Are you an agent looking for valuable real estate photography tips?
Smart agents understand that high-quality listing photos lead to faster sales at better prices.
Agents are often tempted to take their listing photos to save time or money – but poor-quality images could harm your sale.
So, today, we’re going to share 12 real estate photography tips for superior results.
12 Real Estate Photography Tips for Superior Results
Success in the real estate market depends on a captivating visual representation of the property and the photos play a central role.
Therefore, here are 12 real estate photography tips to get the absolute best results.
1. When Possible Use a Professional Real Estate Photographer
Hiring a professional photographer results in high-quality real estate images that attract more showings and increase the chances of a quick sale.
Recent surveys show that real estate photography is crucial for a successful sale. For example, consider the the following findings:
- 72.2% of agents say that high-quality photography helps them win more listings
- 83% of buyers said the listing photos were most important in helping them choose which homes they would visit
- 61.3% of brokers confirm that high-quality photography is a pivotal factor when selling homes
High-quality photos make your property stand out from the competition. If you’re still not convinced, read this blog post is hiring a real estate photographer worth the investment.
For these reasons, using professional real estate photography can be a valuable investment to help you sell properties more quickly and at higher prices.
However, there will be times when you can’t schedule a photographer soon enough or when you need to take just a few photos. In such cases, the following tips will help you get the best results.
2. Real Estate Photography Tip – Always Involve the Seller
In general, sellers know better than anyone, the property’s most impressive features and unique selling points. Before taking any photos ask them about the following:
- What are the home’s best-selling features
- Which rooms or areas should be highlighted
- What angles or perspectives are best for each room
Enlist the input of the seller, it will help you plan your shoot better and save you time.
3. Make Sure the Sellers Prepare the Home
You’ll want the home ready for photos when you arrive. After all, your time is better spent not having to clean up someone else’s home.
The less you have to tend to clean or arrange a room, the more you can concentrate on getting outstanding results. So, ask the seller to do the following:
- Thoroughly clean the entire home
- Don’t neglect cleaning the exterior, including lawn, walkways, and roof
- Make sure all unneeded items are out of view
- The details matter – no dishes in the sink, all the beds made, and so on
Arranging to have the house ready before your arrival will save you time and effort.
4. Eliminate Clutter
Many sellers have an overabundance of stuff.
No one wants to see photos of a room filled with too many items. Cluttered rooms, closets, and storage areas will hurt the sale.
Therefore, addressing these issues before you take the photos is necessary. Consider taking the following steps:
- Ask the seller to remove unwanted items ahead of time
- If the items cannot be completely removed, see if they can be put aside to keep them out of the photos
- In worst-case scenarios, the client may have to temporarily rent a storage unit or on-site pod
- You can also use virtual staging to declutter your property photos
Remember, in terms of interior design and decor, less is more.
You’ll also want to depersonalize each room. There’s an emotional aspect to real estate sales. Buyers must be able to imagine themselves living in the home. Removing highly personal items is advised.
So make sure the following items are put away:
- Personal photos and portraits
- Family memorabilia
- Children’s toys and refrigerator art
While it’s true that you’ll want every room to look appealing, you also want them to look a bit generic.
5. If Necessary, Rearrange the Furniture
Furniture placement contributes to visual flow and a sense of openness to a room or space.
With this in mind, don’t hesitate to try the following:
- Experiment with different furniture layouts if they improve the look and feel
- Even small changes can make a significant, positive difference
- Consider placing impressive items where they can be seen more clearly
Hopefully, the above tips help you prepare for the shoot. Next, we’re going to share a few tips for real estate photography about lighting.
6. Select a Time to Get the Most Natural Light
Ideally, you’ll want to schedule the photo shoot during the daytime. Natural light is best for capturing clear and vibrant scenes and colors in your images. Some best practices to keep in mind:
- Plan the photos with the weather conditions in mind
- Don’t shoot on a cloudy day unless necessary
- It’s best to do the photography when the sun is behind the house to capture well-lit interiors
Overall, natural light is your friend, so make the most of it in your photos.
