10 Real Estate Photography Tips to Take the Best Pictures

Real estate photography is among the highest paying jobs on the market today, but the industry is very competitive. To stand out from the rest, you’ll have to go the extra mile and perfect your craft. In real estate photography, choosing the right time to shoot is essential. If possible, always schedule a residential photoshoot during the day. This way, you’ll have plenty of natural light to work with, resulting in photos with bright, saturated colours.

In order to take the best pictures of your property, you should adhere to these eleven real estate photography tips:

1. Use Props

Using props is one of the best real estate photography tips for adding life and style into your pictures. You don’t have to break the bank. Simply stage a bowl of fruit and a bouquet of flowers in the shot, and watch how much better the photo will turn out. Get rid of clutter; this includes stacks of paper, oils in the kitchen, spices and trash cans, then stage the space for best results. In the kitchen, remove appliances from the countertops. A kitchen looks its best when open and free of clutter.

2. Be Creative with your Shooting Angles

Creativity is essential in order to showcase the real estate properties and make these living spaces look desirable. Don’t photograph the interior of a room from the corner. Such photos look trivial. Go for interesting and unusual angles. This is important in the real estate photography business.

Try photographing interior spaces from the doorway. This way, you’ll capture more area, or even show the whole room in one shot. Pay attention to details; if there are any distracting elements like pieces of furniture or a picture in your frame, remove them to achieve a laconic, clear image.

3. Shoot in RAW Format

This file format is great for in-depth, professional editing. Raw is basically an uncompressed format. Although it occupies the most disk space, it shows the most accurate display of an image. About 90% of real estate photographers take photos in the JPEG format, and are satisfied with the quality, even though it’s lower compared to RAW. By shooting in RAW format, you increase your chances of standing out from the rest of the pack.

4. Set Proper Camera Settings

Good lighting is essential for residential photography. If you don’t have special lighting equipment, or you haven’t fully mastered how to use it, you can try using and experimenting with the following settings to keep your photo quality high. First, set your aperture value anywhere from f/7.1 to f/9, but if there are specific objects you are trying to highlight, try using a shallow field depth. Next, set the shutter speed between 1/60, and 1/2 a second, the value will depend on the amount of light in the room.

When using higher shutter speeds, you have to increase the ISO value, but remember having your ISO too high will result in a lot of digital noise. Try maintaining your ISO value below 400. Learn and experiment with your camera to find the best value, one which will not affect the quality of your photos negatively.

5. Use the Flash

Upgrade your real estate photography toolkit with external flashes. Standard flashes are too weak for this type of photography; they don’t provide even lighting. An external flash can be attached to your camera or placed anywhere else to improve light and highlight important details.

6. Buy Wide-Angle Lenses

Wide-angle lenses are a must-have in your toolkit. Good lenses that aren’t fixed will give you pro-level real estate photos. Very often, the lenses play a more significant role than the camera itself. As a real estate photographer, one of your main tasks is covering the maximum space. With wide-angle lenses, you can visually enlarge a room, and create a more inviting and comfortable look.

7. Use a Full-Frame Camera

Using the best camera is essential for your success. Consider getting a full-frame camera, which is perfect for residential photography. Cameras with a cropped sensor don’t get a lot of light, but full-frame cameras handle this task correctly. If, for example, your financial situation doesn’t allow you to buy such a camera, go for one with interchangeable lenses.

8. Use a Tripod in Low Light

When photographing the interior of a house in low light, and with your bare hands, the picture will appear blurry. Although these defects can be eliminated by professional photo editors, it’s better if you avoided them altogether for the best results. Use your tripod when shooting in poor lighting or at night; it will improve the image’s sharpness and simplify the shooting process.

9. Turn on the Lights

This might seem basic, but it’s very critical in real estate photography. You can achieve different effects on your photos by turning the lights on and off; it depends on your goals. When you turn on all the lights, your pictures will feel warm and cozy, but remember, such photos will need light temperature correction when editing. Turning off the lights will result in a balanced temperature, but the images tend to look cold.

10. Open Blinds & Windows

Natural light is your best option for real estate photography. No artificial light source can replace the sun. By opening the blinds or windows, you’ll achieve beautiful, saturated shadows in your photos. Natural light can be enhanced using LED panels and reflectors, and they also help when highlighting important details like textiles, metal or wooden elements of furniture.