Getting the best shots of your home or listing takes preparation, and requires some forethought about what it is you want to present and how it should look in the final picture. To help you with this preparation, here's some tips for homeowners and real-estate agents before I arrive to take pictures for a listing:

• Clean and Simplify - The most effective real-estate photos highlight the most attractive or unique aspect of a room. You help to reveal these aspects by thoroughly cleaning and de-cluttering every room that will be shot - especially the kitchen! (Dirty dishes in the sink are a REAL turn-off!) You should also hide any personal belongings (family photos, trophies, posters, etc) so they're out of sight during the photo shoot.  
• Lighten up! - Dark furniture + dark room = depressing picture! You can lighten up dark rooms with bright (65 watt) daylight bulbs and floor lamps. Adding light-colored throw pillows and blankets helps offset dark furniture, while a neutral area rug really brightens up any room!
• Need to hide the view? If some rooms face a brick wall (or your neighbor's bathroom), use semi-sheer curtains to hide the view. These types of curtains let some light in while obscuring the view outside.
• Don't forget to look outside! The front exterior shot sells your home's ‘curb appeal' to prospective buyers. To get the best exterior shots, you need to first pay attention to what's happening in front of your home by removing garbage cans and collecting dead branches or fallen leaves. An even better strategy is to schedule your gardener so to come by and cut the grass as close as possible to the date of the photo shoot. Weed the garden and mulch flower beds
• Keep the driveway and sidewalk empty – Keep cars and trash cans from cluttering the exterior view of your home. Park away from the home on the opposite side of the street if possible. Put the trash cans in the garage as well as anything else that shouldn’t be visible. Sweep the porch if necessary.

You can greatly increase interest in your home by having great photos of it. Implementing these tips will help you make sure your property is ready to put its ‘best face forward' for the camera and for showings!