Steps to Taking Better Pictures

• Use the selected digital camera for Before-and-After images only. Use a different camera for your clinical shots. This will help ensure the camera’s settings do not change.
• Take the pictures in the same room so the background is the same in all photos. It is especially important that the background in both the Before picture and the After picture is the same. Some practices have a folding background that is hung on the wall behind the patient for the picture.
• Include a full-face smile shot with your close-ups. Showing a happy smiling face will convert searchers into patients at a higher rate. The impact of the new smile is much easier to appreciate when the whole face can be seen.
• Avoid images with retracted lips. While they do show more teeth, they alter the face and make it appear-animal like. Keep in mind that many of your patients may have dental anxiety.
• Keep the camera in a drawer with an extra set of batteries on top of a stack of release forms. We have included a generic release form at the end of this document.
• Use the same focal length - take the pictures from the same point in the room and have your patient stand on the same spot for every picture. Stand as far away from your subject as possible because today’s digital cameras have small lenses that create distortion when you are close to the subject.
• Choose the brightest room for your pictures or add a studio light. As a rule, you can never have enough light. If you use your camera’s flash, it’s recommended that you use a diffuser to soften the light.