How to Photograph Your House’s Exterior and Capture its Curb Appeal

How to Photograph Your House's Exterior

Are you planning to sell your home? If you are, then you have to learn how to photograph your house’s exterior and capture its curb appeal. A lot of homeowners have this misconception that all they need to highlight is their home’s interior. They take an obligatory photo of their house’s exterior and then focus on the interior.

This is not to say that the interior is not important. It’s still very important because it’s where potential home buyers are going to live so you can bet that they’re going to scrutinize each and every inch. However, you also have to put importance on the exterior as well – particularly its curb appeal.

Why it’s Important

It’s all about capturing the attention of potential home buyers. What’s the first thing that they’re going to see? Yes, it’s your home’s exterior, and they’re going to see it from your curb. This is why you have to make sure that your house as amazing curb appeal.

This way, you’re going to set up the visit on a good note. If they love what they see from your curb, then the visit will start off on a positive note, enabling them to appreciate your home’s interior even more.

Of course, you have to promote your home online and on print ads as well. This is why you have to make sure that you know how to photograph your house’s exterior and capture its curb appeal. You have to make them feel like they’re right there on your curb, ready to fall in love with your home.

Besides, a lot of listings don’t put importance on the homes’ exterior. This allows you to stand out from the rest of the listings.

How to Photograph Your Home’s Exterior

Follow these tips in order to come up with amazing photographs of your home’s exterior that will have potential home buyers calling and coming:

  • Stage your home’s exterior.

You have to make sure that your home’s exterior is at its best. Is there any physical damage that you need to take care of first before listing your home? Maybe your siding needs a bit of a clean-up job. How about your roof’s shingles?

If everything is taken care of – meaning everything is clean and damage-free – it’s time to set up your home for perfect shots. Remove everything that shouldn’t be included in the shot. These include your cars and trash. Make sure that your tools and yard equipment are in the garage with its door closed.

Speaking of cleaning, make sure that your landscape and hardscape are clean as well. Sweep the yard and clean the driveway for any oil spill.

It’s also a good idea to add a wreath at the door. It sure boosts your house’s hominess. You can also hire a landscaper to improve your home’s landscape.

  • Shoot during spring.

Given the chance, make sure to shoot during spring. This is especially true if you have a landscaped garden. Spring is when your trees have new leaves and flowers are just blooming in your garden. At the very least, fresh and green grass looks better in pictures than sun-damaged turf or snow drifts.

  • Take pictures at the best time of the day.

This will be dependent on where your house is located. As a general rule, make sure that you’re taking pictures at the time of the day when the sunlight will be behind you when you’re taking a picture of the front side of your house. This will give your house’s exterior a lot of natural light which will make for more amazing photos.

Don’t make the mistake of shooting photos when the sun is behind your house. This will lead to a lot of shadows.

But even if you’re shooting with the sun behind you, make sure that you check for any glares caused by sunlight bouncing off of windows and other shiny objects. If there’s glare, try another angle.

Speaking of trying, you do have to experiment to determine the best time of the day to shoot. Try shooting at different times of the day with different conditions of the sky. While as a general rule, shooting on a clear day is best, there are some instances when shooting on a cloudy day will lead to details of your home popping out.

  • Experiment to find the best frame.

Start by shooting your home head-on. While chances are that this is not the best angle, this is a good starting point because it will show you details that are missed. Usually, shooting your home head-on will make it lose its depth and will make your home look cramped.

So shoot from every corner of your home and every inch in between to find the most flattering frame for your home. You may also need to shoot at different heights so take out the ladder.

These are general tips but apply them and you should be able to get amazing pictures of your home’s exterior.

Additional Tips

Here are some very basic tips that you can follow to complement the tips above:

  • Use a high quality camera.

A DSLR camera works best for this purpose. You can use auto mode, but feel free to experiment with manual mode to find the best shot.

  • Use a wide-angle lens.

You can’t widen a shot using a photo editor so use a wide-angle lens. At the very least, back up in order to get a wide shot.

  • Use a tripod.

The slightest shake of your hands will show in your shots. Use a tripod for more stable shots.

  • Highlight desirable features in your home’s exterior.

Do you have a wraparound porch? Make sure that it’s highlighted in the picture. Did you have a new roof installed? Highlight that!

When in doubt, hire a professional photographer that specializes in taking real estate photos. But if you follow these tips on how to photograph your house’s exterior and capture its curb appeal, you should be able to do it on your own.

All written content (and most images) in these articles are copyrighted by the authors. Copyrighted material from Apogee Photo Mag should not be used elsewhere without seeking the authors permission.

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