Top 10 Tips to Photograph your Airbnb Vacation Rental
How to take great photos of your Airbnb using your phone, or a digital camera.
Here are our top photo tips using your smart phone if you don’t have the budget for a professional photographer.
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I’m going to start off by saying that hiring a professional photographer to photograph your new Airbnb rental is a small investment that will have almost immediate Return on Investment (ROI). When guests are scrolling through a list of properties, they are looking a price, location and then the photos that catch their attention first as they scroll down the listings.
Your short term rental business is just that, A BUSINESS, so investing in your business with quality items in your space, and quality marketing to SELL your space to your guests, is all part of the process. Keep track of this invoice as one of the many expenses to offset on your business taxes at year end too.
Having bright, well lit, professional photos of your vacation rental property will help you attract guests right from the day you launch your rental. Many guests will not even stop their scroll for a listing that does not use professional photographs until they scroll through all the other top listings WITH professional images and superhost/premier partner status and great reviews. That means you’re missing out on a lot of potential top renters.
Make Sure your Beds Look Inviting, Comfortable, CLEAN, and well-made. Wrinkles will show in the photos. Avoid bright colours for duvets or quilts, or dated bed-in-a-bag.
How much does it cost for an Airbnb or VRBO Photographer?
A professional photographer will range from $150 to $500 (and up) depending on the size of your home, the location, your requests for extras such as twilight photos or drone photos and the amount of time required for the session and travel time to your property.
You can book professional photographers right through the Airbnb Platform, however its these photos will not be available for you to use on other booking sites or for your own direct social media.
You’ll get better value and control of your photos by hiring a direct local photographer - reach out to local Real Estate or Interior Design Photographers and have control over all the images
If you are renting a luxury property, you should absolutely be investing in professional photos. If you want high end guest bookings but can’t even spend a couple hundred dollars on photos, it will tell potential guests that you might be selling cheap luxury, and the attention to detail and a high quality experience may not actually be reality.
On the other hand, if your space is a peak, high demand year round, sell out kind of spot, you may be able to get away without professional photography if you are staying fully booked at your peak rates, but pay attention to what guests are saying in your reviews and if you are not booking as many guests as your competition appears to be.
Having professional photos of your AirBnb listing can increase your bookings and revenue by 40% on average but bad photos can prevent guests from even considering booking your listing, no matter how nice it really is.
View Airbnb’s Pro Photographer Information Here and how to book a photographer
I took both of these photos of the same space, before and after the hot tub was replaced. The first image is ambient lighting with a phone. The second image is a bracketed multiple exposure from my camera
Click here for our shopping guides to set up your Airbnb
Launching an Airbnb vacation rental is a big investment and the start up budget can be a bit daunting before you have bookings coming in, so if you don’t have a budget for professional photos, there are lots of tips to produce decent photos with your cell phone.
How do I take good photos for my vacation rental? Airbnb and VRBO Photo Tips
When Airbnb hires a photographer on your behalf, they send a detailed shot list and technical requirements to the photographer.
I have reviewed all 27 pages of the Airbnb Photo Requirements that they send to freelance photographers like me, and I have outlined some of the most important details below to help you take great photos, even with your phone (if you can’t get a professional photographer).
Use an adjustable height tripod for flexibility and to ensure you are getting your photos straight and steady especially in low light
Airbnb Photo Requirements Technical Specifications
If you plan to try and use a digital camera or you have a friend with a “good camera”, the specifications requested by Airbnb from photographers are:
Shoot with a Tripod, Always
DO NOT USE FLASH or strobes or other lighting that is not part of the space
Photos should not be wider that 16mm (if you shoot with a wide angle, do not use panoramic mode). They recommend a 16-25mm lense and a 30-50mm lens
Iso 400, Max ISO 800
AP F8.0, shutter speed no less that 2s
Bracketing encouraged for some indoor spaces to capture all the light and dark in high contrast rooms IE bright windows (very subtle HDR)
All images should be horizontal. Vertical should only be used for less than 10% of photos and only to show an interesting detail /artistic shot/special amenities, NOT intended for close ups
Feature ACCESIBILITY items, showcase curb free showers, grab bars, wide entranceways and anything that makes the space accessible for those with limited mobility or wheelchairs.
