Picture a tenant in Berlin, London or Johannesburg, planning three months in Cape Town. They cannot pop round for a viewing. They scroll through a dozen homes on their phone in the evening, and within a few seconds each one has either caught their attention or been swiped past. For monthly stays, your photos are the viewing. They decide whether someone opens your listing, whether they trust what they see, and whether they send a booking request for a home they will live in for months. The good news: you do not need expensive equipment to get this right. Most of what makes a great listing photo happens before you press the shutter. Here is how to do it. Your Phone Is Good Enough Modern smartphones take excellent interior photos. Any phone from the last few years has a sharp main camera, automatic HDR that balances bright windows and darker corners, and usually an ultra-wide lens. Used well, a phone produces photos that hold their own against a camera costing many times more. What makes the difference is not the device, it is the preparation, the light and the way you hold it. A few settings help: - Clean the lens. A smudged lens is the most common reason phone photos look hazy. - Shoot horizontally (landscape). Listing photos are displayed wider than they are tall, so vertical shots lose most of the room. - Turn on the grid in your camera settings. It helps you keep walls straight and frame each shot. - Leave HDR on and the flash off. Flash creates harsh shadows and reflections. Use daylight and your room lights instead. - Use the highest resolution your phone offers. Before You Shoot: Prepare the Space Declutter, Then Declutter Again Clutter is the fastest way to make a room look small. Monthly tenants want to imagine their own life in your home, so clear out everything personal and anything that does not need to be there: - Clear kitchen counters except for one or two nice items, like a coffee machine or a bowl of fruit - Remove toiletries from the bathroom, and take the bath mat and toilet brush out of the shot - Hide cables, remote controls, chargers and bins - Take photos, magnets and paperwork off the fridge - Put away shoes, bags and laundry Clean and Stage - Clean mirrors, windows, taps and glass shower doors. The camera picks up every streak. - Make the beds properly, with smooth linen and plumped pillows. - Hang fresh towels neatly in the bathroom. - Set up spaces for how they are used: a laptop and lamp on the desk, two mugs by the coffee machine, a throw on the sofa. - Replace any blown bulbs and use the same warm white bulbs throughout, so the colours look consistent. Light Is Everything Open Every Blind and Switch On Every Light Open all curtains and blinds fully, then switch on every light, including lamps. Natural light makes rooms feel bigger and fresher, and the lamps fill in dark corners. Shoot When the Weather Is Good Cape Town gives you plenty of good days, so wait for one. Bright daylight shows off your home best, and a sunny day with blue sky makes any view from the windows or balcony look its best. If direct sun creates harsh patches of light across the floor, shoot that room when the sun has moved or on a bright, lightly overcast day, which gives soft, even light. Plan the timing for each room. Shoot rooms facing the sun at a time when the light falls in gently rather than glaring through the window. Save the balcony and the view for late afternoon, when the light is warm. And avoid the windiest days of summer if you want calm outdoor shots without flapping umbrellas and cushions. How to Take the Shot Shoot From the Corner Stand in a corner or a doorway and shoot diagonally across the room. This shows the most space and gives a sense of how the room flows. For each important room, take a wide shot from one corner and a second angle from the opposite side. Hold the Phone at Chest Height and Keep It Straight Hold the phone at about chest height, slightly lower than eye level, and keep it level. Tilting the phone up or down makes walls and door frames lean, which looks unprofessional and makes rooms feel off. Use the grid lines to line up the vertical edges of walls and windows. Use Wide Angle, But Do Not Overdo It The ultra-wide lens on your phone (often marked 0.5x) is useful in small rooms like bathrooms and compact bedrooms, where you cannot step back far enough. But it stretches the edges of the frame, so furniture near the sides can look distorted. Use it where you need it, keep the phone level, and switch back to the normal lens for larger rooms. Never use wide angle to make a room look bigger than it is: a tenant who arrives to a smaller home than expected will not leave a good review. Capture the Details Too After the wide shots, add a few close-ups that show what makes your home good to live in: - The workspace, with the desk, chair and natural light - The kitchen, including the oven, coffee machine and a full cutlery drawer - The washing machine, aircon unit or backup power, if you have them - The view from the window, balcony or terrace - The building entrance, pool, garden or parking Remote workers in particular look closely at the desk and the Wi-Fi setup, so give the workspace its own photo. Which Photos to Include On roam&root, every listing needs at least 5 photos, and homes with 10 or more score higher on the Hosting Score, which affects how high your listings rank. A good set covers: 1. The cover photo: your strongest, brightest shot, usually the living area or the view. It is the first thing tenants see in search. 