Author: Claire Wright

Real Estate Photography Tips for Lighting

Lighting plays a massive role in real estate photography. The placement and the type of lighting used should always blend properly with other elements such as color selection, size, and arrangement of furniture to transform a room that is photograph-ready. On the outside, most exterior lightings come naturally with the direct light from the sun.

Utilizing the beauty of using sunlight could reveal the real potential of the property for sale. It can elicit positive reactions from potential customers. On the interior end, a bright living area could be a convincing factor to allow buyers to imagine hosting a party or an event there on weekends. For you to attract buyers, you must convince them both visually and emotionally. Presenting your buyers with a well-organized and properly lit home could be the answer.

Ultimate Lighting Tips for Real Estate Photography

Before embarking on the ultimate lighting tips for real estate photography, let us first have a little review on the primary aspects to consider when examining your light. In digital photography, lighting techniques cover a wide variety of considerations. Real estate photography lighting is not only about settings. Many photographers make use of lighting to express emotions. Below are the things to examine before you make your first photoshoot.

1. Examine how strong your light is. This is called intensity.
2. Examine where the light is directed or inclined. This is called angle.
3. Examine the difference between brightness and shadow. This is hardness or softness of light.
4. Examine the color. This is its temperature, its warmth and coolness.

Most people in the real estate business agree that correct lighting can spell the difference between your property flying off the market or simply hanging around for an unspecified period. Proper lighting always captures the best qualities your home can offer. Here are some insights to consider that will help you capture the best features of your house with correct lighting.

1. Manage colors well

• Use of lighting can add or remove overall colors of a room
• Always brighten up those unwanted corners
• Bright colors always stand out

The use of lighting can either increase or decrease the overall colors of a room. Colors could create an illusion in which darker colors can create a feeling that the room is small and cramped. Homes with recessed bright lighting that casts downward illumination is a good combination to the colorful walls surrounding the space. To perfectly showcase the whole house, the brighter its colors, the more it will stand out to buyers.

2. Consider your space

• Create a full-spectrum of natural light for dark-colored rooms
• Maximize the use of natural light for areas with large windows and skylights
• Lighting fixtures like lamps and hanging lights combined with natural light produce promising results

No two houses are the same. Even if the house is a duplex or apartment type, they still have differences. When you consider both natural and artificial lighting, it helps bring out with the illusion of a space in your photo. It is very important for every real estate photographer to do examination of the fixtures first by tuning all the lights in the room. When the furniture is tightly spaced together, consider removing an extra chair to have more breathing room for the remaining furniture. With your creativity, you need to make a full-spectrum of natural light for dark-colored rooms. If the house has a skylight or is built with large windows, make a daytime appointment for your shoot so that you can capitalize on using natural light.

3. Make use of positional lighting

• Highlight important elements
• Lighting changes the perceived size of the room

Making use of positional lighting can provide the much-needed illumination for the whole house. The significance of positional lighting is to highlight important elements of the house. This is done by pointing the necks of the lights at specific elements. There are also lighting fixtures in a real estate property like recessed lighting and mirror frames that have built-in lighting that, when combined together, will help completely change the size perception of the room.

4. Make use of multiple wireless flashes

• Make large rooms well-lit
• Scatter of light is consistent

Professional real estate photographers make use of multiple wireless flashes as their preferred method. Though setting up requires more time and money, it is the only way to make large rooms very well-lit. The use of multiple wireless flashes will help expose the room and window light scattered consistently. This is one of the many ways in exposing the room’s best assets.

5. Make use of the different types of flashes

• Focus the shadow to specific locations
• Direct the light fronting the house
• Highlight the features of the property

In many instances, it’s very usual to bounce a flash when shooting an interior. A single bounced flash will fill in any shadow to focus on specific features of the room. In shooting exteriors, fill flash can also be valuable. You can easily direct the light fronting the property by using a hot shoe flash. This will highlight the structure instead of the landscape.

May 6, 2020
Simple Ways on How to Install Presets on Adobe Lightroom
It is known to every photographer the different features that Lightroom has in its arsenal. It is filled with remarkable features that can make every photographer’s life worthwhile. But this is not exclusively for photographers only. Lightroom is for everyone to enjoy – from people working at home to students, to office workers, for everybody. Once you learn its excellent features, you can edit photos the way you like to see them.

