Before I started my career as a writer, I worked for a small window fashions company where I was the marketing girl. Which meant that in addition to writing copy and running the website and social media, I was providing all the visuals, too. Often, I’d go out with installers on jobs to photograph the before, during and after of an install. And trust me, this was the best part of the job. So many homes we served were incredibly beautiful with exquisite decor—and it was my job to convey all of that through imagery. Naturally, I learned a thing or two about how to take good pictures of a home. Now, I’m sharing my top five tips with you. Whether you’re staging a rental house for its Airbnb debut or you want to show off your kitchen renovation, follow these rules and you’re off to a great start.
5 Tricks to Take More Flattering Photos of Your House, According to an Interior Design Photographer
whether you’re shooting on your phone or a camera
1. Light, Light, NATURAL Light
The word photography literally comes from the Greek “photos” (light) and “graphein” (to draw). It’s a light drawing! So if the lighting is bad, you’re already the loser. Natural light makes the best photographs, unless you’re a tech wizard with off-camera flash. But if you want to keep things easy, use the sun. Open the windows, the French doors, the sunroof. Get as much light into the space as possible, and you’ve already set yourself up for success. And under no circumstances (again, unless you’re a lighting wizard) should you shoot under tungsten lighting or anything that’s not white light.
2. Use a Wide-Angle Lens
After good lighting, this is the most important thing you can probably do. Interior photography is about conveying a sense of space…and that’s hard to do when your lens is cropped. If you’re shooting with a traditional camera, I recommend at a maximum a 35mm lens, if not a 24mm—this length is the start of the lens category known as “fisheye.” If you’re on your phone, opt for the wide-angle, like 0.5 on iPhone.
3. Lines, Lines, DIAGONAL Lines
A major mistake photographers make is photographing shapes within shapes. A box within a box. A circle within a box. An example is that beautiful coffee table book in your living room. Photographing it straight on feels…boring. Your eye travels quickly out of the frame. It’s a rectangle in another rectangle—your camera’s frame. Try tilting the book at a 45-degree angle. Immediately, it cuts a nice, long diagonal line along which your eye can travel, and thereby stay engaged. You can try this on your furniture, too. Instead of photographing your couch as a long horizontal line, move so that you can photograph it as an angle running out of the frame.
4. Get Level
Whether you’re using a phone or a $10,000 mirrorless camera, both are equipped with level indicators that tell you if you’ve got a perfect horizontal line. I know this sounds “no duh,” but you’d be surprised how distracting an off-kilter line can be, even if it’s miniscule. It instantly draws the eye and makes the other subjects in the photo feel like they’re sliding.
5. Clean Up
The daily mess of living doesn’t usually translate well to the screen. Trust me, when you see an aesthetic playroom on the internet, I’m willing to bet a set designer spent a good ten minutes (at least) carefully placing every scattered Lego. Unless you’re photographing food, it’s hard to make chaos feel intentional and beautiful. So my best advice is to just clean up. Fold the blankets on the couch. Put away the toys. Wash the dishes. Store your shoes on the rack. It’s easier—and bonus, after your little photoshoot, you can plop down on an empty couch.
