Tips on Using a Point and Shoot Camera for Real Estate Photography. Tip #2

One of the services A1 Virtual Tours offers is called MyPic Tours. This is where our clients choose to take photos of properties, upload them to us, and we then create the tours for them using their photos.
Many times real estate agents, brokers and home owners use a point and shoot camera for this purpose. And, many times their photos are poor quality.
These articles deals with some tips how to shoot good Real Estate Photos using a point and shoot camera.

Example: Photographing a house for sale. Composition for Interior photos Tip #2
Provide a Focal Point
Without a center of attention, the viewer's eyes wander through and out of the
image, without stopping. Let's say there is a beautiful staircase or a custom built fireplace with a magnificent mantle in a room. Each can be considered a main element or focal point in a room.
You should position this main element using the rule of thirds.
The rule of thirds is one of the most basic composition guidelines in photography. The rule of thirds explains what part of an image the human eye is most strongly drawn towards first. An imaginary tic-tac-toe board is drawn across an image to break it into nine equal squares. The four points where these lines intersect are strongest focal points. The lines themselves are the second strongest focal points.

Try to place the main element at one of the four points where the rule of thirds lines intersect, or at least along one of the horizontal or vertical lines. Do not place the focal point dead center in the image.

Keep the camera straight and level.
Tilting it makes side walls appear slanted. Don't tilt the camera up or down; it gives objects odd, unnatural shapes. Keep vertical elements like corners of a room, door openings, windows or columns verticle and parallel with each other. Tilting the camera up will skew these lines. Shoot at chest-level so you show less ceiling.

shot tilting up. result; entrance is narrow at top

shot with no tilt. camera about chest height

You don't always have to shoot the entire room;
A vase, chair or object in the foreground gives more depth to the shot.

Move furniture so it doesn't hide architectural features like a fireplace.

Shoot two walls only, with a bit of floor and ceiling.
Shooting three walls creates a shoebox effect.
 
If an interior is empty, stand back as far as you can to show how large the space is but add a chair for example to show scale.