How to photograph your rental for more bookings

Before you think about angles or framing, think about light. Light is almost always what separates a photo that sells from one that puts people off, and the best light is free: it comes through the window. A room shot in soft natural light looks bigger, cleaner and more welcoming than the same room with the ceiling light on and the blinds down.

Shoot during the day with curtains and blinds open, and let daylight do the work. Mid-morning and mid-afternoon are usually best, when the light is soft and there are no hard shadows or the harsh contrast of direct sun. At midday in summer, the high sun can throw strong patches of light that blow out some areas and leave others dark.

Check which way each room's windows face and photograph it when that room gets the light. An east-facing bedroom looks lovely in the morning; a west-facing living room glows in the late afternoon. Follow the sun round the house, room by room, rather than trying to shoot everything at the same time.

The camera picks up everything the eye skips over. The charger on the worktop, the tea towel on the oven door, cleaning products on show, slippers by the bed: things you don't notice in person stand out in a photo and make the place look neglected. That's why preparation matters more than the camera.

• Tidy and clean thoroughly: clear surfaces, neatly made beds, plumped cushions, folded towels, and floors and mirrors without marks.
• Depersonalise: take away family photos, fridge magnets, paperwork, medicines and very personal items. Guests want to picture themselves staying there, not feel they're intruding on someone's home.
• Hide what spoils the shot: visible cables, bins, toiletries, laundry drying and anything useful but unattractive.
• Add small touches: a vase of flowers, fruit in a bowl, a throw folded on the sofa, a laid table. They cost little and make the photo feel warm.

Work room by room and only photograph each one when it's properly ready. Ten minutes of tidying before each shot does more than any filter afterwards.

The first photo matters most. It's the thumbnail that decides whether someone clicks or scrolls past, so it should be your strongest image: usually the bright, spacious living room, a stunning view, the pool or an attractive exterior. Pick the home's best feature and put it first. Never open the gallery with the bathroom or a dark room.

After the cover, show the house in a logical order, like a guided tour: the main living space, the kitchen, the bedrooms (largest to smallest), the bathrooms and finally the outdoor areas, the view and the surroundings. Show every room, because leaving spaces out makes guests suspicious, but always lead with the strongest ones.

Shoot in landscape, not portrait: almost every platform and website shows the main photo in landscape, and a portrait photo ends up cropped or with bars at the sides. A 4:3 or 3:2 ratio works almost everywhere; 16:9 looks more cinematic but crops more of the room. To get each shot right:

• Hold the phone or camera at chest height rather than eye level: a slightly lower viewpoint makes the room look wider and the ceilings higher.
• Keep vertical lines straight, with walls and door frames upright. Modern phones have an on-screen grid and level, so turn them on and line things up.
• Shoot from a corner of the room to take in two walls and give a sense of depth, rather than facing one wall straight on.
• Leave a little floor and ceiling in the frame: they give scale and room to breathe. Take several shots of each room so you can choose the best later.

As well as wide shots of each room, include detail and "lifestyle" photos: a coffee cup on the sunny balcony, good-quality bed linen, breakfast on the table, the fire lit, a close-up of the tiles or the taps. These shots make people want to be there and show what the stay feels like. Balance them with the wide shots, because guests need both.

These are the mistakes that cost the most bookings, so avoid them:

• Direct flash: it flattens the image and creates harsh shadows and ugly reflections. Use natural light and never the phone's flash.
• Extreme wide angle: it distorts proportions, bends the walls and makes the place look bigger than it is, so guests feel misled when they arrive. Use an honest angle.
• Dark photos: the main reason galleries look weak. Shoot during the day with everything open, and raise the exposure slightly if a photo comes out dark.
• Shooting before tidying: unmade beds, cluttered worktops, rooms full of things. Always tidy first.
• Too few photos or a single angle: a short gallery raises doubts. Show every room and the surroundings.

A light edit at the end helps (correcting light and colour, straightening the horizon), but stay honest. Don't push the saturation or remove real flaws: the photos should match what guests will find, or your reviews will suffer.

The good news is that a modern phone, used well and in good light, is more than enough for most rentals. Technique and preparation (light, tidying, angles) count for far more than the equipment. Before you spend money, get the basics right with the phone you already have.

A dedicated camera gives better quality in difficult conditions (low light, or bright windows against a dark interior) and more control, but only if you know how to use it. Otherwise, a phone on automatic usually does a better job.

A professional photographer is worth it when the property has a higher nightly rate, when it's in a very competitive market, or when you simply don't have the time or the knack. A professional brings lighting, the right lenses, editing and a trained eye, and the cost is spread over a few extra bookings. As a rule of thumb, the higher the nightly rate and the more competitive the area, the sooner a professional pays for themselves.

Where the photos appear matters as much as how you take them. On the OTAs (online travel agencies such as Booking and Airbnb), your best photo becomes a compressed thumbnail among dozens of competitors, at whatever size and crop the platform chooses. However much you invest in the image, it shows up small and uniform, fighting for attention in an endless grid.

On your own site, your photos open large and full-screen in a smooth gallery, with nothing competing around them: just your home, presented your way. Guests see the light, the details and the experience without distractions, and that's where good photos turn into bookings. The effort you put into the shoot pays off much more when the photos have that kind of space.

That's how you stop being one more thumbnail and become the place guests remember. The OTAs bring visibility and traffic; your site is where the photos persuade and guests decide to book direct, with more of the margin staying with you.