Latest / Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights / Professional Photos = More Airbnb Bookings | Here's Why

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Professional Photos = More Airbnb Bookings | Here's Why · Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights

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  Bad photography could be costing you thousands in lost bookings.
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  In this episode of House Planet Bite Size powered by House
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  Fully, I'm joined by professional property
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  photographer Michael Fox. He'll be sharing the key
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  principles every short term rental host needs to understand,
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  from lighting and angles to storytelling and first
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  impression psychology. We'll also explain how the right
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  images can dramatically increase clicks, conversions and nightly
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  rates. If you want your listing to
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  stand out in a crowded market, this episode is essential.
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  Let's get straight into it. Michael, welcome to House Planet
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  Bite size. What's your top photography tip
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  to short term rental hosts? Hi James, thanks for having me
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  on the podcast. So first of all, it's just worth
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  mentioning that how important photos are for your short term
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  rental. I mean, without any photos,
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  you're not going to get any bookings.
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  I it would be a complete lottery.
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  So it's definitely one of the most crucial things that you
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  want to get right. And it's not like buying a house
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  where you can view it before you commit to buying.
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  And you can't do that with a short term rental.
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  So photos are definitely one of the key factors in getting
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  bookings for your property. So you want to make sure that
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  they're the best that they can be, you know, to give potential
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  guests the confidence that your property is the right the right
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  place for for their stay. So tip #1 is make sure your
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  property is clean, tidy and just free of any clutter, which it
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  sounds really obvious, but you know, just having that attention
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  to detail just really goes a long way.
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  So things to think about, just like loose cables that might be
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  lying around, just make sure they're tucked away and outside
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  because they can make a room look quite messy.
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  And I would definitely say a less is more approach is, is
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  quite good. So obviously you want to include
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  your, your decorative items, you know, things that add a little
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  pop of colour, you know, make it feel more homely, you know,
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  fruit bowl, like flowers or any ornaments.
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  They're, they're fine, but, but try and keep it minimal.
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  But for your kitchen, for example, you know, you, you want
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  to keep minimal appliances, so your kettle, your toast, your
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  nice coffee machines, they're, they're good, they're fine.
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  But anything else, any, anything bulky, you know, like air fryers
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  or bread makers, you, you want to keep those hidden away
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  really. And just keep an eye out for
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  like things like washing up liquids, kitchen mould, just,
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  you know, just things like that. Just make sure it's all all
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  hidden away. I think that's really good.
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  Advice. Yes, especially.
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  Avoiding the clutter because it is easy.
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  Like in the kitchen, you might leave bread out or cereal boxes
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  or anything like that. And and then that attention to
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  detail. Removing the wires and and stuff
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  like that, it's really. Important and I think you're.
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  Exactly right. That minimalist approach.
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  I mean, I'm actually in the process of selling the house
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  that I live in at the moment and.
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  I haven't wanted to have the. Photos taken until.
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  We've kind of. Cleared so much of kids toys.
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  Basically get all the kids toys out of the way.
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  So it just. Looks much more appealing and I
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  think you know you have taken that minimalist approaches it is
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  really important so. OK then Michael, so that's.
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  Tip #1. What's tip #2 the tip #2 is your
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  composition, your angles, and your your framing.
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  So the height and the angle of your photo are things to get
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  right. So one key tip is to make sure
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  that your photos are like completely level.
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  So what a lot of people do is sort of they stand tall in the
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  corner of a room. They they take a photo from high
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  up and look down on a space. But what that can often do is,
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  is make things look a little bit distorted and make your room
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  feel a little bit smaller. So particularly for the wide
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  shots of your room, you want to make sure you want to get lower
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  down. Basically, you want to be at
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  either chest or hip height, depending on how tall you are.
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  And then what you want to do is look at the edges of your, your
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  frame. So look at your verticals, you
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  know, your walls, your doors, and make sure those vertical
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  lines are parallel with the edges of your, of your camera
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  frame. This is just, it's quite a
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  simple thing, but it just helps your photos feel more
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  professional. And then if you can, I'd use a
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  tripod or just something that you can prop your camera up on
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  because not only will that help make your photos level, but
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  it'll, it'll help them make make them nice and sharp and, and
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  reduce motion blur from from handheld photography, things
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  like that. Definitely, yeah.
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  It'll give you that level of consistency.
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  All right then. Quick one before we get to tip
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  All right, back to it, Michael. What's tip #3 OK, tip #3 is
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  lighting. So lighting is super important
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  and probably the most important actually, it should have been
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  tip number one really. But I thought I'd put these tips
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  in a bit more of a logical order.
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  So your images just, they just want to be light and bright as
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  possible. You know, use as much natural
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  light as you can. You know, open your blinds, your
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  curtains to the fullest, open doors if if need be, you know,
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  just get as much natural light flooding through your property
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  as possible, which is not always easy.
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  I mean, I tend to use a little bit of flash when I'm shooting
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  properties, which you might think, oh, it's a bit garish,
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  bit unflattering, which it is if you're not using it in the right
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  way. So you've got to let the natural
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  light do most of the work. And then I'll use a separate
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  flash, you know, just just to bounce off the ceiling, get a
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  bit bit of soft light just to lift the room a little bit.
