Whether you’re capturing interior design photos for a real estate listing, an Instagram feed or just to showcase your home, quality imagery is an absolute must. So much work has gone into all the corners and details of the space you’ve designed, so you want the best possible interior design photography to reflect that.
Here we’ll go through our tips for the best interior design photos, from setting up for the shoot and selecting the right camera gear, to working on the images in the post-production phase.
1. Pick the best camera gear for interior photos
Successfully showcase the beauty, creativity, and detail in each room with some proper camera gear. To stand out from the crowd, it’s a good idea to invest in a digital camera and camera accessories. Not sure where to start? Here are the essentials we recommend:
- A full-frame DSLR or mirrorless camera. The larger sensor produces less image noise in low-light conditions, which is often the challenge with indoor photography.
- A tripod. This allows slower shutter speeds to capture all that glorious light, without blur.
- A wide-angle lens. Fit entire rooms in the image without cropping with a wide-angle lens.
2. Use the best camera settings for indoor photography
When you’re photographing an interior, you want to be getting the clearest, sharpest, brightest pictures possible. The use of a tripod will help to capture light, but you can also improve this factor further with the following settings:
- Keep the ISO low. Although it’s tempting to raise the ISO, this creates more image noise and reduces clarity. Start with a low ISO and raise only as necessary.
- Shoot in RAW. Doing this gives you the freedom to correct things such as exposure and white balance in post-production.
- Use a moderate to a small aperture. To ensure it’s all sharp and detailed across the frame, use an aperture upwards of f4.
3. Use natural light as much as possible
Artificial lights in your room can introduce undesirable colour casts into your work. To prevent this, use natural light by opening all curtains and blinds. You want enough sunlight to light up your work but not too much so that it looks overwhelming. Overcast days work best as the clouds diffuse the sunlight, and windows also act as a diffuser to soften the light. Use overcast days to your advantage.
4. Keep your shots level
For composition purposes, it’s best to keep all horizontal lines level and all vertical lines perfectly vertical. Some tripods come with a ‘bubble level’ which can be incredibly useful in this instance.
5. Mix overview images with close-ups
Take photos of both the close-up details and room overviews. This helps to keep it interesting and allows you to highlight some specific furniture, cute corners, or decorating choices that you are particularly proud of.
6. Tidy up your house first
When it comes to interior design photography, attention to detail is everything. Make sure the rooms are in their best shape before you take your photos, with nothing out of place. This saves you from trying to perform disappearing acts for hours in Photoshop in the editing stage.
7. Move the furniture around
In interior design photography, staging images will set you up to capture the perfect shot. Shift things around to get the best composition and remove items that are not enhancing the photo. You can most definitely add props that make the shot perfect, like popping a bouquet in a vase, and even hire furniture or artwork if necessary. Again, it’s all about the details.
8. Work some magic in editing
Give your work a more complete and polished look. Some post-production tweaks you might want to consider are exposure, contrast, levels, and sharpness. To save time and give your work a more consistent look, batch edits and use presets you can apply to several images at once. Adjust your photos so the colour temperature, brightness, and contrast are similar in every image. This creates unique, signature work and a stunning Instagram grid. As mentioned earlier, shooting in RAW allows you to adjust these with more success, as your camera captures more information to work with later.
Capture the best interior design photos now
Photos live on forever, so it’s important to get them right. This is especially true after you’ve done such a great job fine-tuning all the design details of the interior. So, with all this in mind, you’re ready to take your photography to the next level, capturing some beautiful interior design images.