If you are using any online real estate software, you need to be cognizant of the primary role that photos play in your listing. Most of your guests never see your property before they visit. The only opportunity they have to determine what the space is like is through photos.
When we started renting real estate, website technology was starting to become important. Over time, real estate apps and social media apps have changed what guests expect from photos. They are more important than ever.
In this article, we will talk about how you should go about taking photos for your property. Getting good photos isn’t that hard once you know the basics and adequately prepare your shoot. When photos are taken well, you will absolutely get more search traffic and guests on your listings.
Table of Contents
What Equipment You Should Use
There isn’t any special camera equipment you need. Today’s smartphone cameras (iPhone, Galaxy, Pixel) are very good and will be all you need to take great photos. Just be careful with lower quality smartphone cameras. Don’t buy a low end smartphone as these cameras will typically offer disappointing performance. We suggest that you buy, say, a 3 year old iPhone before buying a lower quality new smartphone of similar price.
If you have a digital single reflex camera (DSLR) all the better, but it is not necessary. DSLRs offer a few advantages. First, they have the ability to take photos in low light. They have more capability because they can be configured to a greater degree. Also, they can be extended in capability with hardware (such as lenses and flashes).
The Most Important Tips
If you could boil down what are the basics of great photos, I would offer these suggestions. Note that the hardware and using the camera really isn’t the most important considerations. Learning how to use the camera will improve your photos and overall results, but early on we suggest focusing more on when and what photos you take. We will take about each of these suggestions in further sections.
The List
- Turn flash off
- Taking pictures In focus
- Schedule photo shoot at right time
- Best Photo: Listing Photo
- Plan what photos you will take.
Turn Flash Off
When starting out, we suggest that you turn flash off. If you are taking photos outside, in most cases it won’t help your photos. When taking photos inside, it can get in the way by putting shine on your interior photos. As we will talk about later, you want to take photos at the right time so that you will get all the light you need.
Turn off your flash on your smartphone, here is an example on the iPhone. Start your camera app, touch the ‘bolt’ at the top, then select ‘Off’ from the settings.
Source: How To Off Camera Flash
If you have a DSLR camera, you can start by using the ‘Auto Settings’ of the camera. Typically DSLRs will have mode where all the settings are defaulted, except the flash is turned off. Here it is on a Nikon DSLR camera:
Taking The Picture In Focus
When you snap a photo you want to make sure that your focus is on the object you want to appear in the foreground. This is typically how this is done on a smartphone camera. There will be a ‘box’ in your camera app that displays what is in focus. This usually is defaulted to the right object in your view. If it isn’t or if you want to make sure, just tap the live view of the camera to verify that the ‘box’ is correctly pointing to what you want in focus.
The image below shows what is in focus by the ‘yellow box’.
If you have a DSLR camera, look for a ‘dot’ (here it is shown as a ‘red dot’) in the viewfinder that indicates what is in focus. Press the shutter button halfway to get this dot as you look through the viewfinder. Keep pressing/releasing it halfway as you adjust the position or move the camera. The red dot will cause the camera to alter the lens focus as the focus is adjusted based upon your movement.
When you are happy with the focus, press the shutter button down completely to take the photo.
Source: www.mir.com.ny
Schedule Photo Shoot at Right Time
The best time to shoot is the first and last hour of sunlight of the day, known as the “Golden Hour.” This is the time of day where light is softest (most diffused) and brings out the broadest range of color. This will enable your photo to show a sense of warmth.
The worst time of day to shoot is during midday when the sunlight is peaking. The light is strong and less diffuse and tends to wash out your photos.
When you are shooting photos on the outside of your property, the golden hour is the best time. When you are taking photos inside, the exact time that is best depends on how much natural light you get inside the property. Adjust the time of day as necessary as well as open up your blinds and window treatments to allow natural light to flow.
Best Photo: The Listing Photo
When you put your property online, we can’t emphasize enough the importance of getting the listing photo, or the first property photo right. This photo is the one that guests see in the search results or on the map. When we take property photos, we spend the most time on this one photo to get it right.
A great listing photo will entice viewers to click through to find out more about your property. If this photo is not good, you will never get the opportunity to sell since the guest didn’t click through.
If possible, we recommend that you use an outside photo. This may not be possible for certain types of property (condos, apartment buildings, etc). If this is the case, select a great space inside the property.
Source: Airbnb.com
Plan Your Photos
Lastly, we would offer that the most important tip to great photos is planning the shoot. Taken together, your photos will tell a story about your property. If you tell the ‘right story’, your potential guests will imagine themselves in your property and the experience they expect.
When we take photos, we make the space ‘photo ready’ by organizing the spaces, removing clutter and dressing up the rooms neatly. We plan the photo shoot by listing out all the features/rooms/exterior shots we want to take. We then order the photos by what makes the most sense if we were a guest.
