Real Estate Photography: Benefits, Types & Equipment
Mastering Real Estate Photography: 4 Proven Strategies to Elevate Your Listings and Outshine Competitors
Visuals can make or break a real estate listing. As more homebuyers shop online for properties—a whopping 97% of people already do so, according to one recent study—high-quality images can go a long way to demonstrate a property’s value.
Buyers also want top-notch visuals. According to a 2023 National Association of Realtors report, photos are the most useful listing feature for homebuyers browsing online listings.
Whether you’re a professional photographer specializing in real estate photography or a realtor hoping to upgrade your photography skills, you can make listings stand out with the right tools and tricks. Below, learn the many advantages of investing in real estate photography and how to level up your shutterbug skills.
Why you should invest in real estate photography
Navigating today's real estate market requires more than just listing a property. The U.S. alone boasts more than 1.55 million realtors—with all that competition, agents have to go the extra mile to catch the eye of potential buyers. And that’s where quality real estate photography can help.
Using professional photography as a tool in your marketing arsenal can transform how buyers perceive properties and increase their marketability.
Strong visuals help your listings stand out
High-quality, professional real estate photography captures the essence of a property and highlights its strengths. And these images go beyond aesthetics—they’re a vital tool in communicating a property's value and potential while also differentiating your listings.
Professional real estate photography transforms standard listings into compelling visual narratives. This kind of visual storytelling invites potential buyers to envision a future in the home and fosters a deeper connection with the property. It's about creating an immediate, impactful visual dialogue that resonates with the emotional and aspirational desires of buyers.
With that emotional connection established, potential buyers are more likely to take the next step on a property. Research shows that homes with pro listing photos get 61% more views that listings without high-quality images. And another 83% of homebuyers said photos are crucial in helping them figure out which homes they’ll view in person.
Boost your online presence
In addition to differentiating your listings from the sea of sameness online, pro real estate photography also helps more buyers discover your property portfolio. High-quality images offer significant SEO benefits since they’re more likely to be shared, which generates additional traffic and improves the listing's search engine rankings.
And if you optimize real estate images for search engines, you can further improve your website's ranking and attract more traffic. By incorporating targeted keywords, alt text, and file names for your real estate photos, your listings can climb up the search results.
Well-optimized images with relevant metadata can also appear in image search results, further increasing visibility. These SEO advantages contribute to a broader online presence, attracting more potential buyers and driving engagement with the listing.
High-quality images and a few real estate SEO tactics enhance a property’s appeal and leverage the power of search engines to attract a wider audience. Ultimately, more potential buyers browsing your listings increases your chances of a sale.
High-quality photos increase engagement
One of the goals of creating compelling listings for properties is to encourage potential buyers to engage with them. Agents want them to peruse the photos, read through the features, and maybe even browse a property via a 3D walkthrough. The more buyers engage with a listing, the more likely they are to take next steps.
High-quality photos play a crucial role in increasing engagement on your listings. Listings with professional photos see a huge spike in online engagement—a 118% boost in views compared to listings without images.
As most buyers begin their property search online, the distinctiveness of quality real estate photography captures and retains buyer interest, making them indispensable marketing tools. Pro photos accurately and attractively show off a property, which makes it easier for buyers to envision themselves in the space. As a result, engaged browsers are more likely to schedule visits and offers.
Build a foundation of trust with your customers
Professional real estate photography establishes a foundation of trust and sets a standard of quality with potential clients. By showcasing properties through high-quality images, agents and sellers communicate their commitment to excellence and attention to detail.
This perception of quality and professionalism not only attracts more clients, but also encourages them to associate these values with the agent or brand, fostering long-term relationships and enhancing the agent's reputation in the marketplace.
Real estate photography can help you close more deals
The numbers don’t lie—better images lead to more sales. Properties featured with HD images sell up to 32% faster and command 47% sales prices.
For example, homes with more than 20 professional images tend to sell within a month, while those with fewer or lower quality images might linger on the market for an average of 70 days.
This increased sales velocity and potential spike in sales prices highlight the strategic importance of investing in professional imagery. The bottom line is this: High-quality photos aren’t an expense, but instead, they’re an investment. And considering how much pro photos can boost your bottom line, it’s an investment that pays dividends in terms of both the speed and profitability of real estate transactions.
