Photography tips

6 minute read• Last updated: 25 February 2025

Images of your product and business are one of the best ways to attract customers. If you can let the customer feel how great it could be to visit you, they are more likely to make a booking.

Think about what images you need – what do you want to say about your business? What channels do you have and what content do they require? Once you’ve worked out what you need, you can capture new images yourself or access our free image library.

Start telling your business story through imagery and show customers what they’re looking for.

Why invest in good imagery?

Good imagery is key to a successful website and social media channels. Images give a positive first impression and the opportunity to imagine what it would be like to visit your business.

If a customer only sees one image of your business before they make a decision, what would that image be? How could you convey what it feels like to experience your product?

For example:

For an accommodation business
A customer wants to see what it will be like to arrive at reception, make their way to their room and the magic of first seeing that room – a well-made bed, well decorated room and a view out of the window.
For an active and outdoor business
A customer wants to start to feel the excitement of being outdoors in Scotland, about to enjoy a new or much-loved activity.
For a food and drink business
A customer wants to feel hungry already at the sight of delicious dishes prepared using local produce, and a beautiful setting.
For an event
A customer wants to see how it will feel to hear the music, see the performance, soak up the atmosphere or simply mingle with the crowd.
For a visitor attraction
A customer wants a glimpse of the exhibitions on display, or to see the animals they’ll soon meet.

Take your own pictures or hire a photographer?

Person taking photo on mobile — Lochend Chalets

There are benefits to both taking your own pictures and to hiring a professional photographer. Take time to consider what is best for you and your business.

Benefits to taking your own pictures:

it's cost effective
gives you full copyright control
nobody knows your business better than you
can be done in your own time
photos can be taken all year round creating a portfolio of seasonal images

Benefits to hiring a photographer:

produces high quality professional images
attention to detail including expertise on staging, lighting, and composition
no need to buy equipment
can provide advice and an expert eye
can easily edit and adjust the sizing for website or social media
good option if you lack confidence

Tips for taking photographs

Staff and thatched building The Scottish Crannog Centre — The Scottish Crannog Centre
© VisitScotland/Kenny Lam

Get inspired

Preparation can be key to getting the right images at the right time for the right channels.

Spend time looking online for inspiration and consider:

what images are similar businesses using?
which photos leave a lasting impression?
what style do I like that suits my brand?

Getting an idea of what you like, what other businesses are doing and how images are engaged with online can help.

Why do you want new images?

Maybe you want to:

replace existing images that were taken a long time ago
showcase a new physical space at your business
showcase a new product at your business
attract a new audience – such as the US or accessible market
tell a new story – about your friendly staff or sustainable journey

Being clear on what the goal is of the new images can help you think about what you need to capture, whether you want customers or staff in those images, and how many images you might need.

Where are you going to use these new images?

You might need new images for your:

website
social media channels
email newsletter
business listings across partner websites such as destination marketing organisations (DMOs) and online travel agents (OTAs)

Different channels can have different image requirements. Your website may require landscape or banner images, while your social media channels need a particular size for Instagram, or potentially even video might work best.

Be clear on what channels these images need to be suitable for and include in your plan to take different orientations and angles.

Visitors at table outside Boutique farm bothy — Boutique farm bothy
© VisitScotland/Luigi Di Pasquale

What do you want these images to say about you?

Think about your business history and ethos – why do you exist?
Think about customer feedback – why do people enjoy visiting you? Is there a feeling or description that comes up often in reviews?
Think about your staff – what do they most enjoy? Why do they work for you?
Think about your product – what makes you unique?
Think about other factors – do different seasons change the experience at your business?

This will help you be clear on what you want to say about your business, and what message you want to leave the viewer with.

Prepare ahead of time

The great news about photography is that we all have access now to excellent equipment. An up-to-date smart phone can take extremely high quality images and offer good editing software.

Get the spaces you want to use ready – make sure they have been checked against your quality standards and are as you would want them to be for a customer.

Get the people you need ready – make sure you organise who you need to turn up at the right time, and have permission forms signed for any models.

Think about time of day (and year) – think about how the light comes through the space and what time of day would be best. Even the best smart phones can’t help if the light is coming the wrong way!

Edit your images

Remember to optimise your images for the right channel – this could be cropping the images for social media or reducing the size and quality so that they can load quickly onto your website.

Smart phones have inbuilt software available which offers a good number of features for editing. Or there are options including Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Express.

A man in a high vis vest stands in front of a castle. — On a photo shoot for VisitScotland
© VisitScotland / Stuart Brunton

Taking images of people

You need to get consent from people featured in your images where they are recognisable. This means getting them to sign a permission form and storing that correctly as per the rules of GDPR. You must also allow them to rescind their consent later and remove the image as per their request.

Find out more at GDPR UK.

For staff, you may wish to include this in their standard contract that you have permission to take and use images of them while they work for you.

Find out more on the importance of images when marketing your tourism business with expert advice from VisitScotland’s Senior Creative Lead, Stuart Brunton.

Finding and using existing images

Elie Ness Lighthouse silhouette — Elie Ness Lighthouse
© VisitScotland/Kenny Lam

From the internet

You can't just download or copy any image you find online - there are copyright rules protecting images and you could find yourself paying a large bill if the photograph spots the image on your site without permission.

You can only use images you have explicit permission to use. If you’re not sure, don’t use the image.

From VisitScotland

Our media toolkit is completely free to use and has thousands of amazing photographs from around Scotland. We're always developing new imagery and video across a range of areas including campaigns such as Good for the Soul, and areas such as sustainability and inclusivity.

From Brand Scotland

To help you in your own marketing activity, we've a range of images from our Brand Scotland toolkit that you can access for free. These images can be used by businesses and organisations promoting Scotland as a destination.

From a stock library

There will be a charge for stock library images but this does give you explicit permission to use the image in agreed ways across your channels. Check the terms and conditions carefully to ensure they cover the use you need.

Image credits

Wherever the image comes from, remember to add a credit to the photographer if stated in the permission of use or licence for the image.

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Photography tips

Why invest in good imagery?

For an accommodation business

For an active and outdoor business

For a food and drink business

For an event

For a visitor attraction

Take your own pictures or hire a photographer?

Tips for taking photographs

Get inspired

Why do you want new images?

Where are you going to use these new images?

What do you want these images to say about you?

Prepare ahead of time

Edit your images

Taking images of people

Finding and using existing images

From the internet

From VisitScotland

From Brand Scotland

From a stock library

Image credits

How to create content

Related pages

Manage your website

Manage your social media accounts

Marketing opportunities

Improve your website user experience

Sign up for the latest advice

About us

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