Why put up with bad photos when a few minutes of thought and a couple dollars of equipment can give you excellent results. You can look like a real pro!
Here's some major concerns regarding photo quality:
1. No Backdrop
A cluttered background never looks good. It becomes difficult to see a clear differentiation between the subject and all the things behind them. Without a backdrop to limit and control background lighting, the image will be exposed differently each time you take a photo. Consistent quality is an issue.
2. Bad lighting
Webcams and other inexpensive cameras cannot overcome local lighting conditions because they have no fill-in flash. Use light from 2 separate sources aimed at the subject. Avoid shadows behind the subject's head by putting a light or flash that illuminates the backdrop.
3. Cheap Camera
Even though the average photo on the card is only 1" wide, pixelation will occur if you need to crop the photo. Getting rid of the all that extra background will result in low dpi (dots per inch) resolution. If you have a lo-res camera, make sure you are very close to the subject.
4. Complex Software
How many clicks does it take for you to grab the photo? Is your camera plugged into the PC, or do you have to manually download (or transfer the SD card) in order to capture the photo? If there are too many steps to complete, the process becomes inefficient and cumbersome. Operators begin to care less, and management gets the blame for the whole system.