Photography that Sells your House
Having worked in the industry for many years we have seen awareness grow of how important professional photography is in regards to selling your home. We recently had a new client express that they are looking to grow their business and that they saw professional, well executed photographs as an important aspect of their work which would put them ahead of their competitors.
To achieve this high standard of photography we have worked for many years honing our craft, learning from the best photographers in the field and taking our skills forward and never standing still. Here are a few things we have learned over the years –
Wider is not always better
We are often asked to shoot wide and make rooms look as big as possible and while we agree that showing space is important we feel there is a limit and shooting too wide can be detrimental to the photograph because it can:
1. Stretch and distort the image
2. Limit our ability to light the shot
3. Misrepresent the actual size of the room.
In this kitchen example shooting wider doesn’t make the room look bigger, nicer or make for a better photograph. What it does show is a radiator, children’s drawings, a bit of random worktop and acres and acres of plasterboard ceiling. All that extra uninteresting stuff means the main features of the room; the AGA, island and view onto the garden are smaller in frame.
Careful composition and subtle arranging
Subtle arranging of furniture and decorative items can make big differences to the dynamic of a photograph. In our next example opening up the chair and positioning the table mats in a line draws the viewers’ attention to the leafy exterior view.
How do we get those amazing externals?
Planning! There are a number of useful websites that enable us to track the sun so we know the best time of day to photograph your house. We also constantly monitor the weather forecast to make sure we capture your home in glorious sunshine. A few extra things to note in this before and after is how we have chosen a height to hide the telegraph wires and make them less obvious and made sure there are no vehicles in the car port.
Not using the front external as the main shot
Sometimes not using the front external photograph as your main image is a good idea. A city centre apartment is a good example of this as they are often contained within large buildings situated on busy city centre streets. The appeal of living in such a place is more about the lifestyle than the actual look of the building. In these situations a feature/lifestyle shot can be a good substitute. This flat was located inside a converted office block and while the flat inside was lovely a large number of people wouldn't have bothered taking a look just because of how it looked outside.
Focusing on the details that make your home unique
When photographing a home it’s important to look for the saleable elements of the house that really stand out from the other properties on the market. When photographing a property we never take the same approach, dealing with each property on its individual merits. You’ll often find that most estate agents will take a standard photograph of the main rooms of the home. These are usually run of the mill shots where the photographer/estate agent is stood in one corner of the room and shoots towards the opposing corner. These shots are important as you can get a feel for the size and layout of the room. What we can offer are different styles of shots that can show off certain features of a property that will make the set of pictures more appealing to potential customers. Here are some examples of lifestyle/feature shots:
