How to photograph an apartment for sale
Many sellers do not attach importance to how to photograph an apartment for sale. And for nothing, because this nuance will help to sell the property faster and at a favorable price. Properly presenting the apartment, you can interest more potential buyers. The more interested you are, the higher the chances of selling the apartment quickly and at the desired price. Here are some simple tips on how to properly photograph a home for sale.
1. Ensure adequate lighting
It is best to photograph your living space during the daytime, but only during hours when the sun is not at its zenith. Otherwise, the light from the window will be too bright. The ideal time is in the morning and afternoon hours. But you should also take into account which side of the world the windows face.
To make the photo light, you can use artificial light sources. But it is important that the lamps do not give a yellowish tint, as it visually makes the property look cheaper. It is best to replace the lamps in chandeliers with cool or neutral light bulbs.
Chandeliers and other lights should be placed behind your back. If you shoot against the light, the lamp will obscure the rest of the space. It's worth trying different angles to find the best shot.
2. Do a general cleanup
There's no point in putting up pretty lights or asking a friend to borrow a cool camera if the apartment hasn't been cleaned and the junk removed. Before organizing a photo shoot, you should use the services of a cleaning company or put some effort into cleaning yourself.
What is absolutely necessary to do:
remove all junk, unnecessary things, broken furniture;
wash the windows;
wash kitchen fronts and appliances;
clean the bathroom fixtures;
dust all surfaces;
freshen the flowers with water;
vacuum (sweep) and mop the floors.
When the apartment is clean, you can start taking pictures right away. Having taken the first shot, you should try to evaluate it objectively. It may show cobwebs or dust that you accidentally missed while cleaning.
3. Remove unnecessary items and personal belongings
In order for a buyer to look at a picture of an apartment and imagine that he or she is living in it, it is important to "depersonalize" the living space as much as possible. Nothing should hint that anyone lives in the apartment. Before the photo shoot, you should remove personal belongings and all unnecessary items.
Things that the seller won't even pay attention to can repel the buyer in the photos. It could be clothes on a chair in the bedroom, dirty dishes in the sink, a raised rim on the toilet, an old shower curtain, etc.
4. Use a wide angle lens
Professional photographers shoot real estate with a special wide angle lens. With its help, you can capture more space in the frame. You don't have to look for a tricked out camera to take beautiful pictures, as many smartphones also have a feature that simulates wide angle.
If you have an iPhone, you can set a coefficient of 0.5 in the camera settings. This setting is best for taking pictures of the interior of an apartment. And you won't have to take a lot of photos of one room, as everything will be clearly visible.
5. Use a tripod
A tripod or tripod can help you take photos almost like a professional. It is not necessary to buy it, you can rent it or ask your friends. A tripod will help you take a clear shot, since you can't always keep your hands steady and shake-free.
A tripod also allows you to avoid such a common mistake as "blocked" lines that do not coincide with the vertical and horizontal. To make the picture look realistic, you need to hold the camera steady, i.e. parallel to the floor and wall lines. The easiest way to do this is to properly mount the phone on a tripod.
To see if the phone is level on the tripod, you should turn on the "grid" function in the camera. Using the auxiliary lines on the screen, you can correctly set the horizon and perspective in the frame.
6. Shoot at eye level
If you shoot too high or too low, you can immediately forget about successful shots. The room will be photographed at an unnatural angle and the buyer is unlikely to want to scrutinize such photos, which means that he will not see the advantages of the housing for sale.
It is best to photograph at eye level, that is, the camera should be held at a height of 130-140 cm from the floor. It is from this level that beautiful shots are obtained. But there are exceptions. The rule of 130-140 cm applies to all rooms except the bathroom. Here it is best to hold the camera at a height of 100 cm.
7. Take photos of the room from several angles
To make it easier for the buyer to visualize how the apartment looks in reality, it is best to take photos from different angles. It is absolutely necessary to photograph the apartment when entering each room. This makes it easier to understand what the buyer will immediately see in a particular room.
When framing a shot, you can move small furniture around. If you can see that an armchair or chair prevents you from making a beautiful shot, you can move it for a while or, on the contrary, add it to the frame to create a more cozy atmosphere in the photo.
The photographer should not be visible in any photo. This mistake is usually made when there are mirrors in the room: in them you can see the reflection of the person taking the photos. All this will prevent the buyer from imagining that this is his living space.
In addition to photographing the room from different angles, you can also take general and close-up photos. For example, if you want to emphasize quality furniture or a designer chandelier, you can take a close-up photo of them. But it is important not to add a lot of such photos to the apartment ad. There should still be more of a general plan.
8. Shoot from the corners of the room
Many people who take their own photos of their apartment for sale face the problem that not much fits in the frame. In such a case, both the above-mentioned advice about a wide-angle lens and shooting from a corner will help. If the photographer stands in a corner in the room, it will help to capture more space in the frame.
9. Keep the camera level horizontally
Professional photographers and experts in selling apartments advise to take horizontal rather than vertical photos of the living space. Such photos look better in the advertisement. It is important to visually convey a sense of space by making a general plan.
If it is planned to publish ads for the sale of apartments not only on specialized aggregator sites, but also in social networks, it is desirable to make both horizontal and vertical photos. Vertical photos look more harmonious and are better perceived by users in social networks.
10. Avoid flash
It was mentioned above that the best time to take photos is during the daytime. If you take photos of your apartment during the day, you won't need a flash. If you don't have time to take pictures of your apartment in natural light, you may be tempted to use a flash. But you should not do this.
The flash produces too bright a light, which will overlight the subject. The flash on your phone or inexpensive camera does not have a special diffuser, so there is no way to spread the light from the flash and make it softer. As a result, one part of the room will be overly illuminated and the other part will be darkened. In any case, it will not be possible to get good pictures.
If you use all the recommendations from this article, you have a high chance of taking really beautiful photos. Successful pictures will attract the attention of potential buyers, which means that there will be more views, which will increase the likelihood of selling the property quickly.
