Are you thinking about expanding your photography business and want to know more about how to shoot real estate photography?
In today’s online real estate market, real estate photography makes a huge impact in selling houses. Therefore, the quality of the real estate photography can make or break a sale.
In this post, you’ll learn how to shoot real estate photography like a pro!
All right, let’s dive right in!
10 Tips on How to Shoot Real Estate Photography Like a Pro
The following 10 tips are proven ways to get the best photos when shooting real estate photography.
1. Conduct a Pre-Shoot Property Visit
Each home has its unique characteristics and distinctive features. Familiarizing yourself with the property beforehand can significantly help the quality of your photos.
If possible, arrange a brief pre-shoot visit to stimulate your creative imagination and prepare ahead.
Also, sellers possess valuable insights into the property’s strengths and key selling points. Therefore, seek their input on:
- Identifying the home’s most appealing features
- Selecting rooms or areas that may not be immediately apparent but are worth photographing
- Determining the best angles or perspectives for each room
Overall, investing time in advanced preparation will contribute to a smoother photo shoot experience and better results.
2. Choose a Time to Get the Most Natural Light
If possible, arrange the photoshoot during daylight hours to benefit from natural light, resulting in vibrant and lively colors in your pictures. Here are some recommended practices:
- Always check and consider the weather conditions before planning your photoshoot
- If the weather is overcast, it may be advisable to reschedule for a clearer day
- When shooting on a bright, sunny day, position the sun behind the house for optimal shots of the front exterior and well-lit interiors
It’s important to note that a property takes on a different, often more dramatic appearance at night or during twilight, appealing to potential buyers.
With that in mind, explore the following suggestions:
- Consider shooting at evening twilight, if not just for the exterior photos
- Capture images from various angles with both exterior and interior lights on and off
- If possible, incorporate distant city or neighborhood lights into the frame for a striking aesthetic
Above all, be proactive when determining the best time of day when the property receives optimal lighting conditions.
3. How to Shoot Real Estate Photography – Prepare Ahead
Prepare each room ahead of time to streamline efforts and achieve superior results in real estate photography.
Provide your clients with a pre-session checklist to help ready their home, covering essential tasks such as:
- Thoroughly cleaning all surfaces in each room
- Ensuring each room is uncluttered
- Minimizing distractions of children and pets
In addition, fostering an environment where potential buyers can easily envision the property as their own is crucial. Adhere to these guidelines:
- Stow away family photos and items bearing names
- Remove children’s schoolwork, art, and papers from the refrigerator
- Also, reduce the presence of items from family vacations
Advanced preparation and planning will help eliminate surprises and ensure a faster shoot.
For more details read our blog post on how to prepare your home for real estate photography.
4. Select a Room’s Best Perspective
Regardless of the room you’re capturing, strive to find the optimal perspective.
Leverage elements within the room, including furniture, windows, and layout, to establish a visual flow.
Avoid having sizable objects in the foreground that interfere with the natural progression of the eye through the room.
Doing your best to maintain proper perspective and seamless visual flow contributes to an overall sense of spaciousness and warmth in the rooms.
5. How to Shoot Real Estate Photography – Keep Your Lines Straight!
Most interiors contain numerous vertical elements, such as the lines of walls, door frames, and windows. These lines must be genuinely vertical or else your photos will look “off.”
Consider the following tips for achieving proper vertical alignment:
- Be mindful of wide-angle lenses, as they can cause vertical edges to converge or diverge if not level
- Ensure the camera is level, avoiding tilting up or down, as this helps maintain straight vertical lines
- Further, pay attention to camera height— a level camera at chest height may cut off foreground subjects and result in excessive ceilings in the frame
Experiment with striking a balance to maintain a harmonious, aligned composition.
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6. How to Shoot Real Estate Photography – Always Adjust the Lighting
Achieving the right lighting is crucial for outstanding real estate photography when capturing a room.
Therefore, keep in mind these fundamental factors:
- Employ direct on-camera flash for filling in scenes, and experiment with bouncing on-camera flash for optimal results
- Be mindful of lighting color temperatures and maintain color balance, especially when blending indoor artificial lighting with ambient outdoor lighting
Leverage both light sources effectively — artificial lighting can enhance indoor details, while natural external light can illuminate many interior spaces.
To learn more about lighting, check out our blog post on the best flash for real estate photography (top 5 picks).
7. Keep the Color Scheme Simple
Approach your real estate photos with the eye of a painter. When staging for real estate photography, consider the following aspects related to color:
- Evaluate if the room contains clashing colors and tones
- Overall, buyers generally prefer simple, neutral colors
- Aim for a single “color story” per room to avoid visual chaos
- Excessive colors can lead to visually noisy photographs
Ensure that a room’s colors do not become a distracting element. While neutral tones may seem understated, they allow potential buyers to envision the home with their preferred colors.
However, color is not the sole consideration; patterns play a crucial role as well. Explore these ideas when refining your approach to real estate photography:
- Seek symmetry in the shapes of furniture, artwork, decor, windows, and area rugs
- Embrace the pleasing effect of color repetition, whether through pillows, flowers, or thematic elements
- Identify rhythm in materials, fabrics, glass, metal, and other elements used in the space
8. Take Advantage of Remote Triggers
Avoiding camera shakes is essential for capturing sharp images, and even steady hands can result in blurriness. This is where remote triggers offer a significant advantage:
- Remote triggers enable you to capture shots without physically touching the camera
- Remember, especially at low shutter speeds, even slight contact with the camera can lead to unfocused photographs
Investing in a reliable, adjustable tripod and utilizing remote triggers are crucial elements in mastering the art of real estate photography.
9. Don’t Forget the View Outside the Window
While your primary focus is capturing the interior of the home, the view through the windows can become an integral part of the photos.
Thus, it’s crucial to be attentive to what lies outside and is visible through the windows:
- Assess whether the view outside the window features a beautiful garden, a seascape, or an unsightly pile of trash
- Consider cleaning up and staging the areas outside the windows for a more appealing backdrop
- If cleaning up is not feasible, consider using window coverings to minimize the view
- Additionally, pay attention to the cleanliness of the windows, ensuring they are free of spots or streaks that could affect the quality of the images
When thinking about how to shoot real estate photography, don’t neglect the view outside the windows.
10. The Seasons Are Your Real Estate Photography Partner
Adding subtle touches that reflect the current season can infuse charm and interest into your photos:
- During spring, incorporate flowers in vases or pots to bring a touch of freshness
- In the summer, consider featuring a pitcher of lemonade, beach towels, or warmer tones to evoke the season
- Capture the essence of fall by including colored leaves, a bowl of apples, or pumpkins in your shots
- In winter, showcase pleasant snow scenes, burning candles, fireplaces, and holiday decorations
However, it’s crucial to keep in mind that while adding seasonal elements can enhance your photos, the primary focus should always be on showcasing the house itself, not the seasonal details.
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- Addressing harsh shadows and insufficient lighting
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Thank you for reading today. We hope you benefited from this article on how to shoot real estate photography like a pro in 2024. If you found this post useful, you may also want to check out the following resources:
