It’s possible to take great real estate photos of your home using a camera that you may be holding right now in your hand!
With the right accessories, apps, and knowledge, you can use your smartphone to take great pictures of your home.
Lighting
Indoor lighting presents the biggest challenge to getting the best shots, even for professional photographers.
For example, your home may look warm and inviting to the naked eye, but when you take a picture, it can look drab and dark if the lighting isn’t right.
The best solution for this scenario is to use as much natural light as possible by filming late in the morning or early in the afternoon.
But if this simply isn’t an option you’ll need a bright external source of light that you can adjust as necessary, such as an LED light on its own tripod.
Need more light? Use reflectors to help spread the light around the room even more.
Phone setting
If your phone has it, another option to improve the lighting is to use the HDR (high dynamic range) setting on your phone.
It works by combining three different exposures into a single image. This setting can resolve any issues with bright windows or deep shadows, providing a bright, clean shot throughout.
Getting great shots
The key to getting the best photos of your home is to hold the phone perfectly steady. This is best done by using a small tripod, placed on an even surface, such as a kitchen countertop or table.
You can either use the volume buttons on your earpods to take the shots (preventing the need for touching the phone) or purchase a wireless Bluetooth camera button (for less than $20 dollars) to take the shot.
Wide angle shots aren’t really possible with smartphone cameras, so experts recommend purchasing a wide angle lens that is attached to your phone’s camera to help take these kinds of photos.
Instead of using your phone’s camera software, another option would be to download an use an app on your phone that gives you even more control over your photos.
Tips and tricks for getting great shots
Zoom in on desirable features and details of your home, such as a cozy breakfast nook or built-in bookcase.
Take a few shots of your space, then review to see if anything jumps out at you that you don’t want prospective buyers to see (e.g. cords running along the floor)
To help take shots from the right angle, get down on your knees and take wide-angle shots to help your room look larger.
Alternatively, you can shoot “from the hip” pointing your camera level and straightforward will keep everything in the room flush, providing a more realistic view of how the room looks.
If the room looks sparse, add blankets, books, plants, etc. to make it look more warm and inviting.
When shooting a room, pick a subject to focus your shot on to help frame it well.
Don’t be afraid to move furniture and other items around if necessary to get the best shot. For example, hide the bottle of soap by your kitchen sink for a better pic.
