There is a handshake photo ITZ has removed from more Dubai sites than it cares to count. Same cropped suits, same extra-white teeth, same office that is not in the UAE. Visitors may not know the stock ID. They know it is not you. That is enough to discount the rest of the page.
This is not a rant against all libraries. ITZ uses licensed photos on this journal when a scene cannot be shot this week. The rule is: stock can set a mood. It cannot pretend to be your clinic, your kitchen or your team. Portfolio lies are the worst. If they turn up in an audit, they go before anyone talks ads. Paid traffic onto fake work is how you buy angry calls. A redesign that keeps fake photos is just a new frame. The craft belongs in web design.
Where stock does the most damage
Hero, team, “our projects.” A skyline everyone has seen. A nurse who works in another country. A villa you did not build. Proof pages cannot be fiction.
A shoot list you can finish on a Thursday
You do not need a campaign. You need a folder called website-real with: the door, the work, two people who actually work there, one detail (material, tool, dish), one phone vertical and one horizontal. Captions later. Shoot extra. Web crops are hungry.
Phone photography that does not look like a WhatsApp dump
Daylight, wipe the lens, turn off beauty filters, shoot wider than you think, then crop. Compress before upload so Core Web Vitals survive. A photographer is worth it for jewellery and hotels. A phone is enough for many SMEs if someone edits.
When ITZ still uses stock
Abstract texture, a city establishing shot that is not pretending to be your office, icons. Never as “our team.” Never as “a recent project.”
Consent, staff and clients
Ask. Especially clinics, schools, homes. A parent’s living room is not a free set. If you cannot show faces, show hands, materials, empty rooms you have permission to shoot.
Frequently asked questions
Can I launch with only stock?
For a holding page, sometimes. For a site that claims to show your work, no. Launch with what is real, even if it is three photos, and replace mood stock as you shoot.
Phone or photographer?
Phone for many SMEs if someone directs and edits. Hire a photographer when the product is visual and high-ticket: jewellery, hotels, interiors you sell on image.
Can I use Google Images?
No. That is someone else’s copyright and someone else’s office. Licence a library or shoot. Do not steal.