7. Real Estate Photography Tip – Open Curtains and Blinds
Since natural light is central to real estate photography, you will want to maximize it by opening the curtains and blinds throughout the house.
It’s best when a room is soaked in natural light since this brings out beautiful, saturated colors and tones. Here’s a couple of easy tips:
- Enhance natural light with mirrors and reflective surfaces
- An abundance of natural light is ideal, but avoid any glare
In general, natural light will make your photos look appealing and as realistic as possible
8. Interior Lighting Matters, Too
Relying on natural light doesn’t mean you’ll want to neglect interior lighting sources.
For example, experiment with turning the lights on and off, to see if you can produce different moods and effects:
- Try more artificial lighting to add warmth to your images
- On the other hand, if you need to cast a cooler tone, try working with the lights off
- Use interior lighting to highlight appealing items
And just like the furniture, don’t be afraid to move interior lighting around to maximize your results.
9. Real Estate Photography Tip – Use Flash
Even when there is ample natural and interior lighting, harsh shadows, dark corners, and uneven lighting can still be an issue.
This is where the right flash can come to the rescue. Give the following tips a try:
- Bounce the flash off the ceiling to avoid harsh glare
- Having the flash flood the room with light can even out lighting and color tones
- Avoid having the flash appear in windows, mirrors, and reflective surfaces
Flash adds versatility to your shot options, making it easier to work around lighting issues and dark areas.
To learn even more about lighting, take a look at this post on the importance of lighting in property photography: techniques and tips.
10. Working During Twilight Can Produce Stunning Results
There’s an allure to the soft colors of twilight. It’s a perfect time of day to capture dramatic exterior images as well as shoot rooms bathed in gentle and pleasing light.
In fact, twilight photos have become among potential buyers and sellers. Take advantage of this by trying the following:
- Determine ahead of time which rooms will receive the best light during twilight
- Turn on all the exterior lights – this usually results in attention-getting images
- If possible, include the distant lights of street lamps, other properties, or cities in the background
Now that we’ve discussed lighting concerns, we turn our attention to two final camera tips that will help you get the best results.
11. Take Most Photos at Eye Level
The best real estate photos are those taken at eye level. This is because eye-level perspective is natural and lifelike.
Photos taken with an upward or downward perspective can be disorienting and make a property look strange. To avoid odd perspectives, keep these tips in mind:
- Keep the camera at eye level – try not to tilt it
- Aim for a sense of balance in the distance between the floor and the ceiling
- Use a tripod set at eye level for consistency
- Finally, don’t rush your photos, take the time to achieve the right perspective
Basically, you want every photo to be the view the buyers will see upon entering the home and its rooms.
12. Keeping All the Lines Straight in Real Estate Photography
While taking the photos, pay close attention to the vertical and horizontal lines of each shot.
You want to avoid bending or curving the lines of corners, doors, and windows. To help, keep in mind these simple tips:
- Check your lines before taking each photo
- Examine your results in the viewfinder
- Try to limit the number of lines per photo
It’s easy to ruin otherwise good photos by not paying attention to straight lines. Do your best to keep this tip in mind.
Before we conclude, we have one more valuable real estate photography tip for you – have your photos professionally edited for the best results.
Amazing Real Estate Photos – and More – With AgentUp
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Further, we can help you hire an outstanding virtual assistant for real estate who will more than pay for themselves through increased sales.
Moreover, we will seamlessly connect you with our sister site, PhotoUp, and place at your fingertips the best real estate marketing tools and solutions, including professional photo editors.
For as low a cost of $1.10 per image, our dedicated photo editors can easily and quickly help you with any of the following:
- Glare reduction and window masking
- Removing clutter and unwanted objects
- Line and angle corrections
- HDR editing and manual blending
- Eliminating harsh shadows and insufficient lighting
- Sky replacements, including Twilight effects
So, why not start working with the two best real estate support and marketing companies in the industry today?
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We appreciate you taking the time to read our post. We hope you benefited and learned more about the 12 most powerful real estate photography tips for agents.