2:3 Crop Ratio
Minimum Resolution 1024x683px but bigger is better
Make sure your photos are in focus blurry photos don't show anything if they look blurry to you then you've already lost potential renters
Make sure photos are straight and not on weird tilted angles
Do not include people in your photos. Save these for your business social media posts, not your listing photos
Top 10 Photography Tips for your VRBO or AIRBNB vacation rental
Tip #1 - Stage Before You Shoot
Before you start snapping photos, make sure your vacation rental is completely cleaned and staged exactly as your guests are going to see it. Top to bottom, make sure all your light bulbs are working and your floors are clean as everything needs to shine in your photos.
When you are ready to plan for your photos, it should not be late at night at the end of a long day as you madly scramble to finish up the renovations, cleaning or other details. Your photos need to look FINISHED, FRESH and exactly what guests can expect when they arrive, plus a couple ideas of how they can enjoy your space for themselves ie: staging. Your entire space MUST BE CLEAN from top to bottom.
Plan which day you are going to photograph the space and make sure it’s a SUNNY day, and plan to photograph at the brightest time of the day (See Tip #3 below)
To stage your space for photos, the entire space needs to be complete and fully cleaned as a guest would be seeing it and make sure those floors are extra clean so the footprints don’t shine in the sunlight. All the beds made, amenities in place, everything ready to go. Smooth out those Duvet wrinkles and karate chop those pillows like your home design shows. Once it’s set up as if there is a “guest arrival” now go and add a few extra touches.
We Highly recommend finding a couple LOCAL ART pieces to inject some Character and personality into your Airbnb, like this Arizona Desert Inspired art by one of my favourite Canadian Artists, Anja Jane
Nothing on the beds, just clean fresh bedding and pillows. No towels, throws, etc. (as recommended by Airbnb on their photo guidelines)
Stage a couple glasses of wine on the deck and show off the view from the lounge chairs for that Lifestyle touch
Open all doors to connecting rooms and make sure the lights are on in all spaces at the same time (IE no dark hallways through open doors)
Photograph the coffee bar fully stocked
Make sure your kitchen is neat and organized and all the pots and pans and everything are tidy looking if they are in the photos.
Photograph outdoor areas ready for use with the BBQ uncovered, citronella candles lit on the dining table, etc.
Stage it for use. Don’t position things in odd ways that wont make sense for how the room will be used, such as having all the living room chairs face towards the kitchen with their backs to the tv and no furniture facing the tv.
Taking night photos of your outdoor space is a great bonus too if you have fire pits, café lights or sunset beach views. If guests will be enjoying outdoor spaces at night, include both daytime and nighttime photos.
Add some fresh greenery and stage the dining table setting for use with full place settings if you have nice dinnerware and are appealing to long stay guests and family retreats.
Photograph the details in a way that makes your guests feel invited in, and right at home. For close up details you can use the “portrait” mode on your phone which focuses on the item you choose, and causes a soft blur to the background for a more professional camera look
Don’t overdecorate and keep clutter minimal.
Things should look tasteful and clutter free. If you have guest amenities like games and books leave a couple nicely staged but tuck the rest away into cupboards or baskets to keep things tidy. More clutter means more things to clean and a higher chance of guests finding something you might miss during cleaning
Don't take the photos from too low of an angle no one wants to look at the back of your living room chairs and miss out on the view of the fireplace
Make sure seasonality is relevant in your photos there should not be holiday decorations of any kind in your photos, you want to be showcasing the best photos at the best time of the year so ski resort for sure show off the winter show off the seasons but if you have a beach or treat no one wants to see a Christmas tree when they're trying to book a beach day in the middle of July.
If you have a lush beautiful garden but you're booking for winter stays, include a photo or two of what guest can expect in the off season not everybody knows that your garden is not going to be lush and beautiful when they show up in January.
Not sure where to start with your design and decor? Schedule a virtual design consultation to get on the right track.
I recommend Virtual Home Designer Ariane Design Co for your Airbnb design. After producing major trade shows, events and conferences across North America, Ariane left the corporate buzz to share her passion for design as a home interior designer for styling and space planning and she is here to help you with virtual design planning. I recently used her for virtual design planning for my own home and the results were fast and exactly what I needed.
