When selling a home, every detail counts — from the way you greet potential buyers to the flowers you set out on the table. However, you can also influence your property’s first impressions by how you present it through photos online. To impress homebuyers with stunning, professional-looking images, use these tips to your advantage.

3 Photography Tips to Use When Listing Your House

1. Light

If location is key when selling a home, natural light is the secret weapon when photographing it. Rooms should appear fully illuminated by sunlight streaming in through the window — not lit solely from inside with artificial sources. To achieve this look, open window treatments or remove them from the windows completely. Shoot at a time of day when the sun is coming in and isn’t blocked by trees or the roof above. Finally, place mirrors in the room to reflect even more light for your snapshot.

2. Exposure

While natural light is critical, you don’t want the sunlight to appear blown-out in the photo. This is a term photographers use when the exposure is so high that no details are visible — just whiteness. If this happens, prospective buyers won’t be able to see what’s visible from the rooms, and they may assume a window simply overlooks a white wall. To get around this, adjust the aperture and shutter speed settings in your camera before taking the shot. You can also use editing software to balance the exposure afterward.

3. Lens

When you’re taking a portrait, you focus on the subject’s face. However, when you’re shooting a property, the subject is the entire house. It’s tricky to capture the majority of a room or an entire home in one shot. To make it look like the viewer is standing in the room and able to see side to side, use a wide-angle lens. This compresses the image on either side so that you can fit more content into the picture. Without this lens, you’ll need to take more pictures to show off all that square footage, and the house may appear cramped or narrow.

If you’re selling a home and want a listing agent who can take professional photos for you, contact Justyna Johnson – Exp Realty. Justyna is a top realtor in the Woodbury, MN, area who has been featured on HGTV’s “House Hunters” and maintained a 5-star rating on Zillow. When you hire her to list your home, your property will be showcased with a 360° tour, as well as via video and aerial drone photography. She also offers trustimates: free, online property reports available by texting HOME to (651) 501-2345. To learn more about her skills, visit the website or call the same number.