Before & After Photos

5 Reasons Why Before & After Photos Are Everything

You can have years of experience, the most prestigious certificates, latest equipment and high-quality products but none of them will be as convincing as showing real results you achieved as a doctor and proofs of your previous work to your prospective patients.

Possibly the first page checked on the website of any dermatologist or plastic surgeon is the section with before-and-after photos. A record of the previous clients and portfolio of conducted procedures are somewhat close to the legacy that can be built only if you take an effort to document the results of your work. It can be helpful not only for marketing purposes but also in assisting your communication with future patients regarding the expected results.

While before-and-after photos can be an amazing way to showcase your expertise as a doctor, they can indeed have the opposite result if they are taken in the wrong way. As at BioScience we care about you and your work, we have put together some simple guidelines of what to consider when taking them to ensure they serve their goals.

1. Background

The goal of your photos is to show the results of the procedures you have conducted. To make people focus only on the effects of your work, use a plain background. You can simply dedicate one area of your office for this purpose or invest in a hanging backdrop.

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2. Pose

It is difficult to compare the procedure results if a person is standing close to the camera in one photo and then further away in another one. To make sure your photos are consistent, you can use tape and put marks on the floor to indicate where a patient should stand or sit, as well as where a camera, a person using it or a tripod should be located.

Tip: If you’re not sure if your shot shows the results perfectly, you may take several photos both before and after the procedure, asking your patient to stand in front of the camera in a normal, centered way and then to show his right and left profile. You can also try to catch some other angles which are in between. All to make sure that you have a decent variety of pictures from which you can select the best ones.

3. Outfit

For body contouring procedures, underwear or swimwear are the best choices, as only in that way it is possible to show full body in detail. You can provide your patient with disposable underwear or ask her/him to wear the same or similar underclothing so that the focus will be on procedure results and not on the outfit’s details.

4. Camera

Preferably, you should consider investing some money in good camera equipment. However, if for some reason you can’t or don’t want to do it, you can still take photos using your smartphone and achieve amazing results. Try to play around the settings and see what works best for you. Remember to take photos using the front camera only and always keep the lens clean.

5. Lighting

Bad lighting will always mess up with your before-and-after photos, no matter how much you have invested in your camera equipment. Shadows are the biggest challenge, as they can distract or distort, as well as make features such as folds, wrinkles or scars appear worse than they really are.

Adding an external flash may help with solving these issues. A studio lighting kit is the best to have when taking photos, as it places light on each side of the client. If you don’t have it, you may use a flash with your camera. Alternatively, you can have your photo-shooting setup facing the window and take pictures using daily light, however, it’s best not to rely on that since it will give you different effects, depending on the time of the day.

Above all of those points, always be sure your client has a proper level of privacy and don’t forget to get a signed consent form before you take any pictures. Written confirmation of your permission to do it may help you to avoid any possible misunderstanding.

Even if you can’t master all of the mentioned points immediately, it’s good to at least start applying some of them and work on the rest gradually. The competitors’ market is growing, as well as the awareness of the importance of proper before-and-after shots. Clients that consider having aesthetic procedures make solid research before they decide for the specific doctor and clinic. Photos will not only make a great first impression on them but also help you in building your brand image and authority as a specialist in the aesthetics industry.