Category: Real Estate Photography

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.

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.

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.

Shooting real estate photos is a staple source of income for photographers. Being a powerful marketing tool that has the ability to set a property among others, real estate photography is a skill worth honing. Whether you are pursuing photography for real estate as a new business or as a side hustle to earn extra income, it is important for you to note that in capturing basic images for a simple property listing or for an advertisement campaign of a larger commercial project, high quality photos are worth big bucks in the industry.

In order to learn how to capture high quality real estate photos, here are 7 basic guidelines you have to consider:

1. Pack Your Equipment the Night Before the Shoot

The first and most important thing to remember in real estate photography is to make sure that you have everything you need with you before you go to the location you’ll be shooting. There’s nothing worse than being at a shoot and realizing that you didn’t bring enough equipment that would help make your shoot easier and faster.
Essentially, the basic items that you have to consider packing for every shoot are the following:

• Full-frame camera. This is perfect for shooting real estate but if you haven’t had an opportunity to purchase one yet, any camera with interchangeable lenses will do.
• Tripod. A sturdy tripod can help you avoid camera shake and will ensure a consistent camera positioning across several different shots.
• Off-camera flash units. Since some properties will require you to capture an entire large room that is impossible to light with a single flash, these will prove to be very helpful to you.
• Light stands. This gives you flexibility in choosing your flash placement for you will no longer have to rely on countertops and furniture items, which may not be placed in your desired areas in some houses.
• Wide-angle lens. This helps you fit a lot of space of a particular area in the camera, getting a fuller view in confined spaces.

2. Prepare a Standard Shot List for Each Property

Although it is wrong to assume that all homes are identical, there are typical shots that every real estate photographer will have to keep in mind such as (a) 2 wide angle shots of each bedroom, the kitchen, and the living room; (b) 1 photo of the bathroom, unless it’s especially beautiful or spacious; (c) 1-3 photos of the backyard, unless it has some unique features; (d) 1-2 shots of the front exterior; and (e) 1 shot each of features such as laundry room, garage, and pantry. To have a point of reference to make sure that you’ve captured all your must-have real estate photos, it will come in handy to prepare a standard shot list for each property.

3. Examine Property Beforehand

After arriving at the location and after having met the agent, you can ask them to give you a tour of the property. This is an opportunity for you to know if there are any specific shot ideas, angles and features that the client wants to highlight. It will also give you a sense of your client’s marketing goal as well as the layout of the house to aid you in mentally preparing for the shoot. Moreover, this gives you the chance to determine and to declutter what needs to be hidden to ensure that the property is prepared for shooting.

4. Set Proper Camera Settings

After prepping the house, you can start setting up your camera equipment and dialing in your camera settings. In no particular order, set your file of numbering settings to continuous to ensure that your photos are organized sequentially when you transfer them to your computer, so it would be an easy task to send them to your real estate image editing company. Make sure the photo quality is set to small RAW files ideally at about 5 megapixels for deep and professional editing. Go to live view/movie function settings and make sure you are in stills only or exposure simulation live view. Furthermore, set your lens to manual focus and dial in manual exposure mode to control both shutter speed, which should normally be between 1/60 and ½ a second; and lens aperture that should be set between f/7.1 to f/9. Before every exposure set, set your focal point half the depth of the room, which can be done by using your live view zoom feature for precision focusing. Lastly, set your ISO as low as possible, usually below 400.

5. Shooting Exteriors

The most important aspect you have to consider in exterior real estate photography is the positioning of the sun, which should generally be behind the structure to avoid sharp shadows on your photos. The right time to shoot exteriors may vary among real estate photographers but it is usually done during daytime, when you can get a lot of natural light and bright, saturated colors in your images. However, shooting beautiful shots of the property also works during sunsets with the interior lights on to get a warmer feel of the house. It mostly depends on your discretion and on how the client wants to project the property.

