How to Shoot Real Estate Photography with a Mobile Phone

Do you find yourself in a position where a professional real estate photographer can't make their way to you?

Is it possible to pull off professional real estate photos without the professional photographer?

YES!

Most of the same principles of real estate photography can be done on your own phone. And phones these days often have ways of shooting in high quality formats that can be edited the same way we edit professional real estate images.

I'll walk you through three steps and break those steps down. At the end, you'll see what I was able to do on my run-of-the-mill Google Pixel 3 phone.

*Preparation Tips (Interior Design)
-- Kitchen
-- -- Hide Trashcans
-- -- Clear Surfaces
-- -- Clear Dishes
-- Bathroom
-- -- Close Toilet Seat
-- -- Clear Surfaces
-- -- Open Shower Curtain
-- Bedroom/Living Room
-- -- Straighten Sheets
-- -- Remove Cords
-- -- Fluff and Place Pillows
*Camera Tips
-- Camera Settings
-- Camera Height
-- Camera Tilt
* Composition Tips
-- Frame Shot with More Walls
-- Lines of Sight
-- Subject: The Room

I'll end by showing you a bonus tip, of how you can pull off real HDR photos.

But remember! Editing the photos is half of the work. You'll want a professional to do those for you. But by following the above steps you'll put yourself in the right position to pull off professional looking real estate photos with your own phone.

[lindamcginnis]

Thanks for distilling this info in a nutshell. I learned a lot. Appreciate your humor. You are entertaining. Holds the viewer's interest!

[HadassahJacobs]

You have best video for shooting real estate with your phone on YouTube 🎉

[jnfrancoispierre]

As a photographer 📸 I tilt my hat down to you sir...very well done!

[AZTigerMMA]

I love how grounded and real you are bro! Kick ass

[barbaramorgan]

EXCELLENT. As a Realtor for 20 years, one of my pet peeves is taking a picture of a chair... on a wall... with a painting... My question is always, "Is this included?" Your tips are excellent. Yes, a phone works just fine if you know what you're trying to 'SELL'. Sell the house, not the furniture. Move things around. The beds not made? Make the bed. There's a trash can in the way? Move it out of the shot. There are clothes on the bed or chair? Move them out of the shot. Remember to return them back where they were.
It's simple.... SELL THE HOUSE. Not the wall, not the floor, not the mirrored door in 'whatever room? Sell the entire floorplan.
I love that you take the shot from the doorway. The door frame gives you a straight line reference and is usually not part of the shot. If it is, you can edit that out by 'cropping' the photo.

Editing? In every phone there is a way to change the shot. Lighter, darker, clearer. Sepia, Enhanced color. Crop, straighten.
One thing... turn on the lights. Open the curtains in the rooms and the shower curtain (if in the shower/tub there is stuff, move them out of the shot) And close the darn toilet lid. grrrr
One more item when entering your photos in the listing, you can 'label' the photo or give a description. Play with the ap. Realtor.com allows you to go back in and put a description in the actual photo. Or you can do it before you enter the photo in the listing. For instance; Photo of a bedroom, you can write on the photo, "Bedroom 3 upper level. Or main level, or Bedroom 3, 12'x14'.
I also like entering the photos in order. From the entry door, through to the next room, dining or kitchen. Down the hall to Bedroom #1, #2... Up the stairway or down the stairway... From the room the stairs are in. Gives the buyer who is online a 'general' layout of the house. Don't start in the bathroom... or the upstairs bedroom. Start at the front door.
Thank you for doing this video. I hope some agents actually take heed and work for their clients.

[elephantmoney]

Ya but how did you do the editing ? That's the biggest part

[visualplanter]

This video was fantastic. Thank you so much! Would you consider creating an HDR tutorial?? Or possibly pointing me in the direction of a good starting-point video? I'm OBSESSED with how your HDR photographs looked at the end of the video!!

[hum]

This taught me more than past realestate videos

[DANNYBLVCK]

Great information. Also Using the wide angle lens always helps capture real estate photography.

VERY VERY informative with great tips.

[nataliedixon]

Cracking tips. Thanks so much. I just learnt tons in this video!

[SmallTownStoriesWithEJ]

All of my mistakes came flooding back. Thank you this was very helpful!

[johnduffin]

You are insanely talented! Love this so much!

[barbeehauzinger]

Did you use another phone app to blend the single HDR frames you shot? Great video!

[dons]

Thank-you! I'm selling my first property and will use your tips today!

[SandraRamirez-nwpz]

Thank you so much for making this video

[SamiMarjeta]

Great video, but no hint about the editing software for HDR stacking?

[mariaguild]

This was an amazing video! So well explained! I think the best one on youtube, I see that it is 4 years old. do the new i phones have better HDR settings, I dont understand how to combine 3 photos at different exposre

[fatherfathereva]

Thank you for the wonderful video. I'm curious about the process you used to merge the true HDR pictures – the underexposed, overexposed, and normal ones. I would appreciate it if you could show me how you combined them.

Thanks again.

[mr.c]

Acceptable photos, better than you would normally shoot photos, etc are not necessarily "professional" photos. AND, "professional" photos does not always mean good photos just because someone is paid to shoot or shoot with something other than a phone. I've seen this in all forms of photography.

These are still great tips.