Interior Real Estate Photography: 5 Tips for Better Results

By now most people realize that a home listing with pictures attracts a lot more attention than one without. Whether it’s a house, an apartment, or a commercial real estate property; the key to successfully marketing it is with captivatingly well exposed, and well-composed photographs. When shooting interior spaces, finding the right light can be more than a little tricky. Usually the lighting is a giant array of different color temperatures. You also have to work with shadows and highlights all in a small space. Knowing a few key tips for interior real estate photography will make your images stand out.

So if you’re a real estate photographer, homeowner, real estate agent, or just into architecture, here are a few tips to get the best out of your photos.

 

1. HEIGHT AND PERSPECTIVE

For stunning, authentic interior real estate photography shots, you must shoot from the hip, rather than eye level. Shooting from eye level often creates slanted lines in the frame, causing the room or building to look as if they are falling over. 

Most rooms have plenty of lines that you might not notice until you take a photo. If you shoot from eye level, those lines appear slightly angled. When you shoot from the hip level, the lines appear straight. I tend to take a knee while keeping my back straight and this puts me about hip level. A tripod is highly recommended! 

2. COMPOSITION

Most interior architecture shots come with all sorts of obstacles you have to work around, from furniture to cords in the wall, to the family dog posing for the camera. Thus, it is important to use the right composition techniques. If needed, don’t hesitate to move things around. Try adding elements like a book, a mat, a plant, or some flowers to add some interesting points in the image.

For more on architectural photography, view my post 10 Helpful Tips for Striking Architectural Photography.

3. LENSES

There’s no single lens that works in every scenario. However, if there’s one lens to always carry into a real estate photography shoot, it’s a wide angle lens!

Wide angle lenses will show off more of a room and make it appear larger, which is often a requirement from clients.

Get Wide Angle Photography Tips by clicking the provided link.

4. LIGHTING

For natural light, shoot during the brighter times of the day—usually between 10 A.M. and 3 P.M. This helps you get a clean and neutral look.

LED panels and shoe-mounted flashes are great for filling in shadows. If you don’t have a flash, then get yourself a reflector to bounce some of that natural light and fill in those shadows.

To learn about shooting with a completely different type of lighting, check out my post 5 Reasons to Start Shooting Night Photography

5. APERTURE

Use a high f-number, somewhere between f/5.6 and f/11, to ensure that much of the frame is in focus. Like any rule in photography, this is not required…rather it’s recommended. 

Depending on the look you want, you can always change the aperture to something like f/1.2 or anything wider than f/5.6.

 

What other tips do you have for interior photography?