Tips, tricks and things to avoid. (Part 1)

Why Straight Lines Matter in Interior Photography

Straight lines play a vital role in interior photography. They’re not just about technical precision—they shape how viewers perceive your space.

Clean verticals and horizontals create order, guide the eye, and highlight your property's architecture and design.

Here’s why they matter, how to spot issues, and—most importantly—how to fix them.

The Power of Straight Lines

When done right, straight lines in your photos convey:

• Professionalism – They make your images look polished and intentional.

• Trustworthiness – Guests associate clean, well-composed photos with quality and care.

• Visual Balance – Straight lines help anchor the viewer and emphasise symmetry and design.

When done wrong, they can have the opposite effect.

What to Watch Out For

• Vertical Lines - any image of an interior, or exterior, that has vertical elements such as windows, door frames, corners, wardrobes, and kitchen units must appear vertical in the final photo.

  
  

• Horizontal Lines - The lines where the wall meets the ceiling or floor, tops of window frames, and shelves etc should remain perfectly horizontal.

  
  

When these lines are skewed, your photo looks distorted—and worse, amateurish.

Why It Matters

If your images have tilted or distorted lines, it immediately lowers the perceived quality of your listing or website. It might seem like a small detail, but to a guest, it raises questions:

“If the owner didn’t take care presenting their space, what else might they have overlooked?”

Quality photography builds confidence—and trust leads to bookings.

How to Get it Right

The good news? Avoiding the "funhouse effect" is simple.

1. Keep Your Camera Level

When using a wide lens (or your phone's wide-angle setting), make sure the camera is perfectly level horizontally. Try this experiment: Open your phone's camera and aim at a doorway. Now tilt the phone up and down slightly. Notice how the door warps and loses its rectangular shape?

That’s perspective distortion in action. Keep your device level to avoid it.

2. Avoid Tilting Side to Side

In a one-point perspective setup (where you’re facing square onto a wall), tilting your camera left or right will throw off your horizontal lines. They’ll start slanting—what I call “going squiff”—and distract from the space.

Sample of a one point perspective image. Straight on where horizontals really matter.

Sample of a two point perspective image. Verticals are vital where possible but horizontals don't matter at all in a two point. Many old cottages in the UK may have "Squiff" verticals but it's important so have some to balance the image - here, it's the window frame that you know are almost perfect.