. Pro tip: the next time you have a brand shoot, incorporate your brand colors! If you don’t believe me on people wanting to connect with people, my partner and I hired all of our vendors because we love who they are as humans, and we liked how their personalities showed up in their work and day-to-day business practices.

5. If needed, source the right stock photography. Obviously, it’s best to always use your own photography or photography from weddings you’ve worked before. But, when you’re just starting out, it’s ok to use stock photos, with some stipulations:
   1. Don’t use stock photos in your gallery, portfolio, or wedding examples pages. You don’t want to give people an incorrect idea about the work you’ve actually created. If you are super new to the industry and haven’t worked a wedding before, I suggest organizing a styled shoot or creating mockups of your work. 
   2. Use stock photography sparingly and tastefully on your non-work pages, like your homepage, contact page, or about page. Lean toward using them as backgrounds or use wide shots that don’t give off the idea that something specific in the photo is yours.
   3. Make sure the stock photos you download are allowed for reuse through a commercial license. Here are some websites I’ve used to find free, commercial licensed, and inclusive photos: 
      1. Unsplash
      2. Pexels
      3. Pixabay
      4. The Gender Spectrum Collection

If you have any questions or want any tips for how to choose the best website photography, don’t hesitate to reach out! We can even meet over a website audit call and select your photos together then. Contact me here.