How to Photograph B Rooms: 5 Mistakes to Avoid

Do you manage a B in Catania or its province and want to increase bookings? Pay attention to the interior photographs you show online.

It’s often underestimated, but photos count more than a thousand words and are the real calling card of your property.

You can describe in detail how welcoming, clean, and fragrant your B rooms are, or how pleasant it is to wake up with sunlight filtering through the curtains at dawn, or how rich and genuine the breakfast served every morning is, but no description will be more effective and immediate than a photograph.

Images immediately catch the eye of potential guests and, if well-done, pique curiosity and interest. It really takes just a few seconds to decide whether your B might be right for them or not. Otherwise, they move on to the next listing, the next B

Wrong, inconsistent, and low-quality photographs will make you lose opportunities and customers.

Among the most common mistakes is thinking that it’s enough to take a few photos with a smartphone to get attractive images, perhaps adding some filters. But it really doesn’t work that way.

In this article, we’ll look at the 5 most common mistakes you might make and how to avoid them.

1. Wrong Lighting

You know those photos with gloomy lighting that make the room look dark and suffocating? Or those yellowish images that give the room an old and stale look? Well, it’s better to avoid them.

The simplest solution I can recommend is to take advantage of natural light. You just need to open curtains and windows and shoot during the brightest hours of the day.

If the room is in a shaded area, you can use neutral artificial light, avoiding the mix of cool and warm lights that create unharmonious effects.

Be careful, in both cases, not to photograph with light directly facing the camera, this would cause backlit photos with overexposure.

2. Wrong Framing

Maybe you want to experiment and try to take photos different from the usual, but if you choose the wrong framing, you risk making your room look small or worse, distorted.

I’ll give you some examples of framing to avoid:

1. Shots from above: the room looks smaller and disproportionate. This type of angle flattens the furnishings and alters the perception of space, making it less welcoming.
2. Photos that are too close or too far: if you photograph an element from too close (for example, the bed or a nightstand), you limit the overall view and don’t allow for a good perception of the space. Conversely, a frame that’s too wide can make the room seem dispersive or even emptier than it is.
3. Unbalanced framing: if the photo is tilted or not centered correctly, the viewer’s eye struggles to read the image harmoniously. A typical error is, for example, when the lines of walls and furniture appear crooked.
4. Shots from below: can look unnatural and inharmonious. Moreover, it tends to make the furnishings appear disproportionate to the room.

To avoid all these framing errors, I advise you to shoot at eye level. This way, you’ll give a sense of space without distorting reality, while still finding a viewpoint that can enhance your room, without overly intrusive visual elements in the foreground.

3. 3. Disorganized Set

It may seem like a rare mistake, but you often see photos of messy rooms, bare or too full, with incoherent objects scattered here and there, visible electrical cables… in short, rooms that look neglected and unwelcoming.

Here the problem is definitely disorganization and lack of planning.

My advice is to pay attention to the surroundings and create a proper photographic set to convey the atmosphere of your B

You could consider adding visual elements, like a breakfast tray or a coffee cup, a carefully folded blanket, or a bouquet of fresh flowers to immediately give a more welcoming and well-cared-for appearance.

Before shooting, do a visual check of the room and make sure everything is in order and pleasant to see: make the bed perfectly, arrange the pillows, hide cables, and remove anything that could create confusion.

4. Artificial photographs

The photos must be true to reality, without overly artificial effects for a very simple reason: if the interior photographs don’t correspond to reality, there’s a risk that guests will arrive and be disappointed.

This can happen if you improvise with modifications that distort colors or use exaggerated filters, giving the wrong impression of the property.

To avoid this mistake, you need to balance the white well and not overdo post-production.

5. Neglecting the details that represent your B

Sometimes we focus only on overall photos and forget those small details that truly tell the story of the experience your B can offer.

It’s fine to photograph the room as a whole, but I advise you to also pay attention to those details that characterize your property: it could be a piece of furniture or design, a view seen from the room’s window, a relaxation corner in the common area… The details make guests feel welcomed even before booking.

Be careful, however, not to overdo it with excessive use of objects, decorations, or furnishings. This could overload the eye and distract it, making the room appear cluttered.

Why rely on an interior photographer?

Often, interior photography is considered a secondary detail, an aspect to be managed with minimal effort, even doing it on your own.

In this case, you’ll find yourself, in addition to managing your B, also investing time and energy to take photographs independently, hoping to avoid all the most common mistakes. You can follow all the advice you find online, from the simplest to the most technical and complex, and you could even purchase professional tools, but only an experienced photographer knows exactly how to capture the best of your B

This is because they have specific experience and knowledge regarding light and how it behaves on various surfaces, image composition, and the most suitable techniques for photographing details.

By entrusting a professional photographer for an interior photoshoot you save time and energy: instead of going crazy with a thousand attempts and modifications, you let someone who knows exactly what to do handle it, and in the end, you’ll have effective and high-quality photographs, perfect for promoting your B

A professional photographer does not just “take pictures”: they compose images that convey emotions, thanks to:

• Careful composition: every element of the frame is studied to guide the viewer’s gaze towards the central message.
• Emotional value: professional photos tell an experience, creating a connection with the client. On the contrary, amateur shots often lack personality and fail to engage the viewer.

Furthermore, professional images have a longer lifespan.

Unlike an improvised photo, which maybe after a year already seems outdated, carefully crafted shots can be used for a long time to promote your B on every channel: from the website to social media, from booking platforms to promotional brochures.

If you manage a hotel or BB in Catania and its province, contact me to create together images that will make your future guests fall in love, with a tailored photo shoot that will enhance your property.

Don’t make the mistake of promoting your BB with poor and unattractive photographs for potential clients. Also, take a look at my Instagram page, where I post various examples of my advertising and personal branding photography services.