Pictures of your cottage

There are multiple important factors which determine the cottage attractiveness in the eyes of potential cottage renter: price, location, proximity to water, attractions. However, in most of the cases you don't have enough control to change these attributes.

But there is one factor which is very important and you have total control over it - the appearance of your cottage inside and outside. Somehow many cottage owners underestimate the importance of good pictures.

The reality is that potential cottage seekers spend hours and hours of looking at the pictures and most of the time they pick cottages which look "nicer". Many great cottages are staying empty due to bad pictures or lack of pictures. From the other side, many not so good cottages got booked because of pictures made by professional photograph (of course such cottages rely only on one-time visits and never get good reviews).

So, here are some tips when it comes to pictures:
1. Try to cover with pictures as many features of your cottage as you can. Renters care about everything - bedrooms, kitchen, bath, toilets, back yard, front yard, view from the sky.

2. Pictures should have high resolution. Few years ago internet connection was slow. Slow internet caused high resolution pictures to load for very long time. Nowadays everybody got high-speed internet and pictures with good resolution (640x480 pixels an higher) appear almost instantaneously. High resolution pictures give much more information about little details which are so important to the viewers.

3. Exterior pictures should be made from some distance (10m+) to give a better feeling about the atmosphere around the cottage. When making the outside picture, make sure that the sun is behind you and the cottage is not covered with too many dark shades. For best colors try to make outside pictures hour after sunrise or hour before sunset (depending on the shades). Another good exterior shot can be taken during sunny bright day when the sky is blue with few nice light clouds and the trees/grass is green-rich (but remember to keep the sun behind you for best results).

4. Interior pictures are best taken at night with soft light. Another important rule is to use wide angle photo lens (if you have access to it), so the pictures will have broader view of your rooms. Make sure that the rooms are clean and there are no people on the picture. Do some staging - put some fresh flowers on the table, start the fireplace. Cozy rooms will attract more clients.

5. If you can afford to get professional photographer - do it. Making good pictures is not just about pointing and shooting. It is an art of light, positioning and professional equipment.
Plus you can reuse pictures for long time and your investment will pay off very soon.

6. Try to show your potential clients not only different views of your cottage, but have pictures of your cottage during different seasons - winter, spring, summer and fall. The early spring season is slightly difficult because it is dull and gray, but if you have flowers blooming around your cottage - do not miss the moment. Show you clients sparkling snow on a sunny winter day, try to seduce your potential customers with a view of a lake during hot summer day, and don't miss the colorful Canadian fall, with rich, powerful colors.

Always yours,
Max Trenton
http://www.findcottage.ca