Lightroom is a retouching tool for photographers and photo editors. This software is filled basically with great features that can make every editor’s photo processing works easier. Post-production processes are time-consuming for real estate photographers. Installing Lightroom presets will allow both beginners and skilled editors to edit images with a lot of ease. This is in stark contrast if you are using manual editing. These presets are predetermined settings offered in clusters which are always based according to specific themes.

How to Install Presets

Maybe you’re into Adobe Lightroom presets but you don’t know how to import them in the Lightroom or at least put them in a folder. This is a tutorial about the simple ways on how to install presets on Adobe Lightroom or organize them in folders to set little themes and import them into the program for future use.

You can simply follow these steps and it doesn’t matter if you’re on Mac or PC. It’s still the same thing that you will be doing. To import some different presets, you first need to have different custom sets like K1, FLP, the Moody Collection aside from the custom-created presets and well as the ones which came from Lightroom when you get the new upgrade.

1. Go to your favorite preset website

The first thing you need to do is go to your favorite preset website whether it’s paid or free. One of the most popular sites is the Free Lightroom Presets which can be Googled easily. You need to go to each of the different presets and click the ones you like most. As soon as it is loaded up, you can click Download Preset. It will go directly to your Download files in a Zip folder.
- https://www.adobe.com/sea/products/photoshop-lightroom/lightroom-presets.html
- https://photonify.com/free-lightroom-presets/
- https://digital-photography-school.com/8-sites-for-free-presets/
2. Unzip the file

Once you see the FLP Zip folder, you must unzip the file and you will get a folder. Inside that folder includes the actual preset template.

3. Move to your chosen folder

The next thing you must do is move that preset template to the folder you made before and add it to the other presets that you downloaded (if there’s any).

4. Go to Lightroom Preferences

PC

MAC

Once you get back into your Lightroom, all you need to do is go to your Preferences. For Mac users, all you must do is click the Lightroom icon on the upper left corner of the screen and click on Preferences. But for PC (Windows users), you must go to Edit and then Preferences.

5. Dialog Box will show up

After hitting the Preferences, a dialog box will pop up. Make sure that you click Presets so that it will be highlighted. Go to Show Lightroom Presets Folder and once you click on that, another menu will open. Make sure that you select that Lightroom folder and click Develop Presets.

6. Develop Presets Folders

From this folder, you will see all the different presets that you have already installed. If you haven’t installed any presets yet, this is the place where you will have all your presets.

7. No installed presets

If you want to install presets, you need to go to File and click New Folder Window. Form there, you will be shown another box for you to select the folder that you made for your downloaded presets. You can click that folder and Drag and Drop to the Develop Presets Folders.

8. Go back to Lightroom and restart

After saving all the downloaded folders to the Develop Presets Folders, you may go to your Lightroom once more. But you may not see it right away so all you need is to exit from your Lightroom to restart.

9. Look for your Lightroom presets

After Lightroom has restarted, you can now see at the Presets Dialog box on the left side of your Lightroom screen all the presets that you added. You can now go ahead and start using them that you see fit.

Guide: https://enviragallery.com/how-to-find-lightroom-presets-and-manage-your-collection/
May 1, 2020
4 Steps to Retouch your Real Estate Photo Using Adobe Photoshop CC
A photographer does not only consider the right time of day to create good shots. There are factors which are considered important in developing high-quality real estate photos. But this is just the beginning. Photo retouching works will consume lots of your time to enhance real estate photos. These retouching skills are essential to create magnificent photos for prospective clients and become interested in the property you are selling.

Use Photoshop CC to Retouch your Real Estate Photos

Real estate photo retouching is one of the most common tasks to be done when it comes to property image enhancement. To make photo retouching using Adobe Photoshop CC, it is important to have this application downloaded to your PC or Mac. Editing and previewing of Canvas should be done first for the blank page to show up.

Unlocking the background layer is done by the LOCK symbol. You need to double click this so that a new layer screen will pop out. To add more layers, simply click the DUPLICATE LAYER or NEW LAYER. Take note that if you have three new layers, you need to work on a separate layer for circle and colors, and always save your work.

4 Steps to Retouch Real Estate Photos using Photoshop CC

There are countless options that photo editors can use to retouch real estate images. In this way, photos will look perfectly amazing. Below are some of the basic retouching techniques for real estate photography.

