Still images at a minimum are needed for vacation rental photo sessions. Some people also add a 360 walkthrough tour, aerial images, a video walkthrough tour or a combination of some or all of these. Adding one of these extra services will make your property stand out amongst other properties. You want to get as many interested clients as possible so differentiating yourself gives you an advantage. Booking all the services at once is preferable as you will get a discount for 2 or more services.

For interior photo sessions, it is best to wait until the sun comes up a little bit so we can get as much natural light coming into the home as possible. If you want to add twilight images, it is best for me to come a few hours before sunset and shoot all the interior and day exterior images, then stay for the twilight exterior images.

The day before or the morning of your session have the home professionally cleaned. Have all of your decor in place as you would for a client. You also want to include any amenities you will be offering so these can be photographed. You DO NOT want to include amenities you don’t consistently offer (such as a bottle of wine). This is against Airbnb’s policy. I always photograph detail shots of amenities and any cool decor I think would appeal to a potential client. Giving your property a personality is key!

There are many reasons for this: A) vacation rental shooting will include detail shots of your decor and amenities. I always shoot wide, mid-range and then detail shots. Real estate photos do not include this variety of focal lengths. B) Vacation rental photos have a longer usage life. I give 5 years of usage rights. Real estate photo usage is only for the duration that the home is on the market. C) Vacation rental images are higher resolution. Real estate images are lower resolution.