Nail the Perfect Paving Portfolio Shot

As a paving company your portfolio is a crucial piece of your marketing collateral. Showing off that expertly-laid asphalt mat, crack sealing, parking lot striping, or concrete surface will demonstrate your expertise in a big way.

Using a good quality camera or getting professional pictures can work, but there is a level of expense and/or a learning curve that may not make it the best option for you. Fortunately you can take top-notch photos with your smartphone if you keep these things in mind:

1. Stabilize the phone – Taking a photo on the fly while holding the phone may be the quickest way, but even a slight shake will affect the ability of the phone to take as sharp of an image as possible. Stabilize the phone on a vehicle or another piece of equipment or get a tripod or monopod that will allow you to stabilize the camera to the ground while keeping the phone at eye level. If nothing else, try holding the phone with your elbows pinned to your side to stabilize your hands as much as possible.
2. Pay attention to the lighting – The best photos are at sunrise or sunset when the light is coming from behind the camera. At a minimum, make sure that the light is not shining toward the camera as that will detract from the color and contrast of the focus of the shot.
3. Never zoom in digitally – It is better to take a shot and then crop it later than to use the digital zoom feature. Newer smartphone models offer an optical zoom so it would be safe to zoom if that option is available, but a digital zoom will result in a blurry or distorted image. If zooming is a regular need, try a lens attachment kit that will give you some zoom capability while retaining the sharpness of the image.
4. Try multiple angles or perspectives – Visual interest is as much of a factor with a good portfolio image as the quality of the job itself. Sometimes just varying the positioning of the camera will allow you to create a shot that is more appealing. For instance, try taking the shot with the camera resting on the ground or from the highest vantage point you can safely reach.
5. Edit the photo – Modern smartphones have editing features that will allow you to crop, adjust the saturation and lighting, or even alter an image to black and white. Adjusting the saturation can really make the coloring in an image pop so that it looks as good as possible. This is especially helpful if you end up having to take pictures on a cloudy day where the reduced contrast can make an image appear dull.
6. Avoid image flipping – Portrait or landscape images can work better for various applications, but most portfolio shots will look better in landscape mode. The original orientation is stored in the images meta data and when sharing the image on social media or some other channel can cause it to be flipped sideways. This can be corrected by using an editing software, but the extra steps will cost time and effort that is not necessary if you remember to take the picture with the desired orientation.

If you are looking for a simple app that will create great before/after collages for you, check out DuoPix in the iOS App Store or Before and After Camera for Android.

Do you want to be more strategic and effective in your marketing efforts? Quit wasting money and effort by utilizing our 3-part process to fine tune your marketing.

Schedule a consultation today to find out how you can increase your ROI.