1. Make color correcting a priority.

Color correction is probably the most basic essential step in real estate photo retouching. Depending on the kind of property you want to advertise or sell, it is important to adjust the saturation, hue, and tint. Adjusting greens is a common color error in real estate photography. You need to capture the dynamics of the exteriors that can be challenging to newbies.

What you will do is choose Adjustment after selecting Image. Select Yellow afterward from the drop-down menu to adjust the Hue to +15 and Saturation to -5. You can also adjust the hue, saturation, and lightness by selecting Green from the drop-down menu.

How to fix color casts for Real Estate by Nathan Cool Photo
More tips here: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/how-to/adjust-correct-color-balance-photoshop.html

2. Make sure the lines are straight.

A very important rule when shooting properties is to become extra careful with the lines. A straight line is always important in making the property look great. This happens when the camera is not angled properly. Regardless if it is an interior or an exterior shooting, it is important to make sure that the lines are straight. In using Photoshop CC, aligning and straightening of lines can be done using Free Transform. In using this feature, make sure that the entire image is selected and try to drag the corner of the photo adjacent to where the lines are leaning towards.
- You can also click on the Rectangular Marquee from the Toolbar and select the entire image.
- Click the Edit and Transform. From there, click the Skew from the drop-down menu.
Drag the corner of the picture to the left if the property is leaning to the right. Make it a point that you need not pull too far because this might be very unrealistic. Click the Check button after the edges are aligned and are all straight.

3. Space must be evenly lighted.

One of the most common problems that are encountered in real estate photography is the uneven distribution of lighting. This problem can create unwanted shadows and undesirable dark areas. To avoid this problem, you can drag the Shadows bar to the right to open the shadows a bit. You can also drag your highlights bar to the left to move the hot spots down.

Lighting up the corners of the interiors is also a challenge.
- To balance and even out lighting, go to the Dodge tool. Select the right size of the brush to work with. To add brightness to the darker part, drag the Dodge tool over the darker area.
- You then need to go to the Filter menu and select Sharpen and click on Unsharpen Mask. To get clearer and quality details, increase the amount then finally click OK.
4. Remove unwanted objects from your photo.

There are times when unwanted objects roam around your photos. Using the Clone Stamp Tool, you can declutter those unwanted objects, start cloning and painting over the objects. You can do this by simply clicking the Clone Stamp Tool and selecting the source area. To define the clone source, you can Alt-click for Windows or Option-click for Mac.

Under the Clone Source, you can do many things to those unwanted objects. You can flip clone source, resize, squash or stretch clone source, rotate clone source, or display options when painting with the clone tool. You can also offset of a painting area from the clone source and have options to video.

Step by step tutorial: Remove objects with the Clone Stamp tool

Featured photo credit to https://helpx.adobe.com/
April 27, 2020
9 Mistakes When Hiring an Amateur Real Estate Photographer
There are varying reasons why hiring the services of professional real estate photographers is considered important to a real estate business. These professional and highly trained individuals are the people equipped to see every detail of the project that an untrained eye may not see. Having a professional and well skilled photographer at your side will not only save you time and money but he could also share his or her invaluable wisdom in the process of selling a real estate property in the modern era.

But when you are just a beginner in the real estate business, you’re bound to make numerous photography mistakes. Those mistakes could be beneficial if you really want to master the art of selling. There is no reason to commit mistakes but there’s always room for improvement. Hiring the services of an amateur real estate photographer will always show signs of amateurism. Therefore, they are prone to commit common mistakes that will eventually discourage clients.

Below are the 9 common mistakes an amateur real estate photographer should avoid.

1. Amateur photographers converge verticals and place incorrect horizontals

The convergence of verticals and incorrect horizontal placements are just two of the common issues made by those people who are just beginning to make real estate photography as their bread and butter. These problematic issues are familiar mistakes associated with camera angles in taking exterior photos which can be noticeable when using wide-angle lenses.

2. Incorrect white balancing

White balancing is the removal of unrealistic color casts to make objects appear white. One of the most obvious signs of incorrect white balancing is that the photos don’t give the true color of the space. Amateur photographers have no eye on the use of numerous light sources that give different temperatures. If this is the case, the use of proper flash should be done in order to overpower multiple light sources.

