You don't need to hire a pro for your Airbnb photo's!

Justin47
Level 3
Tucson, AZ

You don't need to hire a pro for your Airbnb photo's!

Hi everybody, my name is Justin and I have been a superhost here in Tucson Arizona since 2015.  I recently started a YouTube channel called Superhosting Tucson (found here) covering all sorts of topics about hosting on Airbnb and my latest one involves how to take the best pictures of your space without hiring a pro, it can be found here.   The script is below

 

64AD49C4-BE8B-4C3A-B190-5216AE9EDF3A pt2.jpg

 

 

When looking at the myriad of listings posted on Airbnb, you see many different types of photos. Some listings have only a few pictures, while others seem to capture every detail. Some photos are very professional looking while others are, let’s say a good effort. My advice is that your pictures should be good, but not too good.

What I mean by this is that you do not want to make your Airbnb space look like something that it is not. Professional photographers tend to use lenses and lighting techniques to make the space look grander than it is. I had a professional photographer take pictures of my space and they turned out beautiful, I but ended up not using them because they were not representative of my space. I ended up opting to take pictures with my iPhone in good lighting situations to get a more read representational perspective to my listing. Here is the same angle with the pro’s version and mine.

Some tips on how to take good photos on your phone are to first thoroughly clean your space and to turn all of the lights on. Take the photos horizontally so they fill as much of the screen as possible and always take them during the day when the natural light is at its best, never at night (unless you are highlighting a night feature). Never zoom in on your subject as this lowers the resolution. Take many photos from all different angles just in case some are not in focus. I like to tap on the screen as to what I am focusing on to for the best clarity. When editing, do not crop them too much, this loses resolution as well. Apply a little saturation to make them more vibrant, or try using the magic wand if you are using an iPhone.

When posting them to Airbnb, do not post similar shots from the same angle and instead use as many shots as you can to represent the space. Always give a short description for each photo to help the viewer understand what they are looking at. As for the amount of pictures, I say as long as they’re interesting, use as many as you can, this avoids confusion and gives an overall impression of the space. Keep the photo’s updated as the space changes as well, if you get a new sofa, then update the Airbnb listing!

Superhosting Tucson
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnu1E2HfIhPYzmpAWX6tKxw
4 Replies 4
Francisca16
Level 5
New York, NY

Thanks for the tips! I was thinking of hiring a professional photographer. Now, I will do it myself.

My pleasure, glad that it helped, I will be adding new videos to my channel weekly, so check back for more!

Superhosting Tucson
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnu1E2HfIhPYzmpAWX6tKxw
Edwin57
Level 10
New York, United States

Thank you for the tip 

Veronique271
Level 4
Tucson, AZ

Thank you Justin!