Interior Property Photography - Techniques & Tips
Updated: Sep 18
The Basics
It’s tempting to grab a smartphone and photograph anything quickly and easily. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should!
With a little time and effort (and expense!) you can produce high-quality professional images of property interiors that stand out from the glut of smartphone images. This article will take you through the steps involved.
Before we begin though, this is not a photography course. I’m assuming a general knowledge of photography and basic terminology, such as ISO, aperture mode and so forth.
Equipment
The most important thing, and I can’t stress this enough, is to shoot using a tripod and release lead. There are numerous advantages - we’ll talk through angles and verticals later - but the main one is that you want a shallow depth of field, so shooting at F13 and above. Unless you’re going to use a high ISO you need a tripod because you’re likely to have an exposure time of around a third of a second. You need a tripod!
An SLR camera is best, of course, you need to control settings as much as you can and be able to switch lenses as required. I would recommend a manufacturer-made release lead so it fits properly and doesn’t misfire. Ideally, a ball head for the tripod will make life much easier for changing angles and directions.
A wide-angle lens is obvious, but not too wide - try to avoid distortion and definitely keep away from fish-eye unless this is a specific need. All that distortion will need to be fixed in post-processing otherwise, somewhere around 16 / 17mm (full frame) will be fine to avoid too much. I would go for a lens with an element of zoom so you can frame the image during shooting. With regard to a filter, I recommend a polarising filter so you can control glare from pictures and televisions. As always get a decent one, at the end of the day the filter sits between your camera and the world! Remember, the filter will reduce the light getting into the camera so it will increase the exposure time slightly.
Finally, in terms of equipment is a good flash unit; as powerful and flexible as you can afford. If you’re shooting into a bright window a powerful flash to fill those shadows is essential, as is being able to change its angle. If you’re feeling very professional then you can wirelessly connect multiple units to light all the dark spots!
Setting up the property
I won’t labour this because it can vary enormously depending on the type, style and use of the property. There are some general points that it’s worth making so I’ll quickly go through them:
Turn on the lights! Make sure that all the bulbs and lighting work and then turn them all on. There are rare occasions that it’s a good idea not to do this - I have had clients claiming that it makes the property look dark. It doesn’t of course if the photography is done properly. The bottom line is that the main light source is through the windows and if you don’t turn the lights on then all the light will be from one direction causing lots of shadows.
Clear away clutter! Obvious and situation-dependent. As clean and tidy as possible. No dirty dishes, no piles of magazines, personal hygiene products not visible in the bathroom . . . and so on. Don’t start me on fridge magnets!
Move cars from outside the windows if possible, and no skips!
If furnished, arrange the furniture to maximise the space and look of the room. If you move anything between multiple angles in the same room try and make sure that it’s not obvious that things have been moved around between shots.
By all means, dress the rooms with flowers and wine! Put glasses and crockery on the table if appropriate, but don’t over-clutter and beware of the purpose of the images - is it to rent, sell, or promote?
Remove any wall art or photos that the property owner doesn’t want in your photos. Baby photos and wedding photos should all be removed. I’ve seen a life-size wedding photo in a house. . .
This may sound beyond obvious, but if you're shooting around a celebration time those decorations and cards must be taken down, including the Christmas tree. I’ve had this debate more than once!
Be prepared and allow time to do everything yourself. Be careful and respectful, treat other people's property as if it were your own - or better! Don’t break anything. If necessary use your smartphone to capture where everything was so you can put it back as it was.
If you’re working with an interior designer, allow time to discuss strategy with them first. Find out how much dressing they have and if they're moving this from room to room. Agree on a plan so the rooms look good for the photographs and they are done in a sensible order. Be aware of the position and movement of the sun and its effect on the internal light when doing this.
As you shoot each room, close all of the doors! Unless there is a reason you’re showing a view or using a door as a leading line. Otherwise, it makes the images look very untidy.
Camera Settings
In many ways, this is the easiest part of property photography! If you get these right and adjust based on the circumstances you can worry about all the situational problems instead.
As always with photography there will be occasions when general rules don’t apply, so prepare to be flexible. For example, if you need to get an angle from a position where you can’t stand the tripod, you’ll have to go handheld - so ISO will have to go up and aperture down to get a balance of depth of field, noise and a fast enough exposure that’s it’s nice and sharp.
RAW
Shoot in RAW. It’s that simple, this allows the use of the powerful RAW editor before you get to Photoshop, and you can generate JPEGs from there. More on this later.
ISO
I’ve touched on this already and you probably are already aware of the reasons, but shoot at an ISO of 100. The camera is on a tripod so exposure time isn’t an issue. You want the images to be as clear and noise-free as possible.
Aperture Mode
Again we’ve touched on this already. Because you want a shallow depth of field you need to shoot at around F13 depending on the lens. I find higher than this can create lens distortion effects. To keep things simple I shoot in Aperture Mode so you can fix it at F13 and the camera can handle the exposure time, since that doesn’t matter. Any variation can be done with Exposure Compensation . . .
Exposure Compensation
Generally indoors I find this needs to be set at +1 away from windows and anywhere up to +2 toward them. Of course, in Photoshop you can adjust all this, but the closer to the right value you can get shooting the less you’ll have to do later. Be prepared to play with the various focus modes and focus points to get the best result.
White Balance
Don’t mess with this, just set it to Auto and worry about it in post! It’s probably the only setting that I’d say that, but it really isn’t worth the trouble.
