Photography tips: make the listing sell — with just a phone.

Photographs are the first, and often the only, thing a buyer sees before deciding whether to open the listing at all. Good shots lead to more viewings, and more viewings to a faster sale at a better price. You don't need a camera. You need a method. Here are the professional techniques, translated for the field and whatever is to hand.

Needed: a smartphone + clean windows Time: one sunny afternoon 15–25 good shots > 40 mediocre ones

Before you press the button

Preparation decides 80% of the result.

The most expensive mistake is photographing the place "as is". The buyer is not buying your possessions — they are imagining their own life in the space. The job of the photograph is to show space, light and potential, not your daily life. Set aside an hour before the shoot to prepare each room.

Do

Clear ruthlessly: take down fridge magnets, cables, chargers, remote controls, cosmetics, the dish rack, clothes, shoes in the hall.
Depersonalise: remove family photographs, documents, medicines, children's drawings. The buyer needs to see themselves, not you.
Clean the windows — this is number one. Dirty glass eats the light and turns the shot grey.
Make the beds, arrange the pillows, straighten bedspreads and shower curtains.
Replace dead bulbs and match their colour (all warm or all cool, not mixed).
Add a little life: fresh flowers, a bowl of fruit, folded clean towels — but sparingly.

Avoid

Open toilet lids, visible bins, toothbrushes on the basin.
Pets, food bowls and toys in the frame.
Over-decorating — piled-up ornaments look worse than empty space.
Mirrors with you or the phone visible in them.
Laundry, drying racks, shelves of products in the bathroom and kitchen.
A car on the drive or in front of the entrance when photographing a house or a building's entrance.

Light

Light and time of day.

Light is the most powerful tool you have, and it is free — but only at the right moment. The rule is simple: shoot with natural light, but never with direct sun in the window. Direct sunlight blows the window out into a white patch and throws hard shadows. You want soft, diffused light.

An overcast day

The ideal time for interiors

Clouds work as a giant softbox — the light is soft and even, with no hard shadows and no blown-out windows. If you have the choice, photograph interiors on a bright overcast day.

Every room has its hour

Follow the sun around the home

Photograph east-facing rooms in the morning and west-facing ones in the afternoon, while the sun is on the other side and soft indirect light comes in. Don't shoot everything at once; work round the property according to its orientation.

The "blue hour" · dusk

The winning shot for exteriors and views

For 15–20 minutes after sunset the sky still has colour while the lights inside glow warm. Turn on every light and shoot the building or terrace from outside, or from inside towards the view — this makes the most striking cover image for the listing.

Always

Turn on every light — always

Even during the day. Lights on warm up the shot, remove dark corners and make the home look lived in and welcoming. The exception: a lamp shining straight into the lens and flaring.

Never photograph an interior at night without a plan for the light. Dark windows become black holes, and ceiling lights flatten the space. Night shots are for exteriors in the blue hour only — with the lights on.

Details

Curtains and blinds.

Curtains control both the light and what can be seen outside. The decision depends on the view:

A good view (a park, mountains, a panorama): open everything wide. Pull heavy curtains symmetrically to the sides. The view is an asset — show it.
An unattractive view (a wall, the next block, a yard): leave the sheer curtain down. It lets soft light through while hiding the view and giving a sense of privacy.
Heavy, dark curtains: always draw them fully to the sides and line them up symmetrically — closed dark curtains steal half the light and shrink the room.
Patterned or yellowed sheers: if they look bad, take them down for the shoot — a clean window frame looks better than a grubby curtain.

The light-versus-view balance is the hard part on a phone: expose for the room and the window burns out white; expose for the window and the room goes dark. The solution is in the next section.

Technique

How to hold the phone: height, level and angle.

This is where the difference between an amateur and a professional shot lies — and it costs nothing.

1. Height: chest level, not eye level

Hold the phone about 1.4–1.5 m from the floor — chest or waist height. The lower viewpoint makes the room look more spacious and keeps vertical lines straight. A shot from eye level shrinks the space and tips the walls.

2. Level: perfectly horizontal

A tilted phone makes walls lean in or out — the most telling amateur flaw. Turn on the grid and the level in your camera settings and align the vertical lines of walls and doors parallel to the edges of the frame. The horizon and the skirting should be perfectly straight.

