Tips for Taking Quality Photos
Now that you have prepared your home for the market, set a price and assembled a team of professionals to help you sell your home, the next step is to start marketing your property. Before you can develop marketing materials, however, you need to take high-quality photos of your home that you can use with your marketing materials. While you can certainly hire a professional to take the photos for you, this is a task that you can easily handle yourself if you follow a few simple tips.
Make Your Home Picture Perfect
You have already made the necessary improvements and repairs to attract potential buyers, so getting your home picture perfect should be a relatively simple task. Nonetheless, there are a few details that can really help make your home look more attractive when it is photographed. For example, while you want your shades to be up so the natural light can enter your home when a potential buyer comes for a visit, the exterior of your home may look better when the shades are drawn. Consider these minor details and make the necessary adjustments as you take your photos.
In making your home picture perfect, you also need to make sure your yard is properly manicured and all clutter is removed. This includes removing your garbage cans as well as your car.
Choose the Right Time to Take Your Pictures
The best time to take a picture of your home is on a sunny day during the summertime or in the spring. If you absolutely must take the photos in the fall, make sure all of the leaves are raked and avoid including bare trees in your pictures if possible. Wintertime is the worst time to take a photo of a home, particularly if you live in an area that gets snow. If you have no other choice than to take a picture while there is snow on the ground, pick a sunny day after a fresh blanket of snow has fallen. Regardless of the time of the year, take your photos at a time of the day when the sun is shining behind you and onto your home.
You should also consider the direction your house faces when deciding when to take your photos. If your home faces west, it is typically better to take the photos in the evening without two hours of sunset. If your house faces east, take them in a morning within two hours of sunrise. For a south-facing house, take the photos in the afternoon when the sun is no longer directly overhead. Generally, any time between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm is best. If your house faces north, any time when the sun shines on your house is sufficient. If the house does not receive direct sunlight, wait for a bright day when the sun is not covered by clouds.
Taking Interior Photos
If you wish to take photos of your home's interior, keep in mind that you do not necessarily need to take a picture of every room in the house. Instead, choose those rooms that are the most important, such as the master bedroom and the kitchen. If you have any rooms that offer a special or unique feature, you may want to include photos of these rooms as well.
Before taking photos of interior rooms, make sure they are clean and well lit. Take photos from several different angles and choose the single photo that best represents the room's special features and dimensions.
Developing Your Photos
Generally speaking, a digital camera is your best option for taking photos of your home. This way, you can see the photos immediately after you take them and you can keep taking photos until you get the perfect shot. When using a digital camera, set it on the highest resolution in order to get the sharpest, clearest photos possible.
If you are using a 35mm "film" camera, take several photos of each room that you wish to include in your marketing materials. Select the best shots and get them converted to digital files. You can get this done and virtually any office supply store as well as at many drug stores and chain stores, such as Wal-Mart. After you convert the photos to digital files, you can easily upload them to the Internet and use them when creating marketing materials.