6. Shooting Interiors

In shooting exteriors, you must first make sure that you have set aside all items that will show poorly in the photos so as not to compromise the marketability of the listing. The general rule is to open windows and pull up window blinds because for real estate photography, natural light is the best option. However, if the view outside is unpleasant, or if the agent insists on leaving them down for whatever reason, or if the blinds are broken or unstable, it would be best to leave them down and to simply twist them open so light can still come through the windows. The challenge of shooting interiors is the mixing of light temperatures—while it is common to turn the lights on to give off a warmer and welcoming feel of the space, it introduces varying light temperatures that need to be balanced in post-processing. On the other hand, you can shoot with all interior lights turned off in which using multiple flashes and long exposures will be necessary to fill in the dark areas in your photos.

For interior real estate photography, you must set out to photograph the main rooms—the living room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom/s, and bedroom/s, and all the property’s features that the client wants to highlight like the porch, office, walk-in closet, staircase and entryways, to name a few. Then, find the best perspective for each room. In photographing interiors, you should keep your camera level, preferably at chest height, by using a hot shoe bubble level, making your edges perfectly straight. To make sure that there is balanced lighting in your real estate photos, you can use HDR photography to help you capture highlights and shadows in an image without clipping either one. In using flash units, make sure to diffuse it to minimize the sharp shadows it can cause by bouncing the flash off a light-colored ceiling or wall, or by using a softbox-type-diffuser, or shooting through a white umbrella.

7. Be Flexible

Since your ultimate goal in shooting high quality real estate photos is to give the agent what they want, you have to be flexible. Don’t just stand in the corner; find the most interesting and unusual angles to capture a specific area of a house. Move around and take multiple photos that can potentially create a scene or a desire to visit or purchase a property. While there are basic guidelines in real estate photography, it also counts a lot to experiment with bizarre ideas if needed.

Now that you are equipped with the basic tips and techniques in photography for real estate, all that’s left for you to do is put them into practice. Start by photographing your own living spaces or those of your family and friends until you finally get a contract with an agent to start your career in real estate photography.

Selling real estate properties can be too costly and time consuming on your part. Hiring the services of a professional photographer will really do the trick more especially if you want to translate skills and experience to potential buyers. A photographer for real estate is an important person in real estate business because he is that person who is responsible in creating those aesthetic pictures online that will make buyers look for their next property to purchase.

In the property business, the initial point where a buyer and a seller make contact is through property pictures. A buyer first looks at the images posted on the listings and compare the property picture to the price listed. This is the noticeable contribution of a real estate photographer. He is important. He is the key for a successful property business.

Real estate photography is likened to a copywriter. We know that everybody can write. Everybody can freely express what he desires to say through writing. But the main idea here is that a copywriter can convert his writings into profit, much like what a real estate photographer does. Or you have your property image but it lacks that visual appeal that is essential to entice buyers, who would buy your property in the first place?

If you really want your property get the attention it needs, prepare your property for sale. How to get it noticed is the ultimate goal of property photography. A legit and skilled real estate photographer is what an agent really needs so that prospective buyers will look further into your listings.

How to Nail a Picture-Perfect Real Estate Photos?

Buyers are picky and careful of their choices. They can easily pinpoint the slightest of imperfections. This can be their ultimate reasons to back out from a deal. So instead of doing the task by yourself nail a picture-perfect, professionally-made real estate photos with the service of a legitimate real estate photographer.

The trait of a good photographer is often perceived on how they factor out the designing of a house. The styling they make is by moving and removing items, furniture, and objects inside and outside the house. They are also fond of doing retouching works to basically unlock the property’s selling potential.

In real estate listings, prospective buyers always go for what they see. They are more on visual. Whether you are a do-it-yourself agent/photographer or a middleman agent communicating for the seller to get the right buyer, considering a real estate photographer can be one of your strongest points in terms of selling capability. Listings with visually engaging pictures are attention-grabbers. Properties with this kind of quality always have a higher percentage to be sold against unappealing ones.

Superb Pictures Must Not be underestimated

There are reasons why getting the services of a professional real estate photographer is always worth the price. Most of those sold-out properties are claimed to have used the skills of a legit photographer. The factor behind all of these is what we call first impression. Imposing real estate photos must affect the buyer’s perception in order to get the first sale. Let the emotions trigger the decision-making abilities of the buyer by letting the photos do the talking.