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  You don't always need flash flow.
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  You could use a lamp maybe just to help brighten a dark corner
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  perhaps. But I would try and avoid using
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  your main lights where possible just because and or too much
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  artificial lights because you can end up with some strange
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  colour casts. Because without getting too
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  technical, your natural tungsten light, natural light and
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  tungsten light are kind of on the opposite ends of the colour
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  spectrum, so they they tend to clash a little bit.
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  So yeah, definitely use as as much natural light as possible
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  because that'll really help your images feel cleaner and just
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  more professional. And how important is it to get
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  the? Time of day, right?
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  I mean, if you're in the winter months in the UK specifically,
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  you don't want to be taking your photos at five, 6:00 at night.
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  I mean, do you always think, you know, if you're taking shots of
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  a property, I want to get there mid morning, something like
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  that. Yeah, mid morning, mid
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  afternoon, something like you, yeah, you want you want the
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  light to be quite soft and yeah, pay attention to what what
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  different rooms are doing at different times a day, because
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  you might have a room that's maybe a bit darker in the
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  morning, but in the afternoon it might be a little bit lighter
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  and brighter. So take your photos then.
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  So yeah, just keep just keep an eye on what what what the light
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  is doing in your property like throughout the day.
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  But I would say don't take your photos at night.
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  I have seen that before and it just, it doesn't sell the, the
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  space very well in there. Yeah, unless you, unless you're
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  selling some sort of stargazing opportunity in your, in your
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  garden or you, you try to sell a, you know, you've got a fire
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  and you're selling that cosy night in kind of vibe.
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  But those kind of shots lend themselves a bit better for like
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  a lifestyle type of shot, which actually brings me on to tip #4.
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  So tip #4 is sell those moments, you know, sell the why.
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  So think about your target audience and why are people
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  booking your property? You know, think about those
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  little moments that people are going to be thinking about,
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  thinking that they're going to be doing and when they stay at
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  your property. So it can be really simple.
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  It can be something simple like teapot and tea cups, which can
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  work in the in a living space just as well as a bedroom.
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  I mean, I personally like a cup of tea in bed on the morning
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  when I'm staying away somewhere. Start the day slow and relaxed.
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  Or maybe you want to go down the route of the bottle of wine or
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  champagne, champagne glasses or next to a fire, roaring fire if
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  you're going for that kind of cosy vibe.
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  Or even like a breakfast setup, if you've got a nice kind of
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  like open plan kitchen dining space, you know, maybe a pot of
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  coffee or fresh fruit, vegetable, fresh fruit or fresh
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  pastries. Or if you include things like a
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  welcome pack, you know, show those kind of things.
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  Anything, any local produce that you, you offer, you know, just
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  just little things just to help people imagine what they can do
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  when they're going to stay at your property and, and help them
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  put themselves in, you know, space basically.
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  And you can get, you can get a lot more creative with these
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  shots as well. You don't need to sort of
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  constrain yourselves with the, with the strict frame in that
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  that I talked about earlier that like these lifestyle shots,
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  you've got a lot more freedom. So yeah, yeah, it's something we
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  talk about quite a lot. On the podcast, actually, it's.
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  Selling the experience. Rather than just.
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  Showing the rooms because. End of the day, a room is a
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  room. But if you're actually selling
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  the. Experience.
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  That's what's going to excite potential.
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  Bookers I mean. For example, if somebody has a
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  property which is set up maybe for hen.
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  Parties, something like that. How would you approach kind of?
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  Selling that experience, what props would you be looking to
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  use? I think a similar thing you
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  could have the the champagne glasses, you know, think about
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  things that you're going to be celebrating, maybe if you've got
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  some games, I don't know, things like that.
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  Just fun things just to put in place just to get people, you
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  know, looking forward to, to stay in there and just having a
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  great time basically. That's that's what you're trying
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  to sell, isn't it? Yeah, Showcase, showcase, all
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  those. Different amenities.
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  OK then Michael, so tip #5 tip #5 is yeah, just do a little bit
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  of editing if you can. You can get some free editing
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  software these days for your computer or your or your phone.
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  You don't need to do loads, you know, just increase the
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  brightness a little bit, lift the shadows a little bit and
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  boost the colour vibrance just a touch and make those colours
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  pop. As I say, just don't go
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  overboard because you can over edit images and they can start
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  to look a bit unrealistic and a little bit nasty.
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  So yeah, you can tell when an image has been over edited.
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  So yeah, just do a little bit. Minimal is best.
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  Yeah, you. Want it to be a fair
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  representation of your? Place as well.
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  You don't want people to turn up and think well OK, this the
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  photos were really nice, but this looks absolutely nothing
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  like the photos you want to be. You want to be honest too.
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  I know, Michael, you have a. 6th bonus tip too.
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  So tell us about this. Yeah, I have a final bonus tip
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  and that is to hire a professional.
