Shoot in the order a visitor walks
Start at the street, then move through the house in the order someone would walk it.
Start at the street, then move through the house in the order someone would walk it. Take the front first, from the sidewalk if you can do that without standing in the road. Then the entry, then each main room. That order shows you a closet door left open or a light still off before you are done, and it gives you a set that tells a simple path instead of a pile of rooms.
Do not start in the prettiest bedroom because the light is good there. You will forget the front, and the front is the photo people see first. If the sidewalk view includes a car or a bin, move those before this pass, then shoot. Write the room names in walking order on a card and check them off. A missed bath is easier to see on a card than in a camera roll of forty frames.
Save detail shots for the end: a finished repair, a fireplace, a view from a window. Lead with the rooms. If you mix details into the walk, you will spend the best light on a faucet and run out of even light for the wide shots. One wide frame per room while you walk. Details after you have a wide shot you would actually use.
When you reach the back door, turn around and walk out the way you came, looking for what the first pass missed. A lamp you turned on should still be on. A shade you set should still match the others. If a room failed, reshoot it before you pack the camera. The walk order is also the order you will sort the files later, so name them as you go or sort them the same day.
What to do
- Photograph the front from the sidewalk before you go inside.
- Move room to room in walking order and check each room off a card.
- Take the wide shot while you walk, and add detail shots after.
- Walk back out and reshoot any room that failed before you pack up.