One of the most dominant qualities of a good real estate photographer is the angles. Photography is all about angles. They are those individuals who mastered the art of getting the right angles. No matter what time of day, they can still give you the best shot possible for your real estate photos. They capture what you desire for. Besides, legit photographers have all the materials and equipment needed to make a photo look extremely desirable.

Photographers will make all the possible preparations needed to come up with the best shoot possible. They scout the area before they shoot. They make remarkable adjustments to create a masterpiece. They are those who do their mission diligently because they believe that once correct preparation is skipped, it will cost much. They examine every angle, analyze proper interior and exterior lighting, take sample photos, and correct things right away to develop a proper composition.

Aside from passion real estate photographers are artists. Art is innate in them. They know how to pick the right images and they are selective of what things are necessary to sell a home. When they want to produce a shoot, they can capture the right images. They are art directors in their own field.

Just like a musician, photos can also be composed. A photographer for real estate must first create his own subject and he will include all the elements needed for a perfect composition. It is like filling in the blanks when photographers create horizontal and vertical lines masterfully because these lines might be the factor to direct the focus of the composition. They know what structural elements are included once they shoot architectural and interior designs.

Buyers, as we know it, will not be given the raw photographs taken during the shoot. Instead, photographers will first process the photos to make them look great. Post processing is the enhancement of images using Lightroom or Photoshop.

Raw photographs will undergo facelift in order to be more presentable. Real estate photographers have the right skill on this. They know how to make photo enhancement for the right purpose. They can also brighten or darken colors that they know will satisfy the customers’ palates. They can easily pick objects that are unnecessary to include in the listings.

Being an art director at the same time, a real estate photographer will go through the different raw photos to make selections. He knows what to be included and what are not. He knows that spacious photos look better than tight ones. After selecting what he knows are the best in the list, he will then make sure that processing them will make the property more saleable. He will make sure that the skies are blue and the grass is green.

Selling a property has never been easy without simple yet handy cameras that are capable of producing great quality images in the Real Estate industry. Having a good camera is a step closer to selling your property. Enhancing the image quality through a simple yet amazing photo editing app is another story which can take your business to a whole new and better level. It is because, the more beautiful, more vibrant, and more realistic your pictures are, the greater is the chance for your property to get sold quickly.

Since the industry of Real Estate revolves with tough competitions, you need some things for you to be able to tab in the demands of the market, especially when it comes to creating world-class image quality. A photo editing application is a helpful tool in improving and selling your products.

Here are some of the user-friendly photo editing applications for Real Estate Photography.

1. Snapseed. Nik Software, a subsidiary of Google, produced a user-friendly photo editing app in the name of Snapseed. It is an app that is helpful for beginners in the field of photography. You can improve the quality of your shot by the features of this app. Image cropping, transforming, and rotating, are just few of the things you can apply with your shot. It also has brush option where you can tone the exposure, temperature, and saturation of the image to your desire. Add also simple texts that come in different font types. Advance filters and High Definition Resolution can also be applied in your shot using this application. Twist your Real Estate photographs easily before posting.

2. Lightroom. Correct the shot using this software introduced by Adobe Corporation. This app is originally available only in desktop or laptop but it was made available also for smartphones. Edit your photo by adjusting proper white balance and colors. Adjust whatever you want by exploring some layers and edits in this app. While it offers basic editing in images offline, you can also add different features for your perfect image by purchasing a subscription plan which allows you to access your file, edit, and share it, anytime and anywhere.

3. Diptic. If you need to compile shots in one image then this app is right for the feat. It allows you to create professional-looking photo collages. It also features a before and after sequence of a photo presentation. You can choose from its available 180 layouts for an arrangement of picture that suits the purpose. Your chosen layout can be utilized where you can add your photographs that consist your property and the app will process it, offering you a final image that sorts your real estate property being sold.

4. LightTrac. This app is best for exterior shot of your real estate property. It gives you the information about the proper time of taking outdoor pictures and also provides you data to shoot indoor instead. This is possible because the app can offer sun position where sunrise, sunset, and also the moon’s rising and setting. The data is presented after you enter your specific location.

5. Panorama 360. Take a 360 degrees image and present the whole view of the house using this app. It allows you to capture panoramic photographs. This is great for exterior shot where every