We have starter shopping & style guides to help inspire you.
#2 Photograph Wide & Landscape Orientation, but not too wide.
Do not use the panorama setting on your phone
Do not use the fish eye setting or any distorted wide angles
too wide and congested, see the weird corner angle how the room looks bent and you cant see much of the space with that dark countertop taking over most of the photo
Straight on but wide angle. Able to see the details of the room even at a distance. Most people are viewing photos on their phone so a little closer up is better.
On your phone Use standard camera mode or perhaps the first zoom out IF it doesn’t make the sides of the room look curved and dome-like, think curved walls. Don’t zoom all the way out.
Your guests want to visualize the room as they will be seeing it when they first walk in. While they can look around and see a wide or expansive space, seeing a wide angle photo in a small phone screen can appear really distorted and actually make it harder to appreciate the space and the details.
Stand back, take a normal shot of the room at a wide angle but make sure the walls still look straight and nothing seems to be bending in the corners.
Stand in front of your feature areas and take some straight on views that highlight the amenities in the room.
I start with the outside and take a photo with the front door open, then walk into the home and move room by room photographing the best angles and a few close up details of amenities such as the coffee bar and bathroom towels & supplies.
Turn on hallway lights to make sure there’s no dark corners in your shot
Make sure guests can see what's in your kitchen yes a wide-angle shot is good but if they can't see the coffee maker, they don't know if there's a microwave and really they can't see anything at all because the photos are too wide and lacking detail, they going to skip right over you and go on to the next person or they know by the photos what they're getting
#3 Let the Light In
DO NOT USE FLASH - unless you know how to do HDR or layer masking to show off window views, you need to focus on getting a natural light & bright shot
OPEN ALL BLINDS AND CURTAINS
TURN ON HALLWAY LIGHTS
DO NOT DO PHOTOS AFTER DARK
PHOTOGRAPH ON A SUNNY DAY AT THE BRIGHTEST TIME OF DAY
In fact, on Airbnb’s photography requirement document, they require photographers to not use flash or artificial light, and they may reject photos from their professionals who use flash.
They want natural, ambient lighting only. To achieve this for your space all curtains and blinds fully opened. For rooms without windows or very low ambient lighting, turn on the room lights, otherwise leave the lights off.
Photograph on a sunny day at the brightest time of day for your space, unless you have blinding bright sun such as a white beach house, then I would recommend earlier morning or evening when the light is still bright but not so harsh.
Photograph the exterior on a sunny day and during the best time seasonally, its great to include a winter and summer exterior photo so they know what to expect.
If you have a stunning view, cityscape or pool, twilight and night photography is a great idea too, but you’ll definitely need a tripod and a phone with NIGHT MODE on the camera, otherwise these are best achieved by a professional camera.
You want your space to appear light, bright and cozy, even in a basement suite setting.
Open the curtains or blinds as wide as they will go. Smooth out the duvet on the bed and the pillows, couches to make sure everything looks nicely made up and fresh, wrinkles show up a lot more with shadows.
Now stand in the doorway and take a photo facing the bed and the window.
Too dark? When you start taking the photo, use the focus to focus in on the bed and then you’ll see a little slider with a sunshine, scroll this over to increase the brightness until the bed/couch/room looks natural and bright. This will likely make your windows turn fully white but that’s ok for this purpose.
Walk to the center of the room facing the bed, try a landscape and vertical photo showing the details. Focus on the pillows and take a nice clean photo that makes your bed look cozy and nicely lit from the window light.
For rooms with no windows – lights are important. Make sure all of your lightbulbs are the same color in your fixtures, especially a multi light bathroom vanity. Same as before, you want to focus on the feature part of the room and then use the slider to go up and make the room look bright and well lit but not overexposed or so bright it looks fake.
Close up details giving a cozy feeling of the bed, this shot could also work well in a vertical composition
Too Wide, cluttered angle makes the room look small but nice and bright with fresh white linens.
#4 Shoot from the corners AND the straight on views
Most people will recommend that you “shoot from the corners”, which is true in some real estate and staging photography.
From a design perspective, sometimes the best angle is not the one you see right as you walk in the door.
