Smile! It’s Time to Choose your Sitter Photos
When building your cat sitter profile, it’s important to select great pictures to represent yourself and your cat-itude! You don’t want a bad picture to be the reason a cat parent passes you over for a reservation.
The Purr-fect Profile Pic
Each Meowtel sitter profile features a profile picture and a cover photo. When it comes to a profile picture, it’s best to choose a professional headshot. No worries if you don’t have that! A clear, close-up picture of you smiling will work great!
Meowtel reserves the right to remove any pictures that don’t follow these guidelines. If you’re not sure if the picture is right, it’s probably a sign to choose another one.
Things to Include
- Your smiling face!
- Your cat(s)
- A pose or backdrop that shows off your purrsonality
Remember, this picture is how cat parents will recognize you at the first Meet and Greet, so it’s important your whole face can be seen and you are recognizable. Make sure the picture isn’t too far away and you’re not wearing a mask or sunglasses. Also, no filters or screenshots, please. Stay away from group photos and illustrations, too. If you want your kitty to share the spotlight with you, great! But just make sure they aren’t obstructing your face in any way.
The Gallery Photos
For your gallery, feel free to get a little creative! These must be cat-centric photos (no dogs or other animals) and they can feature your furry friends solo or with you, outside on a leash, lounging in the sun, playing with their friends, or whatever best represents you and your kitty. A square photo is best for this, so the dimensions should be 1:1 (e.g. 1080 x 1080 px). If you post a vertical photo or landscape photo, it’s likely the image will be awkwardly cropped, and if it’s too small it will get pixelated and blurry when enlarged to fit the frame.
Things to Avoid
Yes, we are a little purr-ticular when it comes to the pictures, but for good reason. Photos are one of the top factors for clients when choosing their sitter. Having a friendly-looking, well-groomed, tidy picture will go a long way for your business.
Here is a list of things to avoid:
- Mirror selfies (or any selfie)
- Photos in the bathroom
- A messy background
- Pictures laying down in bed
- Text overlay or watermarks
- Trademarked photos that don’t belong to you
- Pictures with a partner, your kids or any other group photo
- Pictures more than 10 years old
- Pictures with part of your face cut out
- Pictures where you are not centered
- Pictures that are too dark or too light, or with any shadow on your face
- Pictures with any animal that is not a cat
- Pictures with someone cropped out (we can usually still see them!)
- Pictures in a bikini, underwear, or other inappropriate clothing
Say Cheese!
Given the state of technology, the tools to make great photos are more accessible than ever. Whatever camera you’re using, from a smartphone to high-end DSLR, the basic techniques to get the most out of your photos are the same.
The most important thing to consider is the light! Bright, well exposed images work best for your profile and cover photos. Outside of setting up studio lights, the best way to get those kinds of images is to take the photos in a well lit place, like outside on a sunny day or near a window indoors. It is also important to think about the placement of the subject in relation to the main source of light. A good rule to follow is that you want the light to be behind the camera aiming toward the subject. That way the subject is the most brightly lit part of the image and stands out from the background. If the light is behind the subject pointing at the camera, you get a dark, underexposed subject with a bright, overexposed background. So, for example, if you’re taking a selfie with your phone to use as a profile photo, face towards the sun and hold your camera out in front of you, aiming back with the sun behind it. Give a big smile and CLICK! - purrfect profile photo!
Photos by Matt C.
