Brand and content · 4 min read ·
Briefing photography and video for a Saudi corporate website
Nothing makes a corporate website look generic faster than stock photography. Nothing makes it more convincing than real images of your people, your premises and your work. But a shoot planned after the design is finished usually produces pictures that do not fit the layouts. Plan it alongside the design.
By the IITWares Editorial Team, Jeddah
Brief the shoot once the page layouts are drafted, so the photographer knows the shapes and crops each image must fill. Prioritise real people at work, your premises, your products and finished projects. Get written consent from everyone identifiable, respect privacy and site rules, shoot wide enough to crop for both left-to-right and right-to-left layouts, and deliver web-optimised versions alongside the masters.
| When to shoot | After layouts are drafted, before build |
|---|---|
| Priorities | People at work, premises, products, finished projects |
| Consent | Written, from everyone identifiable |
| Composition | Room to crop for Arabic and English layouts |
| Delivery | Masters plus web versions (WebP/AVIF), named consistently |
Why real images matter
Buyers recognise stock images instantly, and every one tells them that the company either has nothing real to show or did not bother to show it. Real photographs of your team, facilities and finished work do the opposite: they are evidence. For B2B companies in particular — manufacturers, contractors, consultancies, clinics — they are often the most persuasive content on the site.
What to shoot
- People at work — teams in meetings, engineers on site, staff with customers. Natural, not posed in a row.
- Leadership portraits — consistent lighting and background, for the About page and press.
- Premises — reception, offices, factory floor, showroom, exterior — at their best time of day.
- Products — in use and in detail, with clean backgrounds for catalogue pages.
- Finished projects — with the client's permission, as evidence for case studies.
- Short video clips — 5–15 seconds of real activity, usable silently as page backgrounds or in social posts.
Brief from the layouts
Give the photographer the drafted page layouts. For each image, note the page, the aspect ratio (wide hero, square card, portrait), where text will sit over it, and what it must show. Ask for wide compositions with space on both sides: on an Arabic page the text often sits on the opposite side from the English version, and the same photograph needs to work in both crops.
Agree a visual style with the designer first — light, colour temperature, how people are framed — so the set looks like one brand, not a collection of separate days.
Permissions, privacy and site rules
Get written consent from every identifiable person, stating where the images will be used. For staff, a simple release form signed on the day is enough; keep it on file, because people leave and may ask for their images to be removed. Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law treats images of identifiable people as personal data, so handle consent and removal requests carefully.
Respect privacy in public and shared spaces, and follow the rules of the site you are shooting on — many industrial, government and healthcare facilities require prior permission and an escort, and some areas cannot be photographed at all. Never photograph patients, clients' confidential documents or screens without explicit permission.
Video that helps rather than slows
Background video on a homepage can be striking, but it is one of the heaviest things a page can load. Keep clips short and silent, compress them heavily, provide a still image that shows first, and do not autoplay video on mobile data. Longer videos — a factory tour, a founder's message — belong on YouTube or a video platform, embedded so they load only when someone presses play. Add Arabic and English subtitles; many people watch without sound.
Files: what to ask for
- Full-resolution masters for print and future use.
- Web versions at the sizes the layouts need, in modern formats (WebP or AVIF), typically 1600–2400 pixels on the long side for heroes and much smaller for cards.
- Consistent, descriptive file names — jeddah-factory-quality-lab.jpg, not DSC_4471.jpg.
- A usage licence that lets you use the images on the website, social media and print, without time limit.
- A short caption for each image, which becomes its alt text in Arabic and English.
Planning a new site? We plan the photography and video brief alongside the design so the images fit both languages. Talk to our brand team.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Should a corporate website use stock photography?
Sparingly, and never for people, premises or work that are supposed to be yours. Real photographs are evidence; stock images are recognised instantly and weaken trust.
When should photography be done in a website project?
After the page layouts are drafted and before the site is built, so the photographer can shoot to the shapes and crops the design needs.
Do we need consent to use staff photographs on our website?
Yes. Get written consent from every identifiable person, stating where images will be used, and keep it on file. Images of identifiable people are personal data under Saudi Arabia’s Personal Data Protection Law.
Is background video bad for website speed?
It is heavy. Keep clips short, silent and compressed, show a still image first, avoid autoplay on mobile data, and host longer videos on a video platform that loads only when played.
How should images work on Arabic and English pages?
Shoot wide compositions with space on both sides so the same photograph can be cropped for left-to-right and right-to-left layouts, and write alt text in both languages.
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