Focus
There are all manner of focus modes and focus points in modern cameras. With a bit of experimentation you can determine what works best in each scenario. I tend to use one targeted focus point for interiors to make sure I have control over the image. If the interiors have plain walls and no furniture you can always auto-focus on something the same distance away, then either lock this or switch to manual focus and recompose the shot. Remember to put the camera back into auto-focus afterwards if you change this!
Flash
I tend to use flash as a default to light shadows, particularly if there is large furniture blocking the light source. Using flash is particularly important when shooting toward bright windows, don’t be worried if the window itself overexposes and ‘blows out’.
There are times when flash isn’t appropriate. If you’re shooting when there is little daylight and you want to show the house lights off then the flash will just dilute their effect. Another reason may be the presence of reflective surfaces, say bathroom tiles or shiny wardrobe doors that you can’t avoid. I rarely use a flash in bathrooms because of the danger of multiple reflections.
Angles
This is another one of those ‘most important’ things. It’s so important - get those verticals straight! When shooting handheld the amateur will likely shoot at a slight downward angle from eye level meaning those vertical lines - walls, doors, furniture edges, kitchen units - will all be splayed apart. This looks terrible of course. One of the advantages of using the tripod is that you can set it up lower and shoot parallel to the ground. Using the viewfinder grid make sure that the verticals are as straight as you can. Don’t worry if there are some lens effects or you’re not completely accurate, you can tidy this up in post.
If you can, use worktops, tables, and sofas as leading lines to give the image some depth - lead the viewer into the image. This can be particularly effective with dining room table corners and kitchen worktops.
In general, I will take multiple angles of each room. The purpose of the images will make a big difference as to what’s required. A small apartment for rent will demand very different pictures to a property developer who wants close-ups of certain notable features. Make sure you know what the client wants! If they don’t know, talk to them about the purpose of the images and make suggestions. Don’t take thousands of images and ‘spam’ the client, but make sure you’ve taken enough to meet the requirement.
Room Specifics
Some top tips for specific rooms:
Small bathrooms
If the bathroom is really small, en-suite or very restrictive in terms of tripod position it’s time to be flexible! Get some straight vertical shots, say the sink and mirror, but then you might have to put the tripod up to full height and shoot downward at an angle just to get everything in. It’s not my favourite thing, but you have to get those pictures. If conditions are really tricky, standing in the shower handheld might be the way to go!
Lounges
Should be an easy room if there isn’t too much clutter. Beware of TV reflections and furniture positions. Curtains, blinds and soft furnishings need to be neat and tidy.
Kitchens
The straight verticals are crucial because there are so many. Leading lines along worktops can be very effective. If there is a large mixer tap, make sure that it’s straight!
Halls and Stairways
My favourite. You can have fun here with interesting angles up and down the stairways as well as the standard ‘straight vertical’ shots. The bannisters provide great leading lines so make the most of them.
Bedrooms
Do multiple images so you show the bed and window in one, and the bed and wardrobes in another. For larger rooms, you can do lots more but these are the basics that everyone wants. Ideally, make sure there is no clutter on top of the wardrobes if they aren’t fitted.
Post Processing
The bottom line is that for all the power of editing tools, you want to get the pictures as good as possible during shooting. There are two reasons for this - one is because the images will look superior and the other is that the less work you have to do in post-processing the better. Look at it simply, if you do two minutes of work on each image, and you’ve taken 50 images . . .
If you can avoid doing some or all of the things in the list below then all the better. Getting the verticals straight, avoiding reflections, correct framing and exposure - all of this can be done during shooting. So do it!
RAW vs Photoshop
Some things are easier in the RAW editor and some are easier in Photoshop. I’m sure this is just personal preference but in the list below I do items 1 to 5 in RAW and the rest in Photoshop. It’s a good idea to have a process of what you want to do to each image, and in what sequence. Macros can be set up for some of these but don’t get too carried away by automation, use your eyes too!
Verticals. Straighten the verticals as accurately as you can. To the millimetre!
Horizontal Distortion. The same applies to the horizontals, but beware of lens distortion. At the edges of wide angles, the dimensions get stretched. Pay close attention to things that should be square or narrow but look rectangular or out of shape. Washing machines and doorways are good examples. Also, beware of the room looking too big, you want to present the property as best you can, but not ‘over’ present it.
Noise Reduction. Only needed at high ISOs.
White Balance. Now is the time to get the white balance right. Try to match the colour of the walls with the reality. Make a note of the settings and apply them to the other pictures but beware of different light conditions. Where possible if rooms are the same colour, make the pictures look like they are!
Highlights and Shadows. Reduce highlights and shadows, obvs!
When to Crop / Framing. The temptation is to include as much of that wide-angle image as you can. This can be the right thing to do, but it may not. Cropping the image close to a vertical can frame the image nicely, a doorway, furniture or window can create a nice framing effect. Use your judgement and be careful where the edge of the picture comes so you don’t cut a door handle or edge that makes it look odd.
Sharpening. Just a little bit of light sharpening. Don’t get too carried away!
Exposure / Contrast. The images should be bold, bright and consistent. How far you go and how you do it is up to you. Feel free to use a plug-in to fill in shadows and detail but do it consistently.
Editing. There may be some actual editing required but try to keep this to a minimum. Here are some things to look out for:
Dust marks on the lens
Reflections of you, the camera or the tripod! Watch out for shiny kitchen units and shower screens!
TV Reflections. You might need to just paint it black.
Finally, after all that I suggest you set up a macro or tool to generate all the JPEGs to save yourself some time. If the client has specific size requirements then obviously meet them, but I always supply full-size images as well. Make sure that with any cropping you’ve done that you resize the images to all be the same size. It’s really annoying if they aren’t.
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