3. Work may suffer from lens distortion

Amateur photographers often rely much on cheaper photography equipment. The use of cheap lenses will render problems in the post-production adjustment. Commonly known as the “Fisheye” lens, the subject being too close to the lens can cause distortion. Professional real estate photographers make sure that proper distancing is observed relative to the subject.

4. Where is your list?

Real estate photography is usually fast paced. Especially when budgets are low, clients are always in a rush in getting the job done. It is the assignment of the photographer to list down all the possible areas because each property has unique details. Always start with the fundamental shot list before proceeding to the more modified piece of work. Having your own list will gain you the feedback you need from your clients and this will be ideal in creating your market.

5. Toilet seats are open

This is a very common mistake an amateur photographer normally commits. Leaving the toilet seats open is not good especially when presenting to prospective buyers. So before taking photos inside the ‘Do not disturb’ area, it is important to close the toilet seat first before taking photos.

6. Hot flash marks

Areas identified with hot flash spots are distractions that are not pleasing to the eyes. Light sources like on-camera flash, ceiling lights and strobes can cause flash glare. Usually, these hot flash spots appear as reflections in mirrors, windows and glasses. Water can also cause glares when the outdoor shoot is done on a hot sunny day. To answer this concern, the use of light diffusers like umbrellas can bounce your flash off.

7. Post-production tone mapping mistake

Real estate HDR photography are oftentimes over-processed. While post-processing is an essential tool for the artistic conceptualization of the image, this is not basically what you are really aiming for in real estate photography. This is a common mistake when hiring the services of an amateur real estate photographer. Unknowing during post-processing, they use invalid settings for tone mapping. This occurs when raw images are batch-processed, or only ambient exposures with no flash or proper lighting took place during the shoot. In order to fix this issue, proper lighting space is recommended.

8. Hard shadows appear

Just like when hot flash marks appear, the use of umbrellas to diffuse or bounce back can be suggested when rooms look dark. When this happens, dark shadows occur. These shadows can also create dirtier ambience on the walls and ceilings. Minimize the use of on-camera flash or avoid shooting the flash upfront without diffusing it.

9. Lacking the needed preparation before the shoot

It is important to have a complete housekeeping and decluttering of the area before a shoot happens. Areas and spaces must be organized in order to get the attention of the clients. A clean and well-organized area is very pleasing to the eye. Every real estate listing that you have must be orderly and cleanliness must always be preserved.

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April 24, 2020
The Principles of High Definition Real Estate Photography

One of the most sought after real estate listings are those with high definition and crispy content. Pictures must be shown clearly online. They should expressly provide the edge in luring potential customers in buying your products. Providing high resolution photos can give you a gigantic advantage to engage with the buyers with the help of your well-designed real estate listings for your virtual tours.

Advantages of Using High Definition Real Estate Photography

There has been a lot of remarkable development of real estate photos over the last decade. Competition wise, there is always a reason when and why you should hire the services of a professional real estate photographer. High definition photos will be advantageous in selling your listing faster. They are also great paths in attracting more buyers and sellers to your business.

Before going into the different advantages of using high definition real estate photography, it is also important to know the important tools used by a professional real estate photographer to come up with high definition photos. Photographers should have:

• High-quality Camera

When buying a camera, it is advisable to pick a camera with a large full frame sensor that will create a 1:1 ratio. Anything less than 1:1 ratio will create a loss of space. It would be a plus if the camera has an automatic exposure bracketing feature.

• Wide Angle Lens

Using a wide-angle lens camera will let you shoot the whole perspective of the shot especially when shooting the interiors of a room. One of the effects using a wide angle lens to the viewer is that it makes him feel that he is actually inside that room.

• Tripod

The tripod is an indispensable item for a photographer. With the help of a tripod, it always keeps the shot at camera level.

• Photo Editing Software

To improve real estate photographs, software is being used to improve digital images, correct minor mistakes, or eradicate blemishes. Adobe’s Photoshop is the most popular editing software which is very essential to a photographer’s exact envisioning of his shots.

• External Flash Items

Every camera has a built-in pop-up flash. But a camera always needs an extra flash. This is important if there is no extra light around. With the use of multiple flashes, it can light particular parts of the image you want to shoot.

• Light Meter

A light meter is an apparatus that selects the correct exposure for a photo. This equipment allows the photographer to choose the perfect aperture and shutter speed.

