How to Photograph a House for a Portrait or Sketch

A house portrait is only as good as the source photo — and getting a good one takes about five minutes with a phone camera if you know what to look for.

Shoot straight-on, not at an angle

Stand directly in front of the house, centred on the facade, rather than shooting from an angle at the corner of the property. An angled shot compresses the proportions in a way that's harder to render accurately — a straight-on shot keeps the roofline and window spacing true to the real structure.

Back up far enough to get the whole house

Include the full roofline and both edges of the house in frame, with a little space above and to the sides. If you can't back up far enough on the property itself, try the opposite side of the street.

Overcast light or early morning/evening beats midday sun

Harsh midday sun creates hard shadows that can obscure architectural detail — an overcast day or the softer light near sunrise/sunset gives the most even, detailed result.

Clear the foreground if you can

A car parked directly in front of the door, or overgrown landscaping covering the lower facade, will show up in the final sketch. Not a dealbreaker, but a five-minute tidy-up (or waiting for the car to move) noticeably improves the result.

One photo, not a panorama stitch

A single wide shot works better than a stitched panorama — panorama stitching can introduce subtle warping at the seams that a straight photo doesn't have.