2. Living area from two angles 3. Kitchen, wide and with a detail shot 4. Each bedroom, with a made bed and the wardrobe space visible 5. Each bathroom 6. Workspace 7. Balcony, garden or view 8. Building and surroundings, such as the entrance, pool or parking Put them in the order a tenant would walk through the home. When you upload your photos, roam&root can also review them and suggest an order that puts your strongest shots first. Editing: Keep It Honest A little editing helps, too much hurts trust: - Straighten any leaning lines and crop out distractions at the edges - Lift the brightness slightly if a room looks dark - Do not use heavy filters, change wall colours or remove things that are really there, like a building opposite Your photos should look like the home on its best day, not like a different home. Add a Walkthrough Video On roam&root you can upload a walkthrough video of your home in the photos step of the listing editor. For tenants who cannot visit before moving in, a video answers the questions photos leave open: how the rooms connect, how big the space really feels and what the view looks like from the sofa. Filming one is easy with your phone: - Film in the same good light as your photos, with blinds open and lights on - Start at the front door and walk slowly through every room in a natural order - Keep the phone at chest height and move smoothly, with no quick turns - Pause for a moment on the best features: the view, the kitchen, the workspace A walkthrough video gives tenants the confidence to book a home they have never seen in person, and it saves you answering the same questions in messages. Prefer a Professional? Book Shona If you would rather leave it to an expert, our partner photographer Shona from Clique Photography shoots homes across Cape Town and knows exactly what works for rental listings. roam&root hosts get R100 off any package with the code roam&root100 at checkout. You will also find the booking link in the photos step of the listing editor. For other services that help you get your home ready, from handymen to storage, browse our host services directory. Quick Checklist - Lens cleaned, grid on, flash off, phone held horizontally - Counters, bathroom and fridge cleared, cables hidden - Beds made, towels hung, mirrors and windows cleaned - Blinds open, all lights on, a bright and dry day - Shot from the corners at chest height, phone level - Ultra-wide only where needed - At least 10 photos, strongest shot first - Walkthrough video uploaded Once your photos are ready, our guides on how to create a listing that actually gets booked and how to furnish an apartment for monthly tenants cover the rest. Frequently Asked Questions Can I take listing photos with my phone? Yes. Modern smartphones take excellent interior photos. Clean the lens, shoot horizontally in good daylight with all lights on, and keep the phone level. Preparation and light matter far more than the camera. Should I use the wide-angle lens? Use the ultra-wide lens (0.5x) in small rooms where you cannot step back far enough, such as bathrooms. Avoid it in larger rooms, as it distorts the edges and can make a room look bigger than it is, which disappoints tenants on arrival. What time of day is best for taking photos? A bright, dry day with plenty of daylight. Shoot rooms when the sun is not glaring straight through the windows, and save balcony and view shots for late afternoon, when the light is warm. How many photos should my listing have? roam&root requires at least 5 photos, and homes with 10 or more score higher on the Hosting Score, which helps your listing rank higher. Cover every room plus the workspace, the view and the building. Which photo should be my cover photo? Your brightest and most inviting shot, usually the living area or the view. It is the first image tenants see in search, so it decides whether they open your listing. Can I add a video to my listing? Yes. You can upload a walkthrough video in the photos step of the listing editor. Film it with your phone, starting at the front door and walking slowly through every room. Is there a discount on professional photography? Yes. roam&root hosts get R100 off any package from our partner photographer Shona at Clique Photography with the code roam&root100.