Brief the photographer on what the property is selling and who is likely to buy it, not just the address. Give a specific shot list, say what to avoid, and specify which rooms work at which hour. Then prepare the property properly — an unready house is the commonest cause of a poor shoot.
Most agents brief a photographer with an address and a date, then blame the photographer for generic results. A proper brief takes twenty minutes.
Most agents brief a photographer by sending an address and a date. The results are correspondingly generic, and the agent then blames the photographer.
A proper brief takes twenty minutes and is the difference between competent coverage and marketing that sells a property.
Before any logistics, decide what the two or three things are that will make someone want this house.
A view. The way light moves through it. The grounds. The scale of one particular room. Proximity to water. Architectural pedigree.
Tell the photographer explicitly. A photographer who knows the property is being sold on its evening light will plan the day around that. One who does not will shoot it at eleven in the morning like everything else.
Who is likely to buy this, and what will they care about?
A family will look for how spaces connect and where children would be. An entertainer wants the flow between kitchen, terrace and reception. An international buyer needs context they cannot infer, because they do not know the area.
That shapes what gets photographed and in what proportion, and it is information only you have.
Walk the property and note what must be captured.
The rooms that will carry the listing. Details worth their own frame — a fireplace, joinery, a stair. The exterior from the approach, which is how buyers first see it. The garden from the house and the house from the garden. Anything with a story, such as an original feature or a specific view.
Then say what to avoid. A neighbor's roofline, a service area, the angle that makes a room look narrow. Photographers cannot know these and will find them on the day if you do not.
Which rooms are best at which hour, and where the sun actually falls.
Golden hour for the exterior. Twilight for the lead image. Interiors when their own windows are working rather than fighting the camera.
Where a property has a west-facing terrace or an east-facing kitchen, say so. This is the most valuable thing you can contribute and the thing photographers most often have to guess.
The most common cause of a disappointing shoot is a property that was not ready.
Send a checklist in advance and confirm it. Every light working and switched on. Cars moved. Bins hidden. Surfaces cleared. Beds properly made. Pool cleaned and running. Blinds set consistently across the elevation. Personal items and anything identifying removed.
Arrive before the photographer and walk it yourself. Twenty minutes of moving things is worth more than any equipment.
Stills are composition. Video is sequence.
Decide how a viewer should move through the property — the way a guest arrives rather than the way a camera can travel. Agree the length, whether there is narration or music only, and whether people appear.
Tell the editor what the closing frame should be. It is the image people remember.
Deliverables and how many. Turnaround. Format and resolution for print and digital. Licensing and how long. Who owns the images and what happens if the seller changes agent.
Agree it in writing before the shoot rather than discovering a limitation when you need to use something.
Photographers are technically skilled and rarely know the market, the buyer or the property. You do.
The difference between an adequate shoot and an exceptional one is almost always what the agent contributed before anyone arrived.
The two or three things that will make someone want the property, the likely buyer and what they care about, a specific shot list, what to avoid, and which rooms work at which hour.
Because it changes what gets photographed and in what proportion. A family looks for how spaces connect; an entertainer wants flow between kitchen and terrace; an international buyer needs context they cannot infer.
A property that was not prepared. Send a checklist in advance, confirm it, and arrive before the photographer to walk it yourself. Twenty minutes moving things beats any equipment.
No. Stills are composition, video is sequence. Decide how a viewer should move through the property, agree length and whether there is narration, and tell the editor what the closing frame should be.
Deliverables, turnaround, formats for print and digital, licensing duration, who owns the images, and what happens if the seller changes agent — all in writing before the shoot.
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