When a guest searches for an apartment to rent for their next vacation, they pay special attention to the following points: price, location, reviews, and images. Therefore, photos of your vacation home are essential in the selection process. In this guide for short-term renters, you will learn how to make your vacation property look its best in your listing photos.
Photos are the showcase of your holiday home.
Just as you dress carefully when you want to make a good first impression, the images in your listing are the element that can give your potential guests an idea of what their vacation in your vacation rental will be like. If the photos are poorly taken or of low quality, the entire perception of your property and how you will take care of it as a host will be damaged. Therefore, you should not neglect this aspect of your listing. So avoid blurry, shaky, or dark photos. Instead, focus on high-quality images that will create a positive first impression.
You already advertise on booking platforms like Airbnb, Booking.com, or Vrbo and have a website for direct bookings to your vacation rental property. It would be a shame to ruin your efforts with poor images. For this reason, we put together a few tips to help you take great photos of your vacation rental. Follow our guidelines and you will get perfect photos!
9 Tips for Taking Quality Photos of Your Vacation Home
1. Clean and make sure the rooms are tidy
Remember, your property's appearance is the first thing potential guests will notice. So, before taking photos, ensure your accommodation is tidy and clean. Remove any clutter or unsightly items, and consider adding some decorative touches to create a welcoming atmosphere.
2. Bring your vacation home to life
Photos are a great way to evoke emotions in your potential future guests. They can imagine their stay when they see pictures of your tourist accommodation. They will think about how it feels to sleep in that bed, to drink a coffee on the balcony in the morning, etc. Take advantage of this and try to tell a little life story with your photos.
For example, show a laid table, a cozy fire in the fireplace, scented candles, and clean linens in the bathroom. This way, guests will have the impression of booking a warm and welcoming home rather than a cold and bare accommodation.
You could also decide to show people. Your friends or family could help you create scenes of everyday life.
-> Tip: Search the internet, a magazine, or a furniture catalog. You will find more ideas.
3. Use a quality camera or smartphone
You can get great results with a professional digital camera or a high-resolution smartphone. If you like photography and have a good feel for image composition, you can take beautiful images for your vacation rental advertising yourself.
If you are unsure or don't have the time or inclination, ask friends or family, or hire a professional photographer. It is worth the investment even if it costs a bit of money. Good photos will help you get bookings, and you will quickly recover the money spent on the photo shoot, making it a valuable asset in the success of your vacation rental.
4. Prefer natural light
Photos taken in natural light often look more inviting and appealing. Therefore, capturing your vacation home on a sunny day is best when the natural light can enhance its warm and welcoming nature. Avoid taking photos in the evening, as the artificial light can distort the colors and mood of your property.
Sunny days also enhance the appearance of your vacation home. Take photos outside to showcase attractions, shops, or nearby lakes, rivers, and parks.
5. Play with perspective and framing
Perspective is the most important thing when taking pictures. Always remember that you must represent a three-dimensional space with a two-dimensional image.
There are also three basic photography rules you should follow when photographing your vacation home:
- The rule of thirds: You can use the grid on your smartphone or camera as a guide. The most essential elements of the subject should be on the vertical and/or horizontal lines that cross the image in thirds, ideally also at their intersections. Avoid centering the subject. Instead, divide the image into thirds, as in the image below: one-third of the sky, one-third of the main subject (in our case, the tourist apartment and the lake), and one-third of the pavement.
- Perspective: Get creative and photograph the room from the outside, too. Play with lenses to get a wider angle and reflect the real dimensions of your home. Play with vertical and horizontal lines, too.
- Clarity: It doesn't matter if you can't show everything in one photo. Instead, take several pictures and show all the essential details of the rooms separately. In any case, upload several vacation rental images to the booking portals and your website's photo gallery.
6. Photograph the accommodation's highlights
When taking photos, remember to showcase your property's unique features and amenities. These will make your vacation rental stand out and attract potential guests. Whether it's a state-of-the-art kitchen, a scenic balcony, or a cozy fireplace, ensure these features are prominently featured in your photos.
7. Match the photos to the season
If your vacation home is located in a region where the seasons are very different, you should adapt the images to the season. In summer, for example, you can focus on the pool, the garden (with a photo of a picnic on the lawn, a barbecue with friends, children playing, etc.), or the balcony. However, pictures with a lit fireplace and a blanket or a view of a snowy Christmas landscape are more suitable in winter.
Remember to update your photos on your booking portals regularly. After all, no one wants to book a house covered in snow in the middle of summer, as it is difficult for guests to relate to this situation. For more tips on how to adapt your listing to the season, click here
8. Crop your photos
Even if you have considered all our advice, a photo of a detail may be too large and needs to be cropped. Or that cropping helps you respect the rule of thirds, drawing the eye to a specific point. Sometimes a few millimeters less can make the difference.
9. Adjust brightness and sharpness
You can easily adjust the brightness and sharpness of your images using online tools or mobile phone photo editing apps. Bright photos are more attractive and will allow you to attract the attention of an online audience better. In some cases, the natural light present when you took the photos will be enough, and you will not have to do much in post-production. Just make sure to adjust the brightness in photos of rooms where you do not have a window, for example, so that the final result is homogeneous.
But remember not to overdo the post-production. Suppose it is too evident that the images have been modified (for example, a garden where the saturation is high and the lawn is improbably green). In that case, potential guests will notice and become immediately skeptical.
Cover Photo: Which Photo Is Best?
Choosing a cover photo is one of the most critical decisions when creating your vacation rental listing or the homepage of your direct booking website. What makes your vacation rental unique? Choose a photo that best showcases your property and highlights the special features or location of the vacation rental. As for the format, opting for a horizontal photo is best.
If you're unsure, remember that you can change your cover photo anytime. For example, you can test different variations and see which gets more clicks and bookings. You can also ask friends and family which image they'd be more likely to click on.
Is it worth including a video of your accommodation?
Videos are becoming increasingly popular on the internet and social media. Consider offering a video tour of your accommodation. When filming, try to take wide-angle shots to create nice perspectives and avoid a crowded effect.
You can then post the video to your property's Facebook or Instagram account and your website's homepage.
Checklist for excellent vacation rental photos
- Show a clean and tidy holiday home.
- Create scenes of everyday life, such as breakfast or an intimate evening in front of the fireplace.
- Use a good-quality camera/smartphone
- Choose a sunny day
- Consider advantageous cutouts and prospects
- Focus on what makes your property unique
- Consider the time of year/season
- Optimize brightness, sharpness, and colors in post-production