• Website

Having an attractive website is what entices clients to visit it. Make it a point that the template you are using for your website will offer a correct and complete package for every individual visiting your website.

The use of the different principles in creating high definition real estate photos clearly work to every photographer’s advantage.

1. They can make blue skies in every image. Oftentimes, images are photographed during cloudy skies. Because of having the knowledge about blue sky replacement, clients can be blown away by how great their property looks in gloomy weather.

2. Photos will always be upright and vertically levelled using perspective correction. High definition images are always checked for misaligned edges and corners.

3. Application of whites and colors are accurate. The colors of the interiors and the different objects inside the house seem natural and real.

4. High definition real estate photos help agents sell more properties at a higher price. They can also sell houses at a faster pace. The creation of eye-catching images can propel buyers to act quickly and decisively.

5. HD photos are social media magnets. These kinds of photos can be uploaded to a Facebook gallery that will serve as virtual a tour guide. Social media is a breakthrough in terms of marketing your real estate photography business.

6. Qualify yourself as a professional. The perception of buyers has a lot to do with you becoming a highly professional photographer because of the HD images you have advertised. You don’t need to attain the highest educational degree possible. You just need to surround yourself with the right people to produce HD photographs.

April 17, 2020
7 Important Things That You Should Know in Hiring a Real Estate Photographer

Hiring the services of a professional real estate photographer would be a big factor in selling the property real fast. These skilled people can use their trained eyes to examine each room in a house. They may include idle rooms because from here, they can plan on how to create stunning and attractive photos.

As a seller, always keep in mind that the use of high quality photos taken by professional real estate photographers can appear more valuable to prospective buyers. Take into consideration that aside from increasing the chances of the property being sold, you have an increased chance of getting new listings.

Valuable Things to Know in Hiring a Real Estate Photographer

There is a particular study which shows that almost all of homebuyers said high quality photos were the most convenient tool for examining real estate properties. Likewise, properties with professional photos sold faster regardless of price. And many prospective buyers are unanimous in saying that it is worth hiring the services of real estate photographers because it results in quicker selling time.

There are things that high quality photos can give especially in helping you out in your listing. Below is a list of the different things to know in hiring a real estate photographer.

1. Saves time and eliminates stress

Creating stunning images takes a considerable amount of time. On average, the process can take 2 to 10 hours. The stages of this process start from taking photos up to developing photos or videos for virtual tours and social media presence. Professional real estate photographers know how to properly edit photos to look more stunning. Outsourcing their services can save precious time that you can use in marketing your properties to clients instead. Moreover, you are stress-free from doing such a meticulous job.

2. Your listing stands out

Aside from having a striking listing, properties will also sell faster than expected. This is one of the benefits that you should know in investing for the services of a professional real estate photographer. If you are a realtor or agent, it means receiving quicker commissions.

3. The market value of your property appreciates

Adding the services of professional photographers will make your home sell for more. If the photos of your property look great then the buyer’s perceived value increases. Their professional skills can be a major factor in a prospective customer’s buying decision.

4. Real estate photographers have the equipment and training

Real estate photographers have the specialized equipment and proper training for the job. They own important software and are equipped with the necessary tools in producing photos and videos for your listings. They know how to capture aerial photos and videos using drones. They are familiar with twilight shots for high-end luxury listings. Thus, these techniques create marketable content for you, your seller, and to the business as a whole.

5. You will receive irresistible offers

Amazing photos have an adverse effect as far as selling your property is concerned. For your listings to hit an amazing result, a photo-ready property and a sound marketing plan are all you need. You should have an eye on the how and where you will market your listing. This is the reason behind why photos are very important assets in your business. They create attraction and opportunities to lure more people into your listing.

6. Become more valuable to customers

Hiring a real estate photographer and using their exquisite photos will make you more appealing and valuable to our customers. Once you appear more valuable to your clients, you have better odds of getting new listings. This will be proportional to increase in sales. It’s a normal set up that by owning attractive photos paired with great media content create traffic that people will look at your listing and eventually visit the property.

7. Sellers will become more interested

Professional marketing listing content, which makes up mostly of attractive images, can attract more sellers, too. Competent sellers become attracted to this kind of listing because they see the value of using excellent images that’s perfect for selling.

April 7, 2020