What photos do I need for my home, apartment or vacation rental?

Welcome

To get guests to book with you, first you have to grab their attention with an attractive property page.

Photos play a crucial role. This guide explain how to take striking pictures that’ll make your home or apartment irresistible to bookers.

For more tips, check out our step-by-step visual guide.

Why take photos?

Good property photography can capture beautiful, well-lit, and realistic photos of your place.

Your photos should show all the main rooms and features – along with specific details – that will captivate and inspire travelers.

To be effectively displayed on different digital platforms, your photos need to be of consistently high quality and high resolution.

Your photos should:

• Take travelers on a visual journey through your home
• Reflect the ambiance and energy of your place
• Emphasize the culture and history of your property
• Show the kind of experience travelers can expect during their stay

What to photograph.

Be sure to photograph all rooms on your property. To show off every space, take photos of each room from a variety of different angles:

• View from one corner, showcasing the whole room
• View from a different corner
• Unique room features/facilities

Take a minimum of 4 photos for each room and at least 1 photo of your bathroom/toilet.

Additional features to photograph may include:

• Views
• Balcony
• Interesting architectural or design features
• Garden
• Patio/terrace
• Swimming pool
• Parking

Room Presentation

Your photos should present your property realistically and highlight its best features.

All photos must be consistently clear, bright, and flattering, so prepare and tidy all rooms before taking any photos.

Your bedroom(s) should have:

• Curtains open so views are visible
• Ambient lighting and lamps turned on
• Freshly made beds
• Tidy surfaces
• Spotless carpets and flooring
• No laundry showing
• No wires and cables visible

Your bathroom(s) should have:

• Ambient lights turned on
• Clean mirrors
• Spotless shower/bathtub
• Shower curtains open
• Toilet lid closed
• No tissues, toilet paper, or trash bins in shot

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Your Location.

When booking accommodation, travelers expect to see a clear and realistic representation of your property and its location.

Guests need to know exactly what the property looks like on arrival, so you should take photos of the exterior that show:

• The property’s entrance

• The building’s facade in the context of the street

Try to avoid including road signs, parked cars, and passers-by in your photos.

Shooting requirements.

• Use a digital camera (the latest smartphones also have good cameras).
• Shoot landscape (horizontal) images only – these look best on Booking.com.
• Photos must have a high resolution: at least 2048 x 1080 pixels but preferably 4000 x 3000 pixels (the maximum uploadable file size for a single photo is 19MB).
• Take a minimum of 10 photos.
• Take pictures from a height of 100-160cm (3–5ft). This maintains consistency across images and feels neutral from the viewer’s perspective.
• Shoot from room corners to add perspective and depth to your images.
• Try to capture as much of each space as possible in your photos.

Things to avoid.

✘ Photos of guests

✘ Photos of logos, awards, or contact details

✘ Reflections of yourself, the camera, or other people in mirrors and windows

✘ Photos with TVs turned on

✘ Fisheye lens photos

✘ Overly dark (underexposed) or bright (overexposed) photos

✘ Black and white photos

✘ Photo collages

✘ Watermarks or illustrations in photos

Once you've taken photos of everything you need, find out how to add them to your property page.