In spite of the fact that preparing your home or work for sale is a time-consuming and intricate process, there are steps you can take to make it go more smoothly. Preparing your home for the Architectural Photographer is an important step because high-quality photos increase the likelihood that potential buyers will want to see the property and submit offers.
Listed below are four simple guidelines that will have your home camera-ready in no time.
Identify your needs and wants and focus on your end goals
This is your home, so you should be upfront and clear about what you want. For example, if you have a preferred angle or viewpoint that you think showcases a room best, let the photographer know. This will make their job easier because even though professional photographers are well-versed in taking the best photos, they aren’t familiar with your home the way you are.
You won’t be able to get the ideal marketing shots unless you and the photographer are on the same page. Far too often, clients expect the photographer to intuitively know what they want, which can be frustrating for both parties.
Communicating your ideas in advance will save time and make the photographer’s job easier; however, keep in mind that you hired them to take photographs, not to handle all of the planning and decision-making.
Get it clean before it’s seen
We can all agree that there is a noticeable change after a good cleaning and tidying and that improvement could be the deciding factor in someone making an offer. The photographer’s job is to take the photos, and if they’re required to provide cleaning services too, it won’t come cheap!
Your best bet is to employ professional cleaning services, which I would personally recommend for the most thorough job. They’ll get your home looking spotless, making things much simpler for both you and the sales photographer.
You should focus on cleaning:
- The windows, inside and outside.
- The floors, swept and mopped.
- The appliances, to remove fingerprints, dust and smudges.
- The shelves, organised and dusted.
- The sinks and showers.
The camera draws attention to imperfections like mild stains, fingerprints, dust particles, and oily streaks that would otherwise go unnoticed in daylight. Especially on reflective surfaces like the fridge, taps, microwaves, dishwasher, and cabinets, removing these will greatly improve the photos.
Add some vibrant extras
While your home does need to look neat and clean in promotional photographs, it doesn’t need to look barren. Presumably, your home will be stylized and decorated, and you can use this to your advantage to show potential buyers what the house looks like as a home.
As well as your personal decorations, you can inject some colour to the house by bringing in additional props, such as a bowl of fruit for your coffee table, a neat stack of cookery books for your kitchen counter and a bottle of nice wine and a cheese board for your dining room table. These are examples of props that blend naturally into the rest of the house, adding some colour without overpowering the furniture.
Architectural Photographers aim to make their photos look as natural as possible, without even a hint of artificial light, so don’t overdo it with the props. Things like fruit, books and wine are items that we would expect to see inside someone’s home. They will look perfectly natural in your photographs and help potential buyers envision what it could be like actually living inside the house.
Brighten the shots with fresh flowers
Similarly to how colourful props can add some natural colour to your shots, fresh flowers can also help brighten the interior. Buyers will know that the house is occupied and cared for if there are plants and flowers in the photos. Again, there’s no need to overdo it. Use colour harmony as your guide:match the colours of the flowers to the other colours present in your home so that they don’t clash.
Place fresh flowers on a flat surface like a table or cabinet to add a splash of colour to your photos without making them the focus of the frame. Also, don’t be afraid to put a few flower arrangements in the kitchen or bathroom – two places buyers might not immediately think of.
Overall, preparing your home for an Architectural Photographer is likely easier than you think. As long as you’re decisive, clean and decorative, the photographer will be able to take some excellent shots and have your property advertised in no time.
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