Top Tips For Interior Styling & Property Photography

If you’re preparing to sell or rent your home – or even just put a room or two on Airbnb, then beautiful, high quality home photography is what you need to help sell your house and stand out in the crowd.

As any real estate photographer will tell you, there’s an art to home styling and interior design photography. From capturing the perfect light, to getting the most flattering angles when photographing small rooms, there’s a skill to styling and and photographing your home. We tapped the experts at Ted’s Cameras who provided some handy tips to help you get your property looking its best.

Why is good interior design & home photography important?

If you’re looking to sell or rent out your home, then having some great interior photography can make a huge difference to your overall success. After all, an empty space is much harder to fall in love with than a beautifully styled room.

Ideally, you should try and choose the type of interior design and styling that caters to the type of buyer you think your home will most appeal to, to help them imagine how lovely it might be to live there.

Some simple rules of home styling

Interior design might seem tricky, but the key is to keep things simple. Start by de-cluttering – it’s difficult to fall in love with a dirty or messy property, so start by clearing up any excess clutter and give your home a good spring clean.

Remove most of your personal or sentimental items, such as photographs or grocery lists, as you want people to see your property and envision their life there – not feel like they are visiting yours. While leaving a few tasteful items or knick knacks around will add some warmth and personality, keep these to a minimum. When in doubt, go for modern, neutral items.

When styling, choose furniture and decorations that match your target buyer. For example, if your property is an inner city apartment, and you envision the buyer hosting drinks parties, then choose your decorations and furniture to reflect that – some candles, fancy glassware or premium champagne will set the scene.

Finally, don’t forget the exterior. This is the first thing people see, so the outside of the home needs to look its best. Some simple sweeping and hosing goes a long way to present a more inviting home.

When in doubt, call in a styling expert. Correct property styling and great real estate photos can lead to a much high sale price for your property, so if you’re struggling with either of these jobs – consult a professional.

The best camera equipment for property photography

Now that your home is clean and styled to perfection, it’s time to take some beautiful interior photography! If you’re doing the photos yourself then consider investing in the right camera equipment.

#1 – Choose a DSLR or Mirrorless camera

For the best image quality and low-light handling, opt for a DSLR or Mirrorless camera. Thanks to their large image sensors, you’ll be able to capture clear, quality photographs of every room. A camera like the Digital SLR Canon EOS 200D II will give you great results.

#2 – A sense of space with a wide-angle lens

A wide-angle lens helps you capture interior rooms and communicate a sense of space to potential buyers. But be careful – anything too wide will distort, so avoid Fisheye lenses. Look at the Sigma 10-20mm f3.5 or something similar.

#3 – Steady with a tripod

For a truly professional result, a camera tripod will help you keep your camera steady and avoid blurry images. Tripods also help you shoot with the slower shutter speeds required in more dimly-lit rooms. Check out the  Manfrotto MK290XT + 3-Way Head if you’re looking for a professional tripod that won’t break the budget.

#4 – Brighten with an external flash

An external flash will light up dark interiors and reduce the appearance of shadows. A product like the Canon Speedlite 600EX II-RT Flash will keep your images bright and beautiful.

#5 – Hands-free with a remote control

If you’re looking for a hands-free way to photograph your subject, then a remote control is a handy option. The Hahnel 2m Pro Remote is recommended for this.

Real estate photography tips

Most people want to try and make their property look bigger. While you don’t want to take photos that will mislead and disappoint prospective buyers, there are a few ways to capture your home to show it’s best potential:

• To capture the full space of a room, stand in doorways or corners.
• The brighter the better: Shoot during the day to capitalise on the light of the sun.
• Open up all windows to let as much light in as possible and turn on lights.
• Shoot from a variety of angles to test which one produces the most pleasing shot.
• Take plenty of photos. The best thing about digital photography is you can take countless images. You can always delete what you don’t want, but shooting twice can be a real pain.
• Try to capture the personality of your home. If you have styled your home in a particular way, make sure this is captured in your photographs.

Successful interior design is all about the details – and the right camera gear can make all the difference in taking those details to the next level.

For more ideas, check out Ted’s Cameras’ list of Best Digital Cameras for Photography in 2019, or head to your local Ted’s Cameras store for expert photography advice and a wide range of products. 

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