How to Create Stunning Images to Go With Your Content

If you want to get more from your content marketing, then you need to stop thinking
of your content as �stuff you use to fill your website�. Instead, you need to start
thinking of content as though it were a product. This is a product that is just as
exciting as anything you might sell and as such, it deserves all the same buzz,
marketing and attention.

And this means that you need to adorn your content with the right images and the
right layout to make it look beautiful. This makes a huge difference to the tone
and impact of what you write: so make sure that you get it right.

The problem? Getting stunning images can be hard. Stock images are expensive and
using images from Google Images often means facing copyright issues. At the end of
the day, using ready-made images is never as good as creating images yourself any
way though, after all: an image you create yourself will perfectly suit the topic
of your blog post rather than looking generic and only vaguely relevant.

Fortunately, if you can invest in a good camera � even a decent phone camera � then
you can start adding impressive images to your content that will take it to the
next level. You just need to learn a few tricks to get elevate your images to a
professional standard.

Focus

One of the best tricks for making an image look professional is to use a shallow
depth-of-field and to create a macro effect. This basically means you�re going to
place the object in the extreme foreground and then focus on that so that
everything else blurs into the background.

This is easy to do. On a smartphone, you simply need to double tap on the object in
the extreme foreground and subtly change the distance until the camera locks on. If
you have a DSLR or a mirrorless camera, you can do the same thing by setting the
camera to �manual focus� and then changing the focus until it looks just right.

Composition

When photographing something up close like this, whether it is a keyboard, a phone,

a dumbbell or anything else, it can often be fun to get a more dynamic angle. An
upward shot will make the object appear larger and more important for example. A
downward shot will allow you to give more billing to nearby objects.

Don�t just shoot objects head-on. Think about more interesting angles and
positions. How about putting the subject on the left-hand side of the frame? What
could you add in for scale?

Storytelling

Understand the objective of your photo is to tell a story. It shouldn�t just

decorate the page, it should add to your content.

Telling a story doesn�t mean showing something in action though. Often it means
showing the aftermath or set-up to an event and then letting the viewer fill in the
blanks. This makes them a more active participant in the image and thereby creates
something more artistic and engaging.