Photography?

[Laina1]

Hi there

I have a few friends that are hosts for AirBnB and they had a professional photographer come and take photos for free? I have recently started hosting and a friend suggested I have this done and I recall when I first started that I was sent an offer of free photography and now I am being sent a quote for hundreds of dollars? Can someone please tell me why its free for some and not for all??

Laina

[Christian65]

Hi there and welcome to the life as a host.

Use the search function on these community pages and learn a lot from previous hosts to get your way around all kinds of things as a host.

Airbnb help is so extensive also so you'll find alot of answers here too but i've found the link for you here 🙂

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/297/does-airbnb-provide-professional-photography-services

[Aogán0]

I tried to arrange it, no photographer available 😞 I think, away from major cities, you may struggle to find someone....

[Mary542]

A friend of mine posted her Mom's house on Facebook this morning saying it was available through Airbnb. I didn't realize it was her Mom's house and I suggested she use a better cover photo. She wanted to know what was wrong with it, as an Airbnb photographer took it. I was really surprised that a "professional" had taken the picture and made it the cover photo as it did not show off the home's features in the best light. I think the service was free, but I told her I could have taken a better picture. Then I went to her listing and there were 30+ photos. I got bored after the first 15. Some of the pictures were good and some were really poor. There was one of the front of the house that was taken at such a bad angle that half of the picture just showed the gravel in the front yard. This is in Phoenix where everyone landscapes with gravel, but the picture should have been composed to show off the home, not the gravel.

Another thing was the number of photos. Granted, when you are advertising an entire home, you want to see all of the rooms, etc. But over 30 is too many. Whoever helped her with the photos should have told her to put the best ones up front. Anyway, in answer to your question about free vs paid photography, I wouldn't pay an Airbnb photographer anything until I saw his/her work. I have a listing and I took the photos myself with a smartphone and they came out great. During the tourist season, I get a ton of inquiries.

[Sarah785]

You have total control over what photographs you show..Airbnb photographers are technically good otherwise they would be rejected. But if yours are better then use them

[Gary351]

Congratulations on getting a ton of enquiries and for your smartphone images coming out great. I am an Airbnb photographer, and 30 images is about right for an entire home. Before I go to a listing, I let the hosts know where to find my previous "Verified Photos" for Airbnb, so they can see what to expect.  So far, after over 100 listings, I have not received anything but positive comments from hosts on my images. But, I will bet my images, and those of any other verified Airbnb photographer, would improve on your smartphone images.

[Peggy-Parr0]

@Gary0I offer professional photography for real estate in Gulf Shores.  I have reached out to ABNB numerous time to try and get on their list to provide services.  I have had zero success.  Suggestions?  I am in a vacation market, and there are a LOT of units on Airbnb.  

[Personal advertising link hidden in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Brandyn0]

I don't understand how you can take a proper real estate photo with a smart phone. Smart phone cameras are simply not wide enough. As a real estate photographer, it's more than just snapping a photo. It's In Post processing and understanding the theory of lighting and what I pleasing to the eye. Sure you can take a photo of a room with a phone, but you can't tell me it's as good as with a wide angle lens on a DSLR.

I would love to see these photos

[Magi2]

AVOID hiring a photographer through AIRBNB at all costs.   Airbnb seems to have changed their process .. now hand select and edit the photos after the photographer is finished  and you have no control over which photos they select.   In my case, I had missing photos of specfic features of my listing I wanted to highlight and the bedroom photo was taken from an angle that makde the space appear very small.   Terrible customer service on top of that. It's a maze trying to find someone in the photography department to get back to you.   So even tough you pay for this service, you leave it someone else's hands to decide what best represents your listing which is ridiculous. 

My adivse, is hire a professional photographer outside of Airbnb so you are in better control.  Oftentimes they are actually cheaper than what Airbnb charges you.

The ony benefit of going through Airbnb is that they indicate these are "Airbnb verified photos" which could give some guests assurance, however save yourself the hassle at all costs considering how this service has evolved.    

[Sarah785]

only if you are plus...the photographer chooses the photographs they upload and you can decide which ones you want once they are there

---

@Magi2 wrote:

AVOID hiring a photographer through AIRBNB at all costs.   Airbnb seems to have changed their process .. now hand select and edit the photos after the photographer is finished  and you have no control over which photos they select.   In my case, I had missing photos of specfic features of my listing I wanted to highlight and the bedroom photo was taken from an angle that makde the space appear very small.   Terrible customer service on top of that. It's a maze trying to find someone in the photography department to get back to you.   So even tough you pay for this service, you leave it someone else's hands to decide what best represents your listing which is ridiculous. 

