The twelve photos every local business should own

• The storefront in good light. What someone sees pulling up. Horizontal, room around the edges so it can be cropped for a header.
• The wide interior. Shot from the doorway, lights on, no people, tidy. This is the one that tells a stranger whether your place feels like a place they want to be.
• The owner. You, looking at the camera, in your own space, not squinting. This photo does more work than any other one on the list.
• The team. Even if the team is two people. Nobody has to smile like a dentist ad; standing together looking at the lens is enough.
• Hands working. A close-up of the actual craft: dough, a wrench, clippers, a keyboard. No faces needed, which means you can shoot it any day of the week.
• The signature thing. Your best-selling plate, the truck, the chair, the finished install. Lit properly, from the angle a customer sees it.
• Three more of the signature thing, from different angles. Sounds excessive, is not. This is what fills a menu page or a services grid.
• A customer interaction, with permission. Someone being handed something, being greeted, being helped. Warmth is the product.
• The detail nobody notices. The tile, the tools on the wall, the coffee sacks, the certificate. Texture photos are what make a website feel like a real place instead of a template.
• Vertical versions of the best three. Shot vertical, not cropped later. Stories and reels need 9:16 and cropping a horizontal photo always looks like an accident.
• Something seasonal. Whatever is true right now: the patio in summer, the lights in December. Shoot two seasons a year and you always have something current.
• A clean shot of your sign, logo, or exterior at dusk. This is the one that gets used as a background, an overlay, a profile cover.

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