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  I'm not just saying this because I am a professional
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  photographer. I have spent a bit of time like
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  browsing sites like Airbnb and booking.com and I can tell when
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  someone has had professional photos captured and when they
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  haven't. And I'm definitely more likely
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  to click on a listing that had professional photos done.
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  And, and what it usually tells me as well is that the person
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  who owns that property is willing to go that extra mile
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  and cares a lot about the guest experience because you're,
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  you're building trust as well with these photos and with your
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  potential guests. So yeah, hire a professional, a
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  photographer, they can help with all the tips that I've just just
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  run through and they can take the pain away of doing it
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  yourself basically. So for the sake of a few hours,
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  a few £100, you know, if it gets you a few extra bookings then
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  it's paid for itself, hasn't it? We've we've said this.
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  Over and over again on the podcast and in our ebooks, the
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  number one thing to get right in this game is photography and to
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  hire a professional. You mentioned that Michael, kind
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  of looking through Airbnb and booking.com and you can
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  instantly tell when somebody. 'S taking photos.
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  Themselves, and they've maybe done it on their phone and
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  they've done it quickly just because they want to get the
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  listing uploaded. What are the most common
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  mistakes that you see on those type of listings?
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  I think a few things like, like I said, sort of the, the, the
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  looking down on a space and can just make things look, it can
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  make a room look small and, and, and distorted without any
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  editing and it can look a little bit dark.
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  So just a little bit of editing, you know, just to to, to
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  brighten images up a little bit And I think getting the order
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  right as well. So really, really hone in on the
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  things that are unique about your property.
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  You know, if you've got a nice big garden that's great in
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  summer, you know, sell live. If you've got a great family
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  socialising space, you know, really holding that you, you
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  don't need like 5 shots of a bathroom unless you've got a
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  really fantastic bathroom. So, you know, just really, just
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  really think about what's unique and what's the best thing about
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  your property and just really, really sell that.
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  Yeah, show off all those. Amenities that you have the the
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  things that are really going to improve the guest experience.
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  I remember actually I was speaking to a a.
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  Host. And she was struggling to get.
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  Bookings. And I said, oh, you know, send
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  me a listing, I'll have a look at it.
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  And I saw the photos and they were dark.
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  The angles weren't grey. But but the one thing that came
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  through to me. Was that there was just a total?
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  Like lack of. Consistency in any of the photos
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  like. All the bedding.
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  Looked totally different. You know, the the cushions, the
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  all the colours were like all over the shop.
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  There was lots of clutter everywhere.
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  It just. Seemed they hadn't.
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  Kind of there wasn't much thought that had gone into those
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  photos. So like.
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  I think when the advantage of like working with a professional
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  is. You do get that consistency
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  along everything. And they will try and kind of
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  like stage your property as well.
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  I mean, how important do you think it is to?
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  Have that consistency and and a. Level of staging, yeah,
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  definitely, because I mean a consistency, I mean it feels
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  like the the images were sort of captured all at the same time,
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  you know that they're from the same property at the same time.
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  It's it's again, it's just building that trust, isn't it,
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  For your for your potential guests, Yeah.
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  And just having that light, natural, natural light flowing
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  through the property, you know, including those decorative
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  elements as well, not not too many, but enough for it to just,
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  you know, feel unique, feel homely, just, you know, just
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  nice and clean, fresh and inviting.
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  That's that's that's really what you want to want to show in in
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  your photos. And remember, of course, that
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  Airbnb booking dot. Com all the.
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  OTAs where? You post these photos, they've.
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  Got pretty strict algorithms. And they're judging all these
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  photos, they're looking at how bright they are, the resolution,
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  they're looking at all the amenities.
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  They're basically judging them to see if people are going to
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  find them appealing and want to book your property so.
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  If your photos are no. Good, you're going to find
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  yourself on. Page 10 page. 15 of people's
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  searches and you're probably not going to get that many bookings.
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  OK. Then Michael, just tell us a bit
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  more about your business. Where can people find you?
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  If they need a professional photographer to take snaps of
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  their rental. Yeah, so I'm a I'm a commercial
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  photographer based in Yorkshire, in the north of England.
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  You can find my website, itsmfoxphoto.com.
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  You just click the property section, you'll find My
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  Portfolio there. Or if you want to send me an
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  e-mail, it's Michael at mfoxphoto.com.
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  Fantastic. And we'll put.
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  All those details. In the show.
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  Notes Michael specializes. In property photography, so if
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  you need someone for. Your.
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  Airbnb your short term rental. He is your man.
• 16:39
  Michael, it's been a real pleasure.
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  Thanks for joining us on House Planet Bite Size.
• 16:43
  Thank you James, been my pleasure. 5 brilliant tips there
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  from Michael Fox. Now, if you're reviewing your
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  listing photos in 2026, drop a comment and tell us what's your
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  biggest challenge when it comes to photography.
• 16:57
  Is it lighting, staging, knowing what to shoot or what not to?
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  Chances are you're not the only one struggling with it.
• 17:04
  All right, that's it for this episode of Host Planet Bite
• 17:07
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