3. Angle: shoot from the corner of the room

Stand in a corner (or in the doorway) and shoot diagonally across the room to capture two walls. That shows depth and real size. A shot square-on to one wall looks flat and shrinks the room.

Stability: hold with both hands, brace a shoulder against the door frame or rest the phone on a table or a stack of books, and use the 2-second timer so there is no shake as you press. A cheap tripod (€10–20) is the best investment if you are shooting in low light or in the blue hour.

Wide shots and details

Every room wants both kinds of shot — they tell different stories:

The wide shot — the main image of every room. It shows the layout, the size and how the spaces connect. Step back to the doorway or into the corner to fit in more.
The detail shot — one or two per property, to highlight quality: a tap, the parquet, kitchen handles, a fireplace, the view from a window, a design feature. Details create a sense of care and value.

Careful with the ultra-wide lens (0.5x). It is tempting for fitting a whole room in, but ultra-wide distorts straight lines and lies about size — and the buyer feels cheated at the viewing. Use the main lens (1x) and simply step back — through the door, into the corridor. Never use digital zoom (it degrades quality); move your feet instead.

Landscape or portrait

Shoot landscape — that is the format for property. Portals and listings show landscape thumbnails, and a horizontal frame matches the way we perceive space. Use portrait only for tall features: a staircase, floor-to-ceiling windows, a building façade, a high entrance hall. The main cover image should always be landscape.

Settings

Technical settings on the phone.

Setting	How	Why
Clean the lens	Wipe with a clean cloth	Finger grease creates haze and halos around lights.
Grid + level	Camera settings	Keeps walls straight and the horizon level.
Lock focus/exposure	Press and hold on the screen (AE/AF Lock)	Stops the camera jumping and changing brightness mid-frame.
HDR — on	Auto, or manual for contrasty scenes	Balances a bright window and a dark room at once — this solves the light problem. But check it doesn't look fake.
Flash — off	Always	It gives hard shadows, reflections in glass and ugly flat light.
Full resolution	No zoom	Portals like sharp, detailed photographs; zoom and cropping lose quality.

Editing

Editing: improve, don't lie.

A light edit in the phone's free app (or Snapseed / Lightroom Mobile) makes the difference — but in moderation:

Allowed

Straightening and a light crop.
A moderate lift in brightness and opening up the shadows.
Correcting the white balance if the shot is too blue or too yellow.
The same style across every photograph — one warmth, one brightness.

Misleading

An artificial "blue sky" in place of a grey one.
Oversaturating colours (neon green grass, orange parquet).
Removing defects (stains, cracks) that are real.
Ultra-wide shots that enlarge rooms unrealistically.

Misleading photographs don't just destroy trust — they lead to viewings abandoned on the doorstep and time wasted on both sides. A photograph is a promise; the viewing has to confirm it.

Shot list

What to photograph.

Cover everything — a missing room creates suspicion ("what are they hiding?"). In order of importance:

1The cover shot (your strongest image). Usually the living room, the kitchen-diner or the view. This decides whether the listing gets opened at all.

2Living room — 2–3 shots from different angles.

3Kitchen — a wide shot plus a detail of the worktop or appliances.

4Every bedroom — bed made, wide angle.

5Bathroom(s) — clean, lid down, no personal items.

6Hall and corridor — they show how the home flows.

7Balcony / terrace — and the view from it.

8The view through the window — if it is good, give it its own shot.

9Building entrance, façade, communal areas — clean and tidy.

10Extras — basement, parking space or garage, lift, garden.

11Floor plan. A layout drawing is among the most valued elements — buyers actively look for it.

Quality over quantity: 15–25 excellent, clear, bright shots sell better than 40 mediocre ones. Choose only the best; one bad shot drags down the impression of the whole property.

The property is ready for the camera. Is it ready for the right buyer?

Excellent photographs bring buyers. FinHome directs them to people with a real, declared budget — no spam enquiries and no calls about unsuitable properties. Publish discreetly and reach serious buyers.

To the seller entry point

These tips reflect established practice in property photography, adapted for shooting on a mobile phone. Results depend on the specific property, device and lighting. The content is educational and does not guarantee any particular outcome in a sale.

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