How to photograph the exterior of a house

To take good exterior photos of a house, shoot when the sun is shining on the front of the house. Stand at one of the front corners so the photo shows depth, and hold the phone level at about chest height. Move cars off the drive and bins off the kerb first. On a grey day, shoot anyway and keep the grey sky. That is the house buyers will see as they drive past.

The front photo is usually the first image in the listing and the thumbnail in search results. It attracts more views than any other shot.

Timing: which way is the house facing?

The biggest factor by far is where the sun is. Zillow's photography guide puts it this way: shoot when the sun is behind the camera and lights the front of the house. Here is what that means in practice for homes in the Northern Hemisphere.

• East-facing front: morning. The front is in shade by early afternoon.
• West-facing front: afternoon, right through to the last hour or two before sunset, when the light becomes warmer.
• South-facing front: gets sun for most of the day. Avoid the middle of the day, when the sun is high and casts harsh, dark shadows under the eaves and porch roof. Mid-morning or mid-afternoon is better.
• North-facing front: the most challenging. The front stays in shade for most of the year. In summer, the low sun can reach it very early in the morning or during the last hour before sunset. Otherwise, wait for a bright, overcast day, which lights every side evenly.

Check the direction on a map app before you set off. It saves you a wasted journey.

What backlighting looks like

If you shoot a house with the sun behind it, the front becomes a dark shape against a bright sky. You can lift some of the shadows when editing, but going back at the right time of day always gives a better shot.

Where to stand

Take at least two shots of the front of the property.

1. The corner angle. Stand just off one front corner, at roughly 45 degrees to the house, so the photo captures the front and part of one side. Zillow's guide recommends an angled shot because it shows the depth and size of the house. Try both corners and choose the one with the better garage, tree or driveway line.
2. Straight on, from across the street or at the far edge of the lawn. This gives the most accurate view of the façade and works well for symmetrical houses.

Then add what buyers want to see next: the rear of the house from the far end of the garden, the patio or decking, the garden itself, and any views the house has.

Lens and height

From across the street, use the 1x lens and step back rather than switching to 0.5x. The ultra-wide lens makes the house look small and distant and fills the bottom of the frame with lawn and driveway. Save 0.5x for tight plots where you can't step back far enough.

Hold the phone at chest height and keep it level. With a two-storey house, the temptation is to tilt upwards to fit the roof into the frame. This makes the walls appear to lean inwards, and buyers interpret that as a poor-quality photo. Step back instead, or accept a little more lawn at the bottom and crop later. Fixing leaning vertical lines explains the geometry.

Clear the frame

Walk around the front before you shoot. Most of this takes a minute.

• Move every car off the driveway and away from the street in front of the house. Ask neighbours whether their car is parked in the shot.
• Move the rubbish and recycling bins out of sight.
• Coil up the hose and put away the children's bikes.
• Take down seasonal decorations.
• Close the garage door.
• Mow the lawn the day before and sweep the pavement and driveway.
• Switch on the porch lights and a few interior lights. Lit windows make a house look lived-in, even in daylight.
• Check the lawn edges and planting beds. Fresh mulch shows up in photos.

What you shouldn't remove from the frame, whether when editing or otherwise, is anything permanent: power lines, a neighbour's house, a utility box, the road behind the fence. California's AB 723 identifies utility poles and neighbouring properties by name as things you must not discreetly edit, and the CRMLS rules prohibit removing wires and poles from listing photos.

Overcast days

A grey day isn't a lost day. Cloud cover spreads the light evenly, so there are no harsh shadows and the side in shade looks like the side in sun. For a north-facing house, it's often the best light you'll get.

The sky will be grey. Keep it grey. Buyers who drive past on a day like that will see what they expected. Adjust the exposure so the house looks bright, even if the sky looks a little pale.

Fake blue skies, and why we don't create them

Replacing the sky is the most common edit made to listing photos. An analysis by the property technology company Coraly, reported by Realtor.com, examined almost 40,000 primary listing images. Almost 11% showed signs of digital alteration, with sky replacement accounting for 69% of these. More than 90% of the altered images had no visible disclosure.

Many people consider replacing the sky harmless. Zillow's own guide for sellers even recommends it. I disagree, for two reasons.

The first is the regulations. AB 723 defines a digitally altered image as one in which software or AI has been used to add, remove or change elements in the image. It excludes changes to lighting, colour, exposure and straightening only where these "do not change the representation of the real property". A new sky is not covered by these exemptions. For borderline cases, CRMLS advises: "when in doubt, err on the side of caution" and disclose the edit. So, if you replace the sky in California, label the photo and display the original alongside it. Our MLS disclosure rules guide explains where to place labels on different boards.

The second is what happens when buyers view the property. A blue sky with fluffy clouds over a house that sits beneath grey skies for most of the winter creates a slight sense of disappointment when buyers pull up outside. It is the first thing buyers see in person, and it tells them the photos have been edited. They start wondering what else has been changed.

That is why Real Estate Camera does not offer sky or twilight replacement. Enhance corrects exposure, white balance and verticals, and restores window detail. It leaves the sky exactly as you captured it and does not alter the architecture or landscaping. If you want a blue sky, take the photo on a day when the sky really is blue. If you want a twilight shot, take one about 15 minutes after sunset, with all the lights on and your phone on a tripod. Twilight property photos explains the costs and rules, while sky replacement explains what each board allows.

A phone workflow for the exterior

1. Check which way the house faces and choose your timing.
2. Clear away cars, bins and hoses. Turn on the porch lights.
3. Shoot the corner angle from both sides at 1x, from chest height, keeping the camera level.
4. Shoot straight on from across the street.
5. Shoot the rear, the garden and the patio.
6. Take three or four frames of each shot. Wind moves the trees and a car always drives past.
7. Run Enhance on the best shots, using 1 credit each and taking 20 to 60 seconds per photo.

For the inside of the house, see shooting listing photos on an iPhone and the full shot list. If you're selling without an agent, FSBO listing photos covers the whole house. Landlords photographing a property should read rental listing photos. And if your interior shots came out dark, fixing dark real estate photos will help.

To shoot and edit the exterior in one app, see the real estate photography app.

Straighten and brighten your next front shot on your phone. Start free: 1 credit.