Photographs & Videos

Photographs and Videos

Here are some tips on how to achieve the best photographs and video footage for your promotional video.

Equipment:

You may think purchasing an expensive video camera or DSLR camera is a must. This is not the case, a small hand-held video camera, a digital point and shoot camera or the camera on your smartphone can achieve great results. If you have a video camera or a digital point and shoot camera we would suggest using these in the first instance, otherwise a smartphone is more than adequate for the job.

To achieve better images and footage we would always recommend using a tripod. This will remove the risk of sharking and help achieve a cleaner output. There is a huge range of tripods available at a reasonably priced. For example, the Zetong Phone Tripod can be purchase for around £17, it can be used to securely hold and manually pan a small video camera, digital point and shoot camera as well as all types of smartphones. A Google search for camera/smartphone tripod will provide a wide selection to choose from. Whilst we recommend a tripod, should you wish to proceed without one, holding the camera or smartphone close to your body or resting it on something stable will help reduce the risk of shaking.

A mechanical slider and panoramic mount will help ensure professional quality video footage. This easy to use mechanical equipment removes the movement imperfections often caused when the footage is taken manually. This equipment is specific to video footage as we have means to add motion (i.e. pan across the image) to photographs when editing. Whilst mechanical sliders and panoramic mounts are fantastic for ensuring high quality footage, they can be expensive to purchase. We provide hire of this equipment should you wish to use them for your filming. Please refer to our Service and Fees page for further information with regards to hiring these items.

How to achieve the best results

When taking photographs and video footage of interior rooms its best to have the camera at waist height, that way you don’t end up with too much of the ceiling or floor in shot.

Ideally take landscape (horizontal) photographs and video footage as they are better for creating a promotional video and appear better on online platforms. Having said this, a small number of portrait (vertical) images can sometimes be useful when video editing to create artistic scenes.

We would recommend two or three shots for each bedroom and each bathroom. For the more important rooms such as the living room and kitchen, its advisable to have a number of shots from alternative viewpoints. You don’t need as many shots outside. Ideally take a collection of wide shots of the front and back of the house, take advantage of any nice views, and a close shot of the front door. Don’t forget to also take close shots of any specific, unique, and interesting features both internally and externally as they can add extra interest and style to a video.

Don’t use the zoom feature on your camera. If you need to zoom in or out, do it the old-fashioned way by physically moving the camera closer or away from the point of interest. This is where the mechanical slider can help. By moving the camera you will achieve much sharper images.

Camera movement can be a great way to make your video more immersive and engaging. Consider moving your camera across the room as it’s a great way to make wide shots more interesting. An alternative approach to present a room is to move the camera from front to back. Moving the camera into a room from outside the door is also a great way to reveal a room. Pan and tilts are also a fantastic way to take detailed shots of interesting or key features within a room. When undertaking camera movement its important to avoid shaking and ensure the speed of movement is as consistent as possible. The equipment noted in the above section will help with achieving this.

Don’t reduce the size of your image before transferring and uploading. Images should be kept as large as possible, the more pixels the better.

Don’t text or email your photographs or videos, doing so compresses the file which decreases images quality. The best way to transfer photographs and videos to your computer is through connecting your camera or phone via a cable directly into your computer. Alternatively, use a document transfer website, such as WeTransfer and DropBox. These websites are easy to use and will allow you to upload photographs and videos direct from your phone, they can then be download to your computer or sent direct to whomever you wish. Within our services package we provide easy to follow guidance on how to transfer images and videos to us, which will ensures quality is preserved.