How to Capture the Beauty of Your Work Through Phone Photography
In this webinar, a pro photographer offers tips on staging spaces and using phone settings to get good project shots
During the pandemic, many designers and builders have been unable to have a professional photographer shoot their recent projects. If this is true for you, you can still get beautiful photos of your latest work with a camera phone and some pro tips. Then upload the photos to your Houzz profile to draw the attention of homeowners.
Nashville, Tennessee-based interiors and architecture photographer Alyssa Rosenheck recently sat down with Reisa Elden of Houzz to share tips for improving photography skills. Read the highlights below, then click the link to watch the full webinar.
Nashville, Tennessee-based interiors and architecture photographer Alyssa Rosenheck recently sat down with Reisa Elden of Houzz to share tips for improving photography skills. Read the highlights below, then click the link to watch the full webinar.
How to Use Your Phone Camera for High-Quality Shots
If you don’t have access to a professional photographer right now, you can still take high-quality photos with a camera phone. “The best things you can do are simple, and many of them are free,” Rosenheck says.
For example, by turning on the grid option in your camera settings you can ensure level horizontal and vertical shots by matching objects up with the straight lines on your phone screen. Using a tripod for your phone is another option to achieve level shots free from shaking hands.
Rosenheck also suggests purchasing or downloading preset camera filters that will help you capture a room that’s too bright, too dark or has multiple saturated colors; simply click on the filter before taking the shot. “These presets can really elevate your photos and take out all of the guesswork,” she says.
Your phone may already have some preset camera filters in place. If not, you can find some to download online.
If you don’t have access to a professional photographer right now, you can still take high-quality photos with a camera phone. “The best things you can do are simple, and many of them are free,” Rosenheck says.
For example, by turning on the grid option in your camera settings you can ensure level horizontal and vertical shots by matching objects up with the straight lines on your phone screen. Using a tripod for your phone is another option to achieve level shots free from shaking hands.
Rosenheck also suggests purchasing or downloading preset camera filters that will help you capture a room that’s too bright, too dark or has multiple saturated colors; simply click on the filter before taking the shot. “These presets can really elevate your photos and take out all of the guesswork,” she says.
Your phone may already have some preset camera filters in place. If not, you can find some to download online.
Add Dimension by Creating Layers
To keep a photo from feeling flat, add layers that help bring it to life. “Think in ways in which your eye is being invited into an image and can organically travel throughout it,” Rosenheck suggests. “If your eye is hung up on one empty spot, it’s important to fill it.”
Add plants, flowers, artwork, throws, pillows and rugs to keep the eye moving through a photograph and prevent it from landing on a blank space.
Get a Variety of Shots
To showcase your project, a mix of wide-angle and close-up shots can best give viewers a sense of the room’s scale and personality. “If you think about the coziest spaces in your house, they tend to be a little smaller, and I want to communicate that intimacy in my images,” Rosenheck says.
She suggests a balance of close-up shots that feature vignettes of details that communicate your brand and wide-angle shots that show the depth and physicality of a room.
See more resources for pros in Houzz Pro Learn
To keep a photo from feeling flat, add layers that help bring it to life. “Think in ways in which your eye is being invited into an image and can organically travel throughout it,” Rosenheck suggests. “If your eye is hung up on one empty spot, it’s important to fill it.”
Add plants, flowers, artwork, throws, pillows and rugs to keep the eye moving through a photograph and prevent it from landing on a blank space.
Get a Variety of Shots
To showcase your project, a mix of wide-angle and close-up shots can best give viewers a sense of the room’s scale and personality. “If you think about the coziest spaces in your house, they tend to be a little smaller, and I want to communicate that intimacy in my images,” Rosenheck says.
She suggests a balance of close-up shots that feature vignettes of details that communicate your brand and wide-angle shots that show the depth and physicality of a room.
See more resources for pros in Houzz Pro Learn
Choosing photographs to showcase on your Houzz profile is a marketing decision, Rosenheck says. “You need to select the images that communicate where you want to grow as a professional and the type of clients you want to attract. If you only have four or five images from your best project, go back and see if you have any installation photos or presentation boards from that project you can add.”
Designers can use Houzz Pro to share photos and files and send proposals, mood boards and more. Houzz Pro was built specifically to help designers and builders, as well as other home remodeling pros, streamline their client communications and better manage their businesses.
Designers can use Houzz Pro to share photos and files and send proposals, mood boards and more. Houzz Pro was built specifically to help designers and builders, as well as other home remodeling pros, streamline their client communications and better manage their businesses.
To learn more, watch the full webinar
Tell us: Have you recently photographed a project yourself? Share any tips in the Comments.
More for Pros on Houzz
Read more stories for pros
Learn about Houzz Pro software
Talk with your peers in the Pro-to-Pro discussions
Join the Houzz Trade Program
Tell us: Have you recently photographed a project yourself? Share any tips in the Comments.
More for Pros on Houzz
Read more stories for pros
Learn about Houzz Pro software
Talk with your peers in the Pro-to-Pro discussions
Join the Houzz Trade Program
- Keep vertical and horizontal shots level.
- Photograph rooms that are too light or too dark.
- Bring your photos to life with staging.
- Showcase a project at its best.
“Photographs can fall flat quite easily,” Rosenheck says. “There’s so many little intricacies that go into creating a dimensional photograph.”Learn about Houzz Pro business software