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Category: Experience

7 Tips for Perfect Picture Taking

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Tips for Taking Professional-Looking Photographs


1-      Equipment – Hosts should use a high-resolution digital camera to take all photographs. Many of the newest generation of smart phones come equipped with high-resolution cameras suitable for picture taking.  In addition, a tripod will help you to take professional-looking photographs.

Image taken using a tripod


2-      Lighting – A bright and well-lit home is much more welcoming, warm and inviting than a dark or dimly-lit room. Natural light always enhances a picture, although the most important thing to remember is to make sure lighting is evenly distributed throughout the picture. Turn on additional overhead or background lights to ensure there are no dark corners or back walls.


Image taken with appropriate lighting


3-      Space – Everyone wants to feel that they have the space to relax and grow in their homestay.

Too many objects can make a large room appear small and a small room appear crowded. If you need to make a small room appear bigger, pay attention to the angle at which you take your picture, a forced perspective can make any room appear open and spacious. Only include two visible walls in each interior photo; three walls will create a claustrophobic atmosphere.

 

Image taken to maximize visual space


4-      Cleanliness – No home is perfectly clean. However, a tidy home is much more appealing than a home full of clutter. Before taking a picture, clean up any and all visible messes in the room or around the house. Additionally, it can help to remove personal items from the picture. This will not only give the house a newer, cleaner feel, it will allow prospective guests to more easily imagine themselves in your home and not feel as if they are living in a second-hand space.

 

Image taken with excess items absent


5-      Focus – Always have a central object of focus in each shot. The focus object should serve as an anchor for the rest of the picture. For exterior photographs, your home should be centered in the picture; the surrounding environment (clouds, trees/shrubbery, cars, and sidewalk) should all revolve around the house. For interior photographs, the focus should be one piece of furniture, such as a table, kitchen island or bed, which can serve as the central point in the photo.


Image taken with an appropriate focus point



6-      Angle – Make sure that the angle you take the picture at best displays your room or home. Everything in the picture should be as evenly aligned as possible. Keep objects in the picture lined up evenly and, if possible, symmetrically. In order to get the best angle of any given room, stand in a corner. 


Image taken with at appropriate angle


7-      Saturation – If you have access to photo editing software, try to adjust the color saturation and white balance. An even white balance and low color saturation are easier on peoples’ eyes and therefore more appealing to look at.


Image with correct balance and saturation


Summary


1-    Clean up! Remove excess furniture, clear away the clutter and get rid of personal items.

2-    Turn on a light! Make sure the entire room is well lit.

3-    Angle it! Take pictures from a room’s corner to make the room appear larger than it is.

4-    Focus! Pick an appropriate focus point for the picture.

5-    Line up the shot! Make sure objects in the photo are squared off and even.

6-    Use the right equipment! Use a high resolution camera with a tripod to take each picture.

7-    Tone it down! Use photo editing software to lower the color saturation and even the white balance.