Listing CameraShort answer: On a listing photo day, confirm a time when the sun is on the front of the house, charge your phone and clear storage, bring a microfiber cloth, spare bulbs, a power bank and a printed shot list, then walk the house turning on lights and clearing clutter. Shoot the exterior first, follow the same room order every time, and check every room against the shot list before you leave.
In almost 20 years of shooting listings I've learned that photo days go wrong in small, boring ways: a dead phone, a burned-out bulb in the primary bath, a car in the driveway nobody moved, a bedroom you forgot until you were back in the office. None of it is about talent. It's about having a list. Here's mine, built for agents shooting with a phone.
This pairs with the seller's photo prep checklist. Send that one to the seller a week out; keep this one for yourself.
A few days before
- Send the seller the photo prep checklist and agree on the two or three biggest jobs (decluttering, a lawn mow, dead bulbs).
- Find which way the front of the house faces and book a time when the sun is on it. See the best time to photograph a house exterior.
- Check the forecast. Rain or wet driveways are worth rescheduling for; a gray sky alone usually isn't.
- Ask the seller to have pets, people and cars out of the house and driveway for the shoot.
- Check your MLS's current photo rules (photo count, size, what edits must be disclosed) so you shoot to them.
- Make a shot list for this specific house with the free shot-list generator.
The night before
- Charge your phone fully and charge a power bank.
- Free up storage. Running out mid-shoot is the most avoidable photo day problem there is.
- Check your camera settings: grid and level on, flash off, standard color style. My iPhone camera settings for real estate covers each one.
- Print the shot list, or save it somewhere you can tick it off on site.
What to bring
- Phone, charging cable and power bank.
- A microfiber cloth for the lens (and a few for mirrors and stainless).
- Spare bulbs in both warm and daylight colors, so a replaced bulb matches the others in the room.
- Glass cleaner and paper towels.
- A laundry basket or bin to move clutter out of frame room by room.
- A small step stool for reaching dead bulbs and shooting over a kitchen island.
- A phone tripod, optional, but it helps in dim rooms and keeps your height consistent.
- Keys, lockbox code and the seller's phone number.
When you arrive: the walk-through
- Walk every room once before you shoot anything.
- Turn on every light: overheads, lamps, under-cabinet, range hood, vanity. Swap dead bulbs.
- Open blinds and curtains evenly on each wall.
- TVs off, ceiling fans stopped, toilet seats down.
- Counters mostly bare; sponges, dish racks, bottles and bath mats into your bin.
- Towels folded or removed, beds made, pet bowls and litter boxes out of sight.
- Outside: cars out of the driveway, trash bins and hoses out of sight, front door clean.
Shooting order
- Front exterior first while the light is on it, with a couple of angles.
- Entry, then the main living spaces.
- Kitchen: wide shot, the island from both sides, one detail.
- Primary bedroom, then the primary bath.
- Other bedrooms and baths.
- Bonus spaces: office, basement, laundry, mudroom.
- Back of the house, deck or patio, yard.
In every room
- Phone at about chest height and perfectly upright; line a door frame up with the grid.
- Shoot from a corner or doorway, horizontally, showing two or three walls.
- 0.5x for small and medium rooms, 1x for big rooms and details. No pinch-zoom.
- Tap a wall, not the window, to set exposure.
- Check mirrors and glass for your reflection.
- Take two or three angles, then tick the room off the shot list.
Before you leave
- Go down the shot list. Every room, every bathroom, the exterior front and back.
- Zoom in on a few photos to check sharpness, especially in dim rooms.
- Put everything back where it was, take your bin and supplies, and turn off the lights.
- Lock up and text the seller that you're done.
After the shoot
- Pick the best angle of each room and drop near-duplicates.
- Order the set: strongest exterior first, then the flow of the house.
- Edit for light, color and straight lines only. Don't remove or add anything that's really there.
- Keep the original files. If a photo's sky was replaced, label it where your MLS or state requires and keep the original handy.
- Resize if needed and upload.
Why a list beats experience
I still use one. After thousands of houses, the mistakes I make aren't technical; they're forgetting the half bath off the garage or not noticing a dish towel on the oven door until I'm editing. A printed list catches those. It also makes you faster, which matters when the seller is waiting in their car.
If you're newer to shooting your own listings, start with how to take real estate photos: a beginner's guide and my iPhone real estate photography guide, then bring this list on the day.
For the editing step, Listing Camera, the iPhone app I built, enhances each photo in the background while you keep shooting, about 30 seconds a photo. It fixes light, color and exposure, helps correct verticals, and gives every exterior a sunny blue sky. It doesn't stage, add or remove anything, and it keeps the original alongside the enhanced version. Free to try with 3 enhancements.