I finally got called out by a client for using stock photos that were too perfect

Had a client in Portland last year tell me my hero images looked like they were from a furniture catalog, not her actual bakery. She said 'these don't look like my mess.' Started swapping in real iPhone pics of her flour-covered counter and half-iced cakes. Conversions actually went up 20% in two months. Anyone else get told their polished visuals were hurting their results?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannah_perry13d ago

these don't look like my mess" haha I love that. My friend runs a tiny coffee shop in Austin and she had the same thing happen with a food photographer who made her pastries look all glossy and fake. She switched to blurry Insta pics of her actual messy counter and weirdly people started coming in more.

river_allen13d ago

Totally. People want the real, not the staged. I tried to over-polish my product shots once and sales actually dipped. Had a friend who paints help me redo them with more natural light and a bit of clutter in the background. @olivia398 I get what you mean about pride in the craft, and I think there's a middle ground where the mess shows the craft is real and being made. Clean but not sterile is the sweet spot, kinda like a workshop with tools out on the bench.

olivia39813d ago

Respectfully, I see it the opposite way - clean photos show pride in the craft, not fakery.