How to find photos for your author website
I really don’t want to start this blog post by writing ‘an image speaks a thousand words’ but… it’s 8am and I haven’t had much caffeine yet so… let me just whisper it. It’s true, anyway. Especially online. Photographs and images are simply much easier and more efficient ways to consume content on websites – even though, as a writer, it pains me to say so.
But, sadly, images are one of the problems I see the most when looking at author websites – poor images, badly cropped, too small or blurry.
And it really spoils the look of the site, and gives off an amateur impression, which is not what you want when you are trying to be taken seriously as an author.
However, I understand why it happens.
Most authors don’t have a stack of images to hand to represent themselves and their novels. At the most they’ll have their headshot, and any artwork produced by their publisher.
The good news is, it is possible to create a beautiful website with very few images, using beautiful typography and clever layout, but it can be a challenge if you don’t have a natural design eye.
So I really advise all authors to find some images to bring their websites to life.
So where can you find images?
First let me tell you what not to do! Please do not take images from Google, or anywhere else on the internet.
Every photo is licensed under copyright law automatically as soon as it’s taken.
So those photos on Google belong to someone and the last thing we want is his/her lawyer sending you a bill (which really can and does happen).
Instead, you have a few options:
Get a camera and take some
Hire a photographer to take some for you
Use copyright free images found online
Buy some stock photos
Let’s go through these options in more detail…
1) Taking your own images
This can be a good option if you’ve got an eye for photography, but bear in mind that it’s a real skill to take a professional looking photograph, and it does require the right equipment.
While a photo taken on a mobile phone might look OK on a smaller screen, when it’s viewed on a large desktop screen, it may get blurry and this will really detract from the quality of your website.
It's best to avoid photos taken on a mobile phone, unless you know what you’re doing.
The best images are those taken with a DSLR camera, and are a minimum of 2500px wide.
The one place where I think it’s OK to use snaps taken on your mobile phone is alongside your blog posts.
So long as you resize and format them properly (you can follow my guidelines here), then it’s great to use some more candid shots to bring your blogs to life.
2) Hire a photographer to take some for you
It might sound a bit OTT, but if you’re having a launch party and have the budget, it’s worth considering hiring a professional photographer to take some images of the event for you.
Not only is this a wonderful way to remember possibly one of the most intense and exciting evenings of your career, it also gives you lots of images to use on your website.
You can arrange these in a gallery, or sprinkle them throughout your website, to break up the pages, or use them in a blog – the possibilities are endless.
You could also commission a lifestyle shoot, where you find a venue you love and get a professional photographer to take pics of you ‘in action’.
Whether that’s typing at your desk at home, or reading in a coffee shop, or posing against an interesting backdrop outside.
One of the professional pics I had taken with Hannah
I did a photoshoot like this at my old house with the amazing Hannah MacGregor, back in 2022 - you can see some more of the pics on Hannah’s website.
Take a look at my shoot with Hannah →
A photoshoot is a big investment, so do spend some time really thinking about this shoot, and the kind of vibe you’d like to achieve.
If setting is a major part of your novel, considering having some photos taken at a significant place that features in your story – little touches like this can really build atmosphere.
If you write thrillers, perhaps shoot something dark and moody outside. Whereas if you write sagas set by the sea, maybe you can be photographed with your toes in the sand. You get the idea!
Photo shoots can feel like a lot of pressure, but they can also be fun. Honest! And if you get enough different photos (make sure you take a change of clothing, and consider changing your hair style midway through) they can come in handy for all kinds of scenarios – from blog posts to guest articles and even press pieces.
Remember too that this is a legitimate business expense, so something you can offset against tax.
What about your author headshots?
I would always advise using a professional photographer for your author headshot if you can.
It’s amazing what a difference the right lighting and equipment can make, and you are going to have to see your headshot EVERYWHERE so it’s really worth the investment.
There are plenty of portrait photographers out there who specialise in affordable headshots – usually for actors, but these will work equally as well for authors.
It’s worth asking your fellow authors who did their headshots – as with all things, word-of-mouth recommendations are always useful.
However, if you do want to take your own author headshots, then I have some tips on getting the best result here.
3) Copyright-free photos
But what if you don’t have the budget to hire a photographer to take pictures for your author site?
Don’t fear! Copyright-free photos are your friend.
These are images which kind photographers allow anyone to use, without paying and without needing to link back to the image source.
There are a few different places online where you can find these images, but here are some I’d recommend:
Unsplash is particularly great if you have a Squarespace website as it has a direct integration (more on this below). This means that you can search Unsplash from within your Squarespace account, and find images as and when you need them.
There’s a huge range of pictures to choose from, and many of the images I use in my blog posts are taken from Unsplash.
4) Stock photos for purchase
Finally, you can also, of course, buy photos as needed. Stock photos are images taken by a professional photographer that are available to download for a fee. Here are some of the biggest sites:
Squarespace also has a direct integration with Getty Images, meaning that if you can’t find the right picture on Unsplash, you can simply search the Getty library, and directly purchase images through your Squarespace account.
Most images are only $10, but give you a licence to use them across your site, so this is a great way to add professional images to your website without paying a fortune.
How to search Getty and Unsplash in Squarespace
If you have a Squarespace website, here’s how to search for images directly through your account.
Add an image block using the insert point and selecting ‘image block’ from the options menu.
Then click ‘Search for Image’.
A pop-up window will appear with three different headers: My Library, Free Images and Premium Images.
The My Library tab will bring up any images you have already uploaded on your website (which means if you want to use an image in more than one place, you only have to upload it once).
The Free Images tab offers you access to Unsplash’s library, whereas the Premium Images tab offers access to Getty.
These integrations mean you can easily search for images and add them to your author website without leaving Squarespace.
It’s simple to search for images - try using different keywords until you find the right one.
Once you do, simply select it, agree to pay the fee for usage if necessary, and Squarespace will automatically resize it for you and add it to your image block. Easy peasy!
Remember: less is more
When it comes to adding images to your author website, as always, my mantra is: less is more.
A few carefully chosen, high quality images are far more effective than cramming photos onto every page without much rhyme or reason!
