How to shoot photo evidence that actually protects a condition report

## Photos are evidence, not decoration

The photos in a rental condition report are not there to look nice. They are there to answer one question, six months later, in a small-claims courtroom or an insurance dispute: what did the property look like on this date.

Every rule below serves that one purpose. Skip any of them and you weaken the report.

Shoot in landscape, not portrait

Portrait shots crop out too much of the room and force a judge to imagine the context. Landscape gives you the wall corner-to-corner, the floor, and usually part of the ceiling in the same frame. It's the difference between "here's a scratch" and "here's a scratch on the north wall of the living room, three feet from the window."

Anchor every close-up with a wide shot

Every close-up of damage should be preceded by a wide shot of the same wall or corner. This is called anchoring. Without it, a photo of a scratch could be anywhere — and the opposing party will absolutely argue that it was.

The sequence should be:

1. Wide shot of the room, corner to corner 2. Wide shot of the specific wall 3. Close-up of the damage

Three photos, always in that order. Do this for every documented item.

Include a size reference in close-ups

A crack in a photo could be one inch or six inches — the camera flattens perspective. Include something for scale. A coin works. A key works. A phone charger cable works. Anything with known dimensions in the frame lets the reader convert pixels to inches.

Turn on grid lines and shoot level

Tilted photos read as amateur and get discounted in disputes. Turn on your phone's grid lines and hold the phone level. Straight vertical lines in the frame should read as straight vertical lines in the photo.

Shoot with the light behind you

Backlight kills detail. Face the light source (window or ceiling fixture) and shoot with it behind you. If you have to shoot into a window, close the blinds or shoot at night.

Turn on flash for close-ups, off for wides

Wide shots need ambient light to preserve the sense of space. Close-ups need flash to eliminate shadow and show the actual damage clearly. Toggle it on and off per shot.

Capture the timestamp

Every phone camera embeds timestamps in EXIF metadata. Don't strip it. If you have to compress or upload, use a tool that preserves EXIF. Judges routinely use EXIF timestamps to distinguish move-in photos from move-out photos.

If EXIF is unavailable — say the photo was screen-grabbed or sent through a messaging app that strips metadata — take a fresh photo of the damage next to that day's newspaper or a phone showing the current date. Belt and suspenders.

Room-by-room shot list

For a full move-in or move-out condition report, plan on 40–80 photos. Here's the minimum coverage:

### Every room (5 shots)

• North wall, corner to corner
• South wall, corner to corner
• Floor, from one corner
• Ceiling, straight up
• Any door or window in the room

### Kitchen (add 8+ shots)

• Inside each cabinet (top, bottom, drawer)
• Inside oven, microwave, dishwasher, fridge, freezer
• Under the sink
• Counters at a low angle so scratches show
• Stovetop and drip pans

### Bathroom (add 6+ shots)

• Inside the toilet bowl and tank
• Grout and caulking around tub and shower
• Under the sink
• Shower head and any fixture

### Exterior (add 4+ shots)

• Front elevation
• Any porch or patio
• Garage floor
• Yard, from the street

Don't stage

Move personal items out of the way, but don't stage. If the carpet has a stain, don't scrub it before the photo. If there's dirt in the corner of the closet, don't sweep it. The report is a snapshot of reality, not a real-estate listing. Staging a photo to hide damage is what breaks trust in the report — and often the whole tenancy.

Video is a supplement, not a substitute

A slow pan video adds continuity to a photo set and prevents the "was this photo from a different room?" argument. Do a walkthrough video after the still photos are done. Narrate as you go. Save the video with the same timestamp as the photos.

Get the report signed

The strongest condition report is one signed by both landlord and tenant on the same day the photos were taken. Fixly's condition reports are delivered as PDFs with a signature block for both parties. If you're doing your own, generate a one-page cover with the property address, date, and both parties' printed names and signatures. Attach the photos and email a copy to both parties the same day.

The pattern

Photos win disputes when they answer the "what did this look like on this date" question cleanly. Follow the shot list, anchor every close-up, preserve timestamps, and get a signature. Everything above is scaffolding on those four rules.

If you'd rather have a Fixly pro do the whole thing, book a condition report — a $99 SKU that produces a signed PDF ready to hand to a court, an insurer, or a next tenant.