What is home photography?
Home photography is a subset of real estate photography that focuses on the residential photography aspects of real estate. Home photography can be used for a variety of purposes such as selling properties, showcasing interior design, creating home design advertisements, etc.
Every home has a different personality. It is the task of a home photographer to take images of the various personalities of a space. A home that showcases jaw-dropping pastels should be portrayed differently than a home with rustic furniture as centerpieces. The photographer will maintain a level of consistency in the quality and basic style of photography, but they will work with a space to create their unique imagery.
Home photography is an opportunity to portray a house in a way that can’t be seen by simply walking through the front door. The photographer plays a huge part in showcasing the true intentions and character a house has to offer.
How to make photography more unique:
Every house a home photographer enters should instantly feel like they’re entering their home photography studio. The excitement to take creative images of a home will fuel the individuality within these photos.
Research the property ahead of time
Giving a little bit of time to look at a property’s previous images or its location ahead of time will give the photographer time to plan and prepare their creative mindset. This research will help to give a feel of a space and create a foundation to prepare for various angles and approaches in the home.
Play Around with Seasonal Features
A fun way to add flair to images is to work with seasonal features. For instance, in the winter taking pictures of a warm fire with snow falling behind the window or, in the spring putting a vase of fresh pastel-colored flowers on the kitchen table. These little details will go a long way into adding personal touches to open homes photography.
Change-Up Angles
Every room in a home has a different layout and different designs. The same camera angle will not work to show the detail across various spaces. Changing up angles can enhance the depth and beauty of a room. Moving to different parts of a room, playing with high or low angles, or utilizing interesting foregrounds in images all can change the perception of a space. The approach of the angle is one of the most unique ways a photographer can add their style to home photography.
Experiment with Different Times of Day
Different times of day provide an opportunity for unique lighting and unique backgrounds. A home shot at dusk will look very different than a home shot at midday. Sunrises and sunsets provide moody lighting and background to real estate that can’t be showcased in the middle of the afternoon. Some homes need that bright midday light, so it is important to allow the right amount of time to schedule various levels of light.
Less is More
Is there an eye-popping feature that will bring buyers into a home? Use that feature because it is the goal of a home photographer to reach more clients. Taking images of a space that showcase the feeling of a home with high-quality aspects is much more beneficial than simply providing as many images as possible. It is important to be cautious with this approach as well, as too many images will feel overwhelming but too little taken of a space will create a sense of vacancy.
Window Views
Exceptional sights from windows within a room can only enhance the quality of an image. An apartment located in New York City with a window that has a view of the skyline would be an essential aspect to include in an image. Not only does using these views in images provide a sense of location but it also allows the photographer to play with the interaction of the space and the location.
New York home photography in the city should work to show the dynamics of the city interacting with the home whereas in upstate New York home photography, a dynamic between the beautiful yards of a home and the interior.
Utilize Details
Details are what make a home unique so to make your images stand out, it is important to play with these details. The interior design of a room can make all the difference for marketing and selling in real estate; staging and virtual staging have become big proponents in real estate because of the perception of potential buyers. The design of a home is what makes a home. The walls of a house and the roof provide the foundation for beauty within the rooms. Utilizing details like paintings, interesting blankets, intricate wallpapers, etc., add personalization to an image.
How to make small home photography feel bigger:
Not every home or apartment will have a mass amount of space for pictures. Learning to work with small spaces within home photography can have a massive positive impact on a photographer’s work.
Wide-Angle Lenses
This is a simple thing to do but it is the most effective option to give a small space lots of depth. A wide-angle lens has a short focal length but a wider field of view. The wide-angle lens keeps nearly everything within the image in focus while displaying a large scale of the space within the image.
Create A Sense of Space
A wide-angle image of a small room can only do so much to expand the feeling of a space. To create a sense of space within a home, manipulating the foreground and background of an image can make a room appear much larger than it is. Having an interesting piece, such as a lamp, in the foreground of an image creates a complement to the furniture in the background of an image, which will create depth and a larger sense of space.
Utilizing Corners
Snapping a picture from the doorway isn’t enough to widen the scope of a space. The best thing a photographer can do is look at the layout of the room and see how the lines of the room move together. Taking images from corners in a room can give diagonal lines room to expand in an image, which makes a room feel larger than it is.