It’s the focus on the center of the room, on the comfy couch and right in the space.
Photograph straight ahead in line with features of the room.
Think about home décor magazines and pinterest photos – they are almost always photographed with a straight on view of features in the room.
Stand behind the couch and photograph the beautiful fireplace or open the balcony door and photograph the view as you would see it just as the door opens.
Walk around each room and try a couple different angles, just make sure you are holding the camera flat and not tipping it forwards or downwards.
Show a balanced amount of floor and ceiling. The room should be centered.
Take as many photos as possible, lots of close ups, lots of wide angles, show the guests what they have available to them for their stay (you’ll filter later for the best, but having extra means you’ve got more photos to use for social media and marketing too).
Airbnb’s official photography guide to their subcontractor photographers “recommends shooting straight-on angles for magazine editorial looks rather than wide angle real estate photos”
#5 Bathrooms Are Important!
It seems to be the hardest room to photograph, so many people do not know how to photograph a bathroom, especially photographing a small bathroom.
I can’t believe how many listings I see that either do not show the bathtub or shower, or only have a quick snapshot of the owner photographing themselves in the mirror (oops) and the shower curtain is closed.
CLOSE the Toilet lid. ALWAYS
OPEN the shower curtain. That bathtub needs to be clean and shiny.
AVOID THE MIRROR - use your tripod if you have to and set the timer so you are not taking a photo of yourself in the mirror
CLEAN THE MIRROR, SHOWER GLASS AND COUNTERTOP– those glass surrounds should look spotless and streak free for photos and stone counters should look polished and shine with no water spots
Beautiful bathroom BUT where does your eye go, right to that open toilet WITH your clean towels stacked precariously on the back, anyone else wondering how often those fall in? Cute staging but needs a basket somewhere else or some way to keep clean towels OFF the toilet. The dim lighting also doesn’t showcase how beautiful this room is with the brand new vanity and stone countertops and quality amenities- photo from an Airbnb listing
Guests must be able to see what you offer for all showers and bathtubs, how big they are and how clean they look and how tall they are. I’ve seen guests LEAVE some rentals as soon as they checked in because they DIDN’T FIT IN THE TINY SHOWER. Claustrophobia is a real thing too.
This entire home Airbnb listing has gorgeous professional photos, I love these details and close ups. HOWEVER, there are no other bathroom photos. The shower/tub itself cannot be seen and in a heritage home it could be a petite space that might not work for some people. Without being able to see the shower in any way, it will turn off some guests despite the beautiful photos.
How embarrassing for them and a definite negative review for the host. It’s one thing if you are renting out a tiny house or a cabin, but it’s a different story if you are renting out a modern updated suite with a bathroom stuck in the previous century. Even if you can’t change the bathroom fixtures or design, make sure they can see it, all of it.
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Showcase the room and it’s highlights, make sure the flaws are visible too, such as a low, fixed shower head meant for someone 4ft tall. Don’t make it front and center to the photo, but make it visible in a way that the guests may pay attention to it.
Show the amenities. Your bathroom photo should at least show the towels, if not the soap and shampoo etc in the background. IF you are using higher end products or custom bottles, feel free to zoom in a little on those too if you are consistently providing the same items.
Your guests want to know what they are going to enjoy and want to get the feeling that the bathroom is clean and fresh and updated. IF the curtain is closed, that says there’s something they don’t want to see. If I can’t see what the tub/shower looks like, I won’t book
Alternatively if you don’t show flaws because there’s something not great, you are already setting yourself up for negative reviews when guests have this surprise that they didn’t see in the photos. If you have a stained tub from well water or outdated, hardly working fixtures, this should be one of the first things on your list for updating before you list or ASAP when you can budget for it.
Dirty looking bathrooms means people will not book with you. So the cost of NOT updating it as soon as possible is more than renting it as a “budget friendly” space with the potential of negative reviews. If your bathroom is really dated and really badly needs an update, you may want to consider going the long term rental instead.
