A guide to Rental property photography

Over the years I have photographed dozens of hotels, restaurants, serviced apartments, and even cruise ships. I also photograph homes that are available to rent trhough property rental agents, perhaps Airbnb. The principles are the same, and I apply the same care and attention to the work. Whether shooting a large hotel, or a small one bedroom rental house, the aim is to maximise your investment and increase bookings, by making the place look as inviting as possible. So, please read on and find out how to prepare for a shoot at your place!

First things first, get in touch with me and schedule a shoot. Depending on the number of rooms, it may take just a couple of hours for a small place, or perhaps a day for a bigger space. Let me know how many rooms you have and I can give you an idea. Make sure you make a list of shots that you would like, and between us we can come up with a plan.

It sounds obvious, but do a thorough clean! Tidy away anything that shouldn’t be there, or spoils the look of the place, iron the sheets on the bed, put away the pots and pans and vacuum the rugs or carpets. Ideally, you should also clean the windows; it’s amazing how much you can see with high resolution cameras. Fresh towels always look good in the bathroom and maybe some nice bathroom products.

You’ll need some basic props, things like coffee cups, magazines, reading books etc, and flowers always help. Try and decide how you want the images to look. We usually do a mix of ‘views’ and ‘lifestyle’ images; Airbnb want you to show the whole room, but if you like to use Instagram or other social media to publicise the place, the lifestyle images (think images of cosy corners with an artfully placed magazine and coffee cup for instance) work well.

I’ll try and do 2-3 images per room, but the tidier and more prepared you can be, the more images we can do. I will shoot what is there, but will ‘style’ each shot for the camera as I move through the property. I will not use artificial lighting or extreme wide angle lenses; It can look a bit ‘naff’ ( like an ‘estate agents’ shoot!). I will supply atmospheric and beautiful pictures, usually within 48 hours of the shoot, and they will be delivered in the correct size for you to upload them to your agents website.

There is a minimum charge of £200, but please contact me to get a quotation for your place. As a rough guide, a two bedroom property will cost approximately £350 for a full shoot. Petrol is charged at 45p/mile. All post production is included.

See more of my work on my website