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They say a photo is worth a thousand words, and it actually could be worth thousands of dollars in vacation rental bookings. You can take good photos of your vacation rental by following a few simple vacation rental photography tips.
Having clear, well-lit photos that show all of the rooms and outdoor spaces of your vacation rental give your potential guests all of the information they need to book on your direct booking site or your Airbnb, VRBO, or other listings.
Though it is a great investment to hire a professional photographer to take a library of beautiful photos for you, that isn’t always a financial option for everyone. In the meantime, you can take great photos yourself by following these simple tips.
Set Your StageÂ
A photo is only as attractive and stunning as its background. So, before taking photos, take time to tidy up and organize every item. Style your vacation rental with items that communicate a relaxing and comfortable vibe to your prospective guests. For example, a basket with fruit and wine or a vase of fresh flowers on the dining room table will give guests a peek into how they will enjoy some downtime in your vacation rental. Fluff the pillows, straighten that picture on the living room wall, and remove anything “extra” that doesn’t belong in the room. Details matter!
Pay Attention to Lighting
When you are taking interior photos of your vacation rental, turn lights and lamps on, and open blinds and windows. In addition to helping you light up the rooms for bright photos, showing the bedroom with a lamp or light on draws the guest in and allows them to envision staying in that room. Natural light is always encouraged for good photos, and opening those curtains and blinds gives a look at the view to the outside.
Show them a peek into the beautiful view(s) they can enjoy when they spend a week in your vacation rental! A word of caution here is to be aware of the time of day and where the sun is because you don’t want to take photos directly into the sun. Depending on which direction your house and windows sit, it is worth your time to perhaps shoot one-half of the rooms in the morning light and the other half in the afternoon light, for example. You will get familiar with what works best as you go along.
Shoot Every Room
As you are taking photos of your vacation rental, keep in mind that your guests want to see all of the rooms. If your vacation rental has five bedrooms and six bathrooms, yep – they want to see every single one! As they are browsing for the perfect vacation rental online, they are trying to envision the look and feel of your home. It’s not very likely that a potential guest would say, “Gosh, they have so many photos of their home posted. I wish they had fewer pictures!” Trust us, they want to see ALL of the photos.
A virtual or video tour is an additional way to let them see the full home to help them make their booking decision.
Don’t Forget the ExteriorÂ
Capturing the exterior is as important as shooting the interior of your vacation rental. Your potential guests want to see your outdoor spaces and more importantly, the views they can enjoy from them. It’s a good idea to include a deck railing in the photo so they can see distance.
For example, if you are 100 yards from the beach, you don’t want to take a zoomed-in photo of the water from your deck. Show them the actual distance so they can plan accordingly. As you are taking your outdoor photos, you will again want to keep sunlight in mind. Taking photos on bright, sunny days is perfect – but you don’t ever want to take photos facing into the sun. Again, certain sides of the house may need to be shot in the morning while others may work better in the afternoon. If you have outdoor lighting, consider doing a shoot within 20 minutes of sunset for a magical glow.
Use a Decent Camera
Having clear, high-resolution photos of your vacation rental goes a long way to helping to increase your bookings. Of course, professional digital cameras are a great option, but if you have a newer smartphone, it likely can take good quality photos that will work great for your vacation rental marketing. You may consider adding a wide-angle lens to your smartphone when taking vacation rental photos because it can give your potential guests a more complete look at each room.
Editing Your Photos
When it comes time to post your photos, you may opt to edit them a bit first. Be careful with this, as you want the photos to look clean and natural – not overprocessed.
This point goes back to the lighting points made in this blog post – the brighter and lighter your photos can be taken, the less they will need any adjusting prior to posting. If you opt for a standard filter, try to choose one that leaves the photos as natural looking as possible, and use the same filter on all photos for consistency.
A few options for photo editors if you don’t already have one:
- Pixlr (it’s free and works great!)
- Canva – though you want to be careful using this to edit your photos to make sure you don’t lose resolution. It’s perfect for making social media post graphics and images though!
- Adobe Lightroom (reasonably priced monthly subscription)