This is a beautiful updated heritage style bathroom but appears to have a low ceiling, make sure to note the shower height in the description. Also see the weird angle on the toilet, that’s the distortion from shooting too wide of an angle. Cropping in slightly when shooting would have saved this issue. Brightening the photo up in an app would help too
#6 Bedroom Linens are Important
CLICK HERE FOR OUR BEDROOM RECOMMENDATIONS AND PRODUCTS
Red is Dead. Orange is terrible. Brown reminds me of dingy 80’s motels.
We recommend a lightweight, easy to wash Duvet or Quilt that is neutral or subtle in pattern, and not so heavy that it takes hours to be run through the dryer.
Light colors and White are always a guest preference so they can truly see cleanliness.
You need 2 for each bed in case one is in the wash and you have a short changeover.
Duvet covers, quilts, sheets, pillowcases MUST be washed between every guest.
I actually see this question all the time. YES, wash those quilts and Duvet covers, and regularly the duvet too. Having 2 of everything makes it easier to swap on cleaning day and do the laundry off site.
We also recommend keeping a couple throw blankets in the closet or living room for added comfort.
Eclectic decor is great, IF it’s done well and still feels connected room by room, but linens are one area you really need to carefully select as the BED is one of the top things that sells your space. Your bedrooms, kitchens should have a sense of at least some cohesive design, not a throw together of leftover linens and thrift store mismatched items.
Guests are staying with you for unique spaces and places but the number one thing after cleanliness is the comfort of a night’s stay. If your linens look like they came from your spare closet 10 years ago, they are not going to photograph well or appeal to potential guests.
The beds need to be comfortable, decent quality, easy to wash, stain free and neutral. If you have a bold purple striped bedspread, it is not only really distracting to the whole space, it’s hard to photograph In a way that is going to make your space feel fresh and clean.
Not everything needs to be white, I am perfectly happy with some fun cabin chic prints and fleece or beachy comforters, they do need to fit the room, look like they are NEW and modern, and be clean and easily wrinkle and lint free. Avoid bold colors, reds, purples, etc.
If your Comforter is suede or that microfibre texture that feels icky and shows hand print marks on the surface, this is a definite NO GO, especially for photos.
Imaging seeing a wrinkly looking bed with dark red material with orange triangles. It makes the room feel dated and darker and doesn’t say cozy. It’s a small investment to set the right impression of comfort and style to appeal to the most guests.
#7 Lifestyle It
Why are your guests going to choose your space over one of your competitors?
What extra details or amenities do they get to enjoy, what does the view look like at sunset? Are you a ski out property steps to the slope?
Include those Extras so guests can get a feel for how they can use and enjoy your space and then the local area.
Surfs up at Cerritos Surf Villas and sunrise helps set the scene for the area not just the villa
Be sure to include photos of the local Beach or attraction if you are marketing that you are near the beach or near this attraction or area. What's a primary reason for people coming to the area? Make sure that the photo is one that you've taken or you've gotten from a friend who's allowed you to use it, or get your photographer to take it for you many local photographers will sell you a digital image for stock use as well if you reach out to them when you see one on Instagram or social media
Set the scene but don’t go too wide
Include a few photos of the local village/beach/attractions closest to your home showing them at their best.
Add your number one recommendations for restaurants and activities then note these with further details in your welcome guide. You can use these photos on your vacation rental social media pages more than your listing, but they come in handy.
You can even add these photos in to your welcome guide if you are using an App like TouchStay or doing a printed “magazine style” layout from Canva. Don’t steal pics from the internet especially if they are crazy bold and don’t fit the style of the rest of your photos, it may look really odd next to your DIY photos and seem inauthentic, like you haven’t actually enjoyed these places for yourself.
People don't read their description your photos are selling the space and you need to tell the story and only that don't over exaggerate and don't leave out things that are going to be a negative for guests when they arrive don't count on them reading the details that you spend so much time on in your description
DON’T FORGET THE OUTSIDE
Show off views, deck spaces, yard and outdoor areas that guests can enjoy.
Give your guests a real sense of their stay, indoors and outdoors.
Also include the parking area or parkade, exterior of the condo building or entrance to the home, bike storage, deck and patio space with BBQ, etc, everything that your guests are going to be using or accessing. Not all of these photos may make it into the listing, but you can easily send the parking photo with the check in instructions, or bike storage locker photos when requested.
