Taking great pictures is of paramount importance to help market your decorative concrete business

After the blood sweat and tears of an always-challenging installation it’s almost a final goodbye and a hope that the customer will care for the finish as much as you did its installation.

capture that moment of perfection before it is subjected to potential abuse and neglect it’s all about the Photo. Not only does a great photo help you promote your abilities and talents to your next customer but it also can serve as a reminder of how the floor was left when you were done. Lets call it an insurance policy…

We have been asked many a time who we used as our photographer, and how much it cost. Well to let you in on a little piece of advice it was a one-time expense of a camera, wide-angle lens and tripod. We did it all ourselves.

The secret to a great portfolio picture is to

1. 1 have a digital camera with a large memory card. If you’re not a professional photographer like me, most cameras nowadays allow you to take literally hundreds of photos on an erasable digital memory card. So why not take shots from every angle, lighting situation, and distance and sort through them when you get home. You may only use one or two out of a few dozen but you and I both know it is very difficult to ever go back and take more pictures down the road, So go ahead fill up the card!
2. Before you start snapping the shots another piece of advice is to use a tripod. In low lighting situations (often found inside buildings), a flash sometimes just reflects light and never captures the colors and depth of the decorative concrete finish. By using a tripod you can often turn off the flash and be careful not to move the camera while the photo is taken. This will allow the camera aperture to stay open longer to allow more light in and a better shot will result. A tripod can eliminate the blur from the picture, which often occurs when the camera moves or shifts if it were handheld. It’s amazing how a slight movement can ruin a picture.
3. The third element to a great photo especially for Decorative Concrete Environments is with the use of a wide-angle lens. A wide-angle lens not only gives a wide picture but captures the essence of the whole area.

While pictures of floors, countertops, and driveways are great, most customers want to see what the whole environment will look like, they want to get a feeling from the photo. As much as you’re proud of your hard work, sometimes it is actually enhanced by its surrounding, allow it to blend in and be a part of a complete environment, these pictures always seem to get the most attention.

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to send us your best shots. We might even feature you in the premium image gallery.