6 tips for great real estate photos

If you own property and you have decided to rent or sell it, it is essential that you take the time to write your ad carefully. It is thanks to your ad that you will attract your prospective tenants or buyers, which makes it extremely important. The photos, in particular, must be perfect because they will give your customers a first impression of your apartment and may influence their decision if they are hesitating between two apartments with similar characteristics.

In this article, ShBarcelona will give you some tips on how to take perfect photos of your apartment.

Tidy the apartment

The more your apartment is highlighted in the photo, the more it will attract interest from potential customers. So be sure that the apartment is organized and clean before taking the picture. Also, be aware that the more objects in a room, the smaller the apartment will seem. Be sure to make each piece stand out and do not clutter the foreground of the photo.

Use the best equipment

You may not have professional photographic skills but it is important the photos are taken with a good equipment. If you don’t have a good camera, borrow one from a friend or simply hire a professional real estate photographer.

The best option is to use a reflex camera because the photos look cleaner. Also, make sure you use a wide angle lens. Why is that important? Because the photographic field will be wider and the resulting photo will be a better representation of reality. On the other hand, a wide angle can also distort the image. To avoid this, put yourself in a corner of the room and do not leave objects and furniture on the edges of the field. The more the space is cleared, the lower the risk of distortion.

Related article: Photography classes in Barcelona

Use a tripod

A tripod is also essential. Not only because it helps you avoid blurry images, but also because it allows you to set the height from which you¡ll be taking the photo. In fact, taking a photo at eye level tends to shrink the space and make the room seem smaller. The ideal height is between 1,30m and 1,40m. Finally, a tripod aligns the lines that make up the image with the edges of the photo, which gives a greater sense of stability and also avoids the distortion caused by the wide angle.

Make the most of the lighting

The room has to be well lit: that will make it look even bigger and also cozier. Pull up the blinds and the shutters and do not hesitate to light some candles. Avoid using a flash  because it lights up the room unevenly and it makes it look unprofessional. If you are good at photography and experienced at handling photographic equipment, you can invest in an external flash (a cobra) which reflects on the walls and the ceiling giving the room a natural looking light source

Play around with the exposure

The best thing to do so that a photo is perfectly lit is to take it at the time of day when the lighting is perfect. However, this is not always possible, either for reasons of  personal availability or because of the way the apartment is built. However, you can cheat a little by adjusting the exposure of your camera. So if there is a lot of natural light in the apartment, your device will tend to compensate by decreasing the brightness of the darker parts of the room. To avoid this, do not hesitate to overexpose bright areas (white walls, bathroom etc) by increasing the exposure time of the camera.

If managing the contrast proves itself to be complicated, call a professional photographer so that he processes your images with the HDR technique. Some SLRs are equipped with an automatic HDR mode, however, the technique of a professional photographer in post-processing the image will always have better results.

Make certain details stand out

Often what makes a difference are the small details that the prospective customer can relate to: the layout of the terrace, the view from the room, a particularly original table … Learn to identify these details and highlight them to create an atmosphere with your photos.

Now that you know how to pique the interest of your future customers with perfect photos, avoid a bad surprise by reading our tips on how to rent out your apartment safely.