#8 Use an App to Enhance your Photos
Snapseed is a great mobile option I have used for mobile posts and social media, and since the photos are already on your phone it’s an easy option to use.
Make a few slight enhancements to your photo for clarity, contrast and brightness.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Mobile - your space needs to look natural, so just subtle enhancements to contrast, light, shadow. Try the DEHAZE tool to fix windows.
DO NOT ADD TEXT TO PHOTOS
While canva, snapseed, etc do allow you to make awesome marketing posts for social media and add graphics to your photos, you cannot use these on Airbnb and VRBO. The programs will block any photos with Text from being processed even though it will load them to your account, they will be blocked from posting.
we are not able to include this feature mural wall in our listing photos because the programs see “text” so it is blocked. We do use it on social media and our website instead.
#9 Upload, Organize and Showcase only the BEST photos
NOW before you load the edited photos to your listing, go through and rank your favourites. You don’t need to share 15 different angles of the same room, just pick the absolute best photos, one or two per space, that will hook your guests, and then add a few bonus photos towards the end. Most guests are only looking at the first 5-10 photos when they browse, and then if they decide to book they will go through the rest of the album.
Load your top 20-30 Images then go back and make sure the FEATURE IMAGE is the absolute showstopper that will entice someone to click, and then see what the first 5 images are that will be highlighted in your grid. Those first 5 photos should be the best of the best and make someone want to read through, click through, and book your space. First image gets the click, then next photo should be the best feature of the kitchen, the view, the bedroom, the bathroom. The top 5 first and then a logical order for the rest moving room by room. Less is more. 20-30 photos is ideal for a one or 2 bedroom space.
Make sure to put a caption on every photo describing the room or amenity included, or the location.
Your Headline should match your photos - if you say Beachfront 2 bedroom cottage, show the photo of the cottage in proximity to the beach, not just a photo of the beach itself. Show the home with the beach in the background or beach with the home in the background. Show the views from the bedrooms/deck. Highlight these features
A good way to test your feature photos is to post your fave 5 online on a facebook group or your facebook page and ask for input.
Ask “Which one of these photos would be the best feature one that would make you click on my Airbnb/VRBO listing” See if you get a consensus leaning towards one photo. If it’s kind of mixed results, at least that means you’ve chosen some good options for your top 5. Go with your gut, it should be the absolute best space in your home NOT an attraction or beach nearby, it needs to be YOUR space or the view from your space.
Sample top 5 images when you browse Airbnb Listings
Sample VRBO Feature Image Grid. These first images need to hook the guest to look at more
#10 – SHARE AWAY!
Now that your photos are uploaded and captioned, you can make your listing LIVE for booking.
Share your listing!
on your social media, facebook, instagram, make a tik tok of you pushing the go-live button or using your new space
linked in,
local Short Term Rental Facebook Groups
connect with other hosts in facebook groups for vacation rental promotion.
Getting lots of views helps to increase your ranks so it’s always good to connect with travellers and hosts and ask them to save your listing as a favourite for later.
We recommend taking the time to create an instagram and/or facebook account just for your rentals
By having an account specifically for your property if it’s one that you think would benefit from extra marketing and promotion to stand out from the competition, especially in slower seasons. We have created an Instagram and social media for the owners of the Mexico listings to stand out in our area as there are hundreds of rentals between a few resorts and this allows us to share great local activites and current events with our incoming guests as well.
Make sure each time you post your listing on your personal social media that you set the post to PUBLIC so it can be shared.
Check out CANVA to help you create social media posts and stories to share as well
Conclusion
I strongly encourage you to look at the cost of a professional photographer to save you a lot of time and energy, and to have professional, ready to go photos to make your new listing stand out right from day one so you can attract those first guests.
The cost of a photo session is relatively low compared to the rental income you will bring in, and it’s a start-up cost to write off on your first year tax expenses (make sure to get an invoice!).
You can definitely start with your own photos, just take some time to prepare yourself by reading through the details above, looking at your competition in your area and their photos, and checking out pinterest for samples of GREAT Airbnb photos that really stand out.
Need more info on STAGING or doing a proper CLEANING for your space? Check out our other blog posts HERE. We also have handy shopping guides to help you find those final details and quality amenities for your space.