Well, I can tell you what happened at my photoshoot last week. You can look at the pictures in the thread below, just pay attention to all of the details... Just remember, the canvas was blank, and we put everything you see in the photo into the shot, on purpose.

Camera height--lower than if you were standing and taking the photo.

Great looking food--the carrots with the tops, the purple eggplants, red spring onions with the tops. Then placed on a great chunky cutting board that makes a statement.

The flowers were in the background, not featured. The bells of Ireland that are in that arrangement had to toned down--they were jutting out and making it look distracting.

Also, the pot on the stove was purposely chosen--didn't go with a green, or a stainless, but something with a pop of a different color.

Notice the pellegrino bottles lined up? They are strategically hiding an outlet. We tried a bowl of lemons and a bowl of limes, but the limes worked better for the look.

Since the "story" that was being told was "preparing for a dinner party", you will notice a couple of dishes with pretty napkins and wine glasses on the counter in the background. See the cookbooks there too?

Notice the towel hanging over the edge of the counter? They referred to this as softening the edge. The knife is placed on it on the island and a wooden spoon near the stove. Speaking of the island, the stuff there is "low" in height so you could shoot over it and see the whole kitchen--rather than placing flowers there.

I hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bee's photos

Some general indoor photography tips:

-An overcast day, or a time of day when you don't have direct sunlight will reduce the contrast between natural light and artificial light and make the kitchen seem brighter. Turn on all indoor lights to supplement natural light.

-If you have the ability, HDR photography yeilds excellent results indoors - this means taking multiple exposures of the same shot at different exposures and then combining the images into a single image. Photomatix makes an excellent software that can do this automatically if you can take the pictures and I think they have a free trial version.

-Use a wide angle lens if possible - it'll make the room look larger. Don't go so wide that everything looks warped. Some distortion can be corrected in software.

-Shoot from a lower angle than typcial eye height, but not so low that you can't see the countertops. This will make ceilings look higher and give the impression of more space.

-A tripod can really help you setup and analyze your shots - plus it helps ensure you are level and steady.

-Flash can help even out dark corners in your kitchen. You mention having a nice camera - if it has an external flash, great. If not, you can have a friend use a reflector to fill in some areas with flash. Direct flash is often to high contrast and will show in reflections.

-Props are important and Bee did a great job convering that topic. Only thing I'd add is to be careful not to add to many items. You want it to look appealing but not so personal that a potential buyer feels like they are spying on a private space. Also, you really need to be careful not to make the space look cluttered with to many things.

Thanks to both of you! Those were great tips.

That is a great perspective Bee--clear the room, then put in only the things you want....Typically one would be thinking "remove my XYZ"

Those are very helpful thoughts about the lighting, and camera height/ tripod. Those are things I can implement with no special tools.