How do you take photos of the property?

[Ilya110]

Hi

I have some issues with taking a photo to show my property in a good way. I am not the best photographer. So to succeed in attracting more guests should I book a special photographer? 

Maybe it is better to make some videos and send them to potential guests? 

[Lawrene0]

There is no mechanism for sending videos to potential guests through Airbnb, @Ilya110 . Contact links are blocked. The site is set up for photos.

You can book a photographer if you like, but there are all sorts of resources in this forum (just do a search) and there is this: https://www.airbnb.ca/resources/hosting-homes/a/upgrade-your-listing-photos-46 and, I think, other tutorials on the Airbnb site itself. You really can do a nice job with your smartphone if you put the time in. It is better that the place look real -- because we are scored on accuracy -- than too slick, but at the same time it needs to be neat and uncluttered. Look around at the photos of places such as yours that make you want to stay, and think about showing your space in the same way.

Hope that helps.

[Ilya110]

Thank you Lawrene!

Will try to read some tutorials and try my best. But I think I am too bad at taking photos 🙂

[Lawrene0]

You might surprise yourself, @Ilya110 , but if you really think you cannot do it, @Pat271 's is very good advice.

And it provides a photographer with a job, which is a good thing!

[Pat271]

My advice is to hire a good photographer who specializes in real estate photography, if the cost is at all reasonable.  It is amazing what a good photographer can do, and how much more beautifully and accurately your home will be showcased.  They have the necessary talent, equipment, and lighting to really play up your home’s strong points.  Here in the US, the cost for me was around $250.  Best $250 I ever spent.  

It’s also important to get a photographer who will not exaggerate room sizes or otherwise misrepresent your home’s true appearance.  Your guests will rate you on accuracy.

People zero in on the photos to get their very first impression.  Photos are crucial to drawing attention and traffic to your home.  I recommend you get the best photos you can afford. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ilya110 If you do go professional make sure you retain copyright of the pictures OR ensure you are allowed to use them on multiple listing platforms. 

[Sarah977]

@Ilya110  If you don't trust yourself to take decent photos, yes, either hire a professional, or even ask a friend who is good at it. The photos don't have to be super slick, as has been mentioned, but they should be clear and show all areas that guests have access to. Try not to be redundant (I've seen many a listing where the photo gallery had the same photo, or very similar shots of the same space repeated), put the photos in "walk through" order, not just randomly jumping around from the bedroom, to the patio, to the view, to the bathroom, etc. and don't beef the gallery up with a lot of photos of the surrounding attractions. If there's a weekend farmer's market near your place, it could be nice to show that,. but guests coming to Paris, for instance, don't need a photo of the Eiffel Tower.

If you do get a real estate photographer, as someone else suggested, they need to be aware that photographing an Airbnb is quite different than shooting a house for sale purposes. Wide angle lenses that distort the space aren't good, nor is "staging". However it looks in the photos should be how it will look when guests arrive. If there is a big bouquet of fresh flowers and some coffee table books artfully arranged on the table in the photos, they need to also be there when guests check in. Most guests are nice and appeciative, but then there's the ones who want to try to scam a refund or complain or downrate you because  the curtains in the photo weren't the same color as the ones that were actually there (even if the host replaced the old ones for new, nicer ones).

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Ilya110 ,

Thanks for your comment! We do have Airbnb Marketplace photographers that could be of help in this case but bear in mind they are not able to work until May 31st due to the lockdown, but I believe this is something that is affecting us all globally. 

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Ilya110 , welcome to the Airbnb community!   It can be very challenging to get all the pieces together to open a listing, your in the right place to get good advice.  Good question you've asked, as others have said, this is a very important part of your listing if not most important.   

You don't need to be a great photographer to do a good job but you do have to mimic what good photographers do in your listing to be successful.  If you can't afford or cant get a photographer, you can get some pretty good advice from the resource center link @Lawrene0 shared with you, they have lots of other good hosting learning links there as well.     I wish you great luck in this venture and remember, take care of your customer and yourself always!   Stay well, JR

[Natasha390]

Hi,  How many photos would you recommend including on your listing? Thanks

[Sarah977]

@Natasha390  I think it really depends on what your listing consists of. If you have a 5 bedroom entire house listing, there are more areas to show than if you have a private room listing in your home. 

To me, the thing to keep in mind is to show each room in a way that you can see what is there- if it takes 2 photos, from 2 different angles, to show how a room looks, then that's what you should do. Put yourself in the guest's shoes- they might see a photo of the bed and the nightstand, but wonder if there is a closet or a chair and a desk.

What you should avoid is redundant photos- I've seen photo galleries where there are 3 photos of almost exactly the same room from almost the same angle, or 4 photos of the backyard. Also, some hosts post way too many photos of the surrounding area or places of interest. If you have a once-a-week farmer's market in your neighborhood, or a park across the street, it would be nice to have a shot of that, but guests don't need a photo of Big Ben or the London Bridge if they've booked a place in London. 

Also avoid photos of decorations- guests aren't interested in a close-up shot of a vase of flowers or a painting on the wall or an arrangement of knicknacks. They want to see where they are going to sleep, bathe, eat and relax.

So there isn't a set amount of photos that can be recommended for all listings- I'd say to err on the side of less rather than more. Guests don't need to see 60 photos of a place when 25 would be sufficient to showcase all areas the guests have access to. 

[Natasha390]

Thank you @Sarah977  that's really helpful 🙂 

[Mark116]

I really miss the option of the free airbnb photography once a year.

We have tried and tried to retake the first photo of the listing and get the same look, even using a regular camera, we can't get it to look as good.  And of course, airbnb then punishes us for not changing the photos by driving the listing down in search results.

[Juan63]

@Ilya110  Hi I am speaking as a professional photographer, I can help you. We can facetime or skype if you really want my help. Of course having professional equipment is optimal but not necessary.  Iphone pictures can look amazing. Couple of tricks:

• For indoor shots, open all window coverings. Letting in as much natural light without overexposing is key.

• Turn on all lighting inside your house.

• If you are using an iphone or a comparable andriod phone, use the HDR function.

• Do NOT use flash.

• For interiors and exteriors, wide shots work best.

• Use the editing software on your phone or download one that will allow you to play with dark, mid and white levels of your picture. Also the ability to saturate color will make your dull interior photos pop more.

• Shoot exterior shots as the sunrises or the sunsets, preferably not on a cloudy day. All the light is the most balanced on cloudy days, but colors or boring and unsaturated. 

• If you want to take a professional looking close up of an interesting object, like a clock, wine bottle, sign, etc. use the portrait function and focus on the object. By focusing on the object, the background will have beautiful bokeh(blurry background.) Make sure the object is to left side or right side of screen. There is a rule called the 1/3 rule. You should look it up.

If you need any help, just ask. You can see the pics I took on my listing https://www.airbnb.com/h/essexmorderncity 

[Melodie-And-John0]

The link you shared unfortunately is a dead end but thats awesome advice for all of us experienced or not @Juan63 , I've looked at lots of listings since we opened ours and always wondered how they would look with humans in them, now I know, I like it!  Your listings photos are spectacular, alive and really illuminate many of the techniques you touched on. Good show, JR