Declutter
Before you look at how to take a good photograph, you first need to ensure that the rooms you will be photographing are being presented in their best light. We have written a staging guide that will give you clear instructions to make your property look its best. Once you are sure your property looks great, then continue reading.
Topics Covered
Tips For Mobile Phones
- Turn your phone sideways. You want your pictures to be horizontal, not vertical.
- Make sure the pictures are taken using the highest quality possible.
- For most phones, if you tap the screen before taking the photo it will focus and expose the image for the area you tapped. This can be handy when you're taking a photo with a window in, as the phone might expose for the window making the room dark. If you tap the darkened room, the camera will adjust to make that portion exposed properly, and it will make the window super bright (but that's fine, people want to see your room, not what is out of the window.
- Take shots from at least two angles in each room.
- Take shots from around chest level, not eye level
- If your camera has a wide angled mode take picture using this and the standard mode, then you can select which looks best.
- Make sure the camera is steady when you take the shot to prevent blurring.
- Use the timer. It will help you position yourself and hold steady, without having to press to take the shot and risk wobbling the phone.
- If taking a video, stand in the corner and take a steady pan from one side of the room to the other, shift to another part of the room and do the same.
Lighting - On or Off? Should you use flash?
For video – all lights on.
For Photos - Ideally it’s better to turn all lights off as the natural light from a window gives the room shape.
Wall lights, standard and table lamps are acceptable (if on a low a setting) but ceiling lights cause the viewer to look up to the ceiling and not at the room itself. Exceptions to the rule are big grand rooms where you need all the light you can get, though it’s best to try and get a photo without them on if you can.
Flash will fill in the shadows and help the overall photo but only use as a fill not the main exposure. You want it to fill shadows, not illuminate the whole room as this makes the image look flat. Exception – properties where there is no power or rooms with no windows.
Conservatories with clear roof panels – just use natural light.
Externals
Under normal circumstances it’s best to take a photo of the front of a house from further away. This does two things:
- It gives the house look a more natural look (not skewed or overbearing)
- It raises the roof-line – making the house look taller/more substantial
If there are cars/vans/hedges in the way or the driveway is long, use a monopod or rest on / against something solid and shoot over the top if possible, if not, a house will always look better even with a bit of car or hedge in.