Common real estate photography types (and inspiring examples)
Location is the key, foundational factor for how agents and photographers approach shooting real estate photography. Here are the four types of real estate photography you need to understand and have in your portfolio to successfully build your real estate photography business or upgrade your portfolio of listings.
Residential real estate photos
The bulk of a real estate portfolio consists of residential properties, such as single-family homes, condos/townhomes, and luxury properties. Listings typically have anywhere from 20-30 photos to showcase the property’s unique qualities and provide a visual sense of what it might be like to live there. The quality of these photos can attract more buyers for the agent and move the listing off the market faster.
Hawaiian Oceanside Villa in Lanikai, Hawaii
Commercial real estate photos
Commercial real estate images for office buildings, hotels, and retail establishments focus on attracting potential companies to lease or buy a building. These photos also help potential employees and visitors who need to envision themselves in these spaces.
Typically, real estate photos for commercial properties will also appear on company social media profiles and physical marketing materials, which impact and craft their respective brands and appeal.
Brass Monkey Bowling in Dubai, India
When taking photos of a commercial space, highlight amenities like parking lots, lobbies, landscapes, and any surrounding businesses. Businesses will use your quality images in marketing materials to motivate visitors to book at the hotel, visit the shop, or apply for a position with the company.
Architectural elements photos
Architectural real estate photography focuses on the property’s structure and unique characteristics, such as textural elements, symmetry, and lines. Real estate agents, architects, designers, and building owners use these photos for listings, marketing materials, and publications, like Architectural Digest and Dezeen.
“AirBnB’s Most Popular Treehouse” has been featured in over 300 articles and TV shows, including Architectural Digest and Condé Nast Traveler.
Beyond structure, architectural photographs capture the space’s ambiance, such as a home’s fun and sunny outdoor BBQ area or the cozy intimacy of a cabin. Architectural photos can also document pivotal points in a building’s design and construction.
Exterior real estate photos
Exterior photography highlights a property or location’s outdoor elements from multiple angles, including aerial street images. Real estate agents leverage these photos as a way to highlight the neighborhood.
These types of images also showcase the property’s landscape and illuminate any seasonality, such as a location with plenty of trees during autumn.
The Round House’s backyard, located in Romford, United Kingdom
5 tips for better real estate photography
To make the most of a partnership between professional real estate photographers, agents, and home sellers, these five real estate photography tips will help photographers stand out from their competitors.
1. Choose the right time of day
Natural lighting is the key ingredient for every type of real estate photography. Potential buyers for residential properties want to see how much natural light each room receives, so aim for late morning and early afternoon. Architectural and exterior photographs may focus on the atmosphere, so the timing may be the “golden hour” (1-2 hours before sunset) to translate the experience to visitors.
Once you tour the property, make sure to recommend the proper time to your collaborators (home sellers, agents, etc.) to ensure they have availability to let you capture the property.
2. Plan the shot list
The shot list showcases your organizational expertise. Go over your plans for all interior and exterior locations, and give an estimate of how long you expect the process to take. You’ll also share any ideas you have for vignettes to ensure the listing has unique photographs that the agent can emphasize in the listing.
For example, real estate photography firm Whiskey & Lavender put together a list of key shots to take for each room in a property.
3. Make sure the property is well staged
Generally, real estate agents and homeowners collaborate on staging a home for sale. Agents walk through a space to ensure furniture is well laid out, counters are clean and uncluttered, personal photos are removed, and so on.
Real estate photographers can also nudge the process along. After all, better staging leads to better photos. Partner up with realtors and sellers. Send a checklist to ensure the space is presentable and photo-ready. And when you walk through the space before a photo shoot, you can assist with decluttering, check any window blinds to ensure natural light comes through, and ask about any personal pictures or art they may consider removing or blurring in edits.
You’ll also want to ensure that you have the right angle for each photo and can follow the rule of thirds. A fruit bowl, light fixture, and open cabinet doors in a kitchen help separate a room into thirds so that each item falls into a vertical column and horizontal row to provide a semblance of balance to the space, which makes the room more appealing. If staging a home isn’t possible, you can always lean on virtual staging to add virtual details to a physical space.
4. Go beyond 2D photos with virtual assets like digital twins
Although 2D photos are a fantastic place to start, realtors and real estate photographers can further differentiate themselves with virtual experiences for listings. That includes 3D photos and virtual tours. According to a 2020 survey, 99% of home sellers believed virtual tours improved their competitive edge for their listing—and 90% of potential buyers were more compelled by virtual assets.