My adivse, is hire a professional photographer outside of Airbnb so you are in better control.  Oftentimes they are actually cheaper than what Airbnb charges you.

The ony benefit of going through Airbnb is that they indicate these are "Airbnb verified photos" which could give some guests assurance, however save yourself the hassle at all costs considering how this service has evolved.    

---

[Tetiana12]

Hello everyone,

With modern technology and snazzy all-singing, all-dancing phones these days, it should make it easier than ever to take photos you can be proud of. However, I personally used this service https://viamedia.sg/services/interior-photography-services/ to take photos of my airbnb hosting apartment . Btw, I found out I found that Airbnb listing is better interesting if you add some people in a photo. It makes warm & more lively.

[Alison861]

I wish I’d seen your post before I paid for AirBnb’s photography service!

I didn’t realise I would have no control of the photos.  Some areas of my place - like the desk and work area - are missing altogether.  Others have only unflattering angles (no shot showing the whole bed including legs). The quality of photos was overall good, but the lack of choice and missing elements are very frustrating. 
it’s been over 2 months of 5 separate support chats to get an answer from AirBnb - taking about retouching (?) and replacing photos.  So stressful.  I worked hard with descriptions to make the photos work and want additional options not “replacements”. 
My advice to anyone offered this service by Airbnb - don’t take it.  Spend a bit more money and hire a photographer directly.  As well as having full choice to select what photos to use yourself, you will have ownership of those photos and can use them on social media and other booking platforms. 

[Susan598]

@Laina1 . I had free Airbnb photos done some time ago, but Airbnb sent a young photographer with no relevant experience in real estate. The photos were not really fit for purpose, nice as they were. More recently I paid AU$165 for a professional real estate photographer and was really thrilled with the results. These photos really helped attract more bookings, and I have also increased my price. It was money very well spent. I found the right photographer by looking through real estate listings on line till I found a set I really liked, then contacted the real estate agent to find out who their photographer was. Easy!

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

I'm a proffesional photographer with 30+ years of experience and have worked directly with many of the 'Main' booking sites, International Time Share and hotel groups over the years and across the world. I registered with AirBnb in my area and have had no enquiries for photos despite so many lettings having pretty terrible photos.

I considered booking a photographer to shoot my place too. This because, photos provided by an AirBnb photographer get "verified" in their title. This supposedly helps in search results, I'd like that. Though, from some of the photographers registering as AirBnb photographers and the way AirBnb recruit them I don't think I'd want to let them anywhere near my place! 

We love travelling, based in the UK, and if we can finance our travels by doing a bit of work - happy to do so 🙂

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Magi2 , I had never heard of Verified Photo's before I read this thread, interesting concept.  I suppose that is to try to avoid something like when my wife and I took our first real vacation together as a married couple.  We went to "Beautiful Mount Airy Lodge in the Poconos".  The pics looked good for being 30 years old but the place had fallen down even if the pics looked good.  After 2 rooms that were disgusting and  even upgraded 3 times, it was a less than good stay to say the least.  A verified photo is one thing, 350 verified reviews mostly verifying Bearpath Lodging and all of its spaces are awesome is another, I will take one over the other anytime!!!!!.   

As for the amount of photos @Mary542 , 30 could be too many if your taking 3 shots of the same view from 3 directions  or not enough according to  what you got to show, our centuries old farmstead has lots more than just a few rooms to attract customers especially in this new STRental environment. 

 @Gary351 , Maybe the first Pro Photo you could show to represent your art is your own instead of the broken link that is your Screen Name Avatar.  Also, I beg to differ with you about smart phone quality if used by someone with a bit of artistic spacial awareness and some understanding of saturation and light, most newer phones have image sensors and processors that are 10 times more powerful and larger than pro cams were just 5 years ago, with good lighting and a fair eye, you can really do a nice job. BTW, B&H will  will sell high end SLR's to anyone reasonably cheap, that doesnt make them a photographer or a Pro.   Im not saying  that pros shouldn't be able to show your place far better than amateur's but much of the pro stuff Ive seen doesn't make me wanna reach into my wallet anytime soon!    Stay well all, JR