How to take real estate photos with an iPhone

Settings, height, angles and light for listing photos on an iPhone or Android phone, and how to fix leaning walls and grey skies afterwards.

Updated 2026-10-22

A recent phone can take listing photos that hold up well online. The difference between a good and a poor listing photo is rarely the camera. It is height, straight lines, light and a tidy room.

Set up the phone once

• Turn on the grid and the level: Settings > Camera > Grid and Level. The level helps you hold the phone straight, and the grid shows when vertical lines lean.
• Shoot in Photo mode, holding the phone horizontally. Listing sites show horizontal photos best.
• Clean the lens. A fingerprint turns window light into haze.
• On Android, the grid is in the camera app's settings; the name of the option differs by maker.

Height and angle

• Hold the phone at about chest height, around 1.2 to 1.5 m (4 to 5 ft). Too high and the photo is mostly floor; too low and it is mostly ceiling.
• Keep the phone level, not tilted up or down. Tilting is what makes walls lean.
• Shoot from a corner or a doorway, so the photo shows two or three walls and the depth of the room.
• Use the 0.5x ultra-wide camera with care. It fits more of a small room in, but it stretches whatever is near the edges. Step back and use 1x where you can, and keep furniture away from the edges of the frame.

Light

• Shoot in daylight with every light on and the blinds open.
• Turn the flash off.
• Do not point the phone straight at a bright window; shoot with the window to your side.
• Tap the room to focus, or touch and hold to lock focus and exposure (AE/AF Lock), then drag the sun symbol up or down to brighten or darken.
• Shoot the front of the home when the sun is on it, not behind it.

Before you shoot

Clear the counters, hide bins, cables, fridge magnets and personal photos, make the beds and close the toilet lids. Five minutes of tidying does more than any edit.

After you shoot

1. Straighten first: walls and door frames should be truly vertical.
2. Then brightness and shadows, then colour. Rooms should look bright and natural, not orange or blue.
3. Keep it honest. Lighter and straighter is fine; anything that changes what is in the picture, like a new sky, removed objects or staging, should be labelled. See the virtual staging rules guide.

STAR Listing Studio does these steps on your phone: 8 real-estate looks such as Bright & Airy, brightness, shadows and warmth, straightening and fixing leaning verticals, a new sky that the app finds by itself, and removal of small clutter. Changes that alter the picture are marked 'Virtually edited'. The same photos then become a 3D tour video, social posts and a flyer.

STAR Listing StudioAI listing kit & 3D tours. On Google Play now, with a 7-day free trial. Coming soon to the App Store.