Preparing before a real estate photography shoot is essential to ensure the best possible outcome and showcase the property in its most appealing light. Here is a real estate photography checklist helping you know exactly what to do before your photographer arrives.
Photography Checklist
Remove clutter: clean up and hide family photos, and clear off the counters entirely.
Staging: You can opt to try Virtual Staging, hire a staging company, or stage your home yourself by doing things like setting up your dining area with dishes, bowls, glasses, and utensils.
Turn On Lights: Turn on every light inside and outside, including bedside lamps, accent lights, and garage lights, and replace any burned-out bulbs.
Open Blinds: Pull open all blinds and curtains. If a window is damaged or is not presentable, leave the blinds down and twist them open to let some light in.
Turn Off Electronics: Turn off ceiling fans. You may opt to leave your TV on if you can find a channel or app that shows static imagery like landscapes or artwork.
Move Cars: Park vehicles far away to not appear in drone photos. The drone shows everything around the home up to 3-4 blocks away. If you cannot move vehicles, hiding them in the garage is the second best option.
Outdoors: Clean up and mow the lawn. Remove trash cans from sight if possible.
Door Access: Unlock doors to all the areas of the home. Although some areas may not be presentable and do not need to be photographed, they should be accessed by your photographer to include your black and white floor plan if provided.
Window Cleaning: Clean glass surfaces and windows and remove screens if you have time. This will make the windows appear even more clean.
Floors: Sweep, vacuum, and mop as needed
Wall Organization: Straighten picture frames and arrange decor as needed.
Vacate the House
It's best to plan to leave your home and give our photographers a non-occupied space to work with.
This eliminates distractions and potential mistakes. Even if the homeowner is shuffling from room to room to stay out of the way, it can be very distracting. Errors often occur, and the photography shoot takes longer than it would with a vacant home.
What to do with my pets during my photography shoot?
Pets can be a massive problem for the homeowner and the photographer when it comes to photography and staging.
"Pets can be a huge problem for the homeowner and the photographeer when it comes to photography and staging. Often times, the homeowner has nowhere to take the pets to get them out of the house for the shoot. And, pets that are home, even when kept outside, get in the way of photos. Pets are especially difficult to manage during noisy drone activities and 3D virtual tours." - Jay Hanna, Owner, Jeeves Drones
It's best to take your pets with you if you can. Pets that are even left outside can be a problem. It's amazing what gets picked up when you're doing drone photography.
Preparation is crucial for achieving high-quality real estate photographs that effectively showcase the property's best features, increase buyer interest, and facilitate a smoother and more productive photography session.
Comments