When it comes to your school website, photos are important. Even schools with amazing written content need them. Supporting your content with school website photography will result in a positive impact on Parental Engagement with your school website. People will visit your site for the information that they need, but they will only stay if there is something to look at that captures their eye. When we talk about school website photography, it falls into two camps. The day to day candid shots that support your dynamic content. Think photo galleries in blog posts and news articles. And then the glossy prospectus style shots that support your design in areas such as banners and box menus.
Looking specifically at the photos that support your design, where do you start?
Choosing professional images? What do I look out for?
When choosing a photographer for your school, be sure to check they have experience working in schools. Ask for examples of their work in other schools. This will ensure your photographer is aware of the challenges of capturing excellent photos in a school environment. This will guarantee that you get a great selection of high-quality photos that represent your school well.
If you are arranging professional school website photography then preparing for the day will ensure you get the photos you want. Make sure you have a plan to take your photographer around all of the areas that make your school special. Get a good variety of images in different locations around the school. This will give your website visitors a great insight into life at your school.
"Get the best photos you can afford"
This has long been the advice of Schudio director Ian Richardson. Photos are essential. Professional photos are a luxury. If you don't feel like you can afford an education-specific photographer to visit your school, then does that mean you should not use photos on your school website? Of course not! Before you start looking for clipart, consider your school community. Speak to your staff team, governors and perhaps parents. It is possible there may be a keen photographer that would be willing to volunteer at school to assist with your school website photography.
It is true, that images taken by a professional photographer will make your website shine brighter. But start where you are. Check out our previous post about taking your own photos at school. Once you start to use photos on your school website it may inspire your school to make room in the budget, when appropriate, to replace your images with professional ones.
Where does your school website design fit in?
When choosing your next school website design, make sure you have photography in mind. You want to choose a design and a system that will allow you to use your photos. That means saying no to cartoon based designs. You need to give people an insight into the real children and real environment that makes your school special.
Furthermore, when you are investigating school website software, ask questions about how easy it is to share photo galleries in areas such as blogs. And how easy is it to update image-driven areas such as banners and menus? You should be able to update these areas easily and often. This will mean you will be able to update these images once they start to look dated. This will also save you money if you do not need to go through your provider in order to make these changes.
Find out more about school website photography
Interested in booking a professional school website photography day? Or need more advice on where to start taking your own images? Get in touch with the Schudio team for further tips and advice about how to best plan your photography day.