Beyond equipment, photographers can ensure consistency between their 2D and 3D photography (the scans that create the 3D virtual tour and virtual open house) by shooting both 2D and 3D photos at the same time of day from the same angle.
5. Research real estate photography trends and innovations
Staying aware of trends and innovations in real estate photography is essential for maintaining a competitive edge. Techniques such as drone photography/aerial photography and 3D virtual tours transform how properties are presented and experienced online.
Embracing these technologies can significantly enhance a listing's appeal, offering immersive and interactive viewing experiences that captivate potential buyers.
Real estate photography equipment for every property type
Whether you’re an agent or photographer, the quality of your real estate photography relies on the quality of your equipment. Your camera is an extension of your quality standards—and buyers notice.
Many professional real estate photographers make sure their cameras deliver a high-dynamic range (HDR) and offer digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) capabilities—like fast shutter speeds—to capture the perfect picture at the right moment.
But how can you take your digital images to the next level without getting bogged down in a learning curve? That’s where Matterport cameras come in—they enable photographers and agents to accurately capture every property type, with the added benefit of rendering virtual assets that can be used across different listing platforms.
Each property captured with Matterport includes:
High-quality 2D photographs
3D photograph renderings
Digital twins that support photorealistic walkthroughs
A dollhouse view of the property
The ability to highlight property features using Mattertag annotations
AI-driven property insights. Source
Dollhouse views give buyers a complete picture of a property. Source
Here’s a list of the equipment for real estate photography that helps make that happen with a simple “click” of a camera.
Mobile cameras for residential real estate photographs
When you pair your smartphone’s camera with the Matterport app, you can immediately walk through the property and take 2D photos. Pair your phone with the motorized Matterport Axis™ stand that spins the phone around the space to capture it with precision and ensure your 3D digital twin comes out from the same viewpoint with ultimate clarity.
Once the digital twin is available in the app, you can share it with the real estate agent, who can then add any labels, measurements, and descriptions to ensure a clear, personalized listing that will attract potential buyers.
360° cameras for residential real estate photography
Ideal for small and medium spaces, our 360° cameras are portable, lightweight cameras with a range of high-quality pixelation that ensures you can quickly edit for any color temperature balance across your interior photography in post-processing.
Pro2 camera for residential property and crisp interior photos
With the single press of a button, our Pro2 camera single captures spaces with a photo resolution of 134 megapixels and implements white balance when used in full automatic mode to offer clear, naturally lit photos. With a long-lasting battery and fast shutter speed, you can capture multiple properties in a day without worrying about losing any time on a sunny day.
Pro2 or Pro3 cameras for commercial real estate photographs
The Pro3 camera is the perfect choice to track commercial real estate’s interior progress while being built. The Pro3 delivers dimensional accuracy with each photo, which will be incredibly helpful in outlining marketing floor plans and determining space allocation when staging, either in person or virtually.
The Pro3 camera shines in adaptability because it delivers consistent, high-quality photos indoors and outdoors. Its ability to capture properties and the surrounding landscape with an ultra-wide angle will help create a digital twin that makes it easy to tour the entire building while highlighting the property’s surrounding amenities. Because the Pro3 offers an increased range, it’s ideal to use to photograph large resorts and hotels, factories, large retailers, airport terminals, and campuses.
Pro3 camera for architectural and exterior real estate photographs
The Pro3 camera lidar sensor and 12-elemental lens make it possible to capture architecture and exterior photographs regardless of low light or direct sunlight. The Pro3 quickly scans up to 100 meters away at less than 20 seconds per sweep, which results in true-to-life depth and accuracy for your 3D photos and digital twin.
The business case for professional real estate photography
Sixty-eight percent of photographers using Matterport cameras report they’re more competitive in their market. And 63% of buyers are more likely to buy a home with a virtual tour.
For decades VHT has cultivated a network of experienced real estate photographers and best-in-class photo editors. Now, with our partnership with MTTR we are able to extend these services to include cutting-edge AI-powered real estate marketing tools to make a true all-in-one solution. Learn more about real estate photography pricing so that you can accurately price your services, and check out our solutions for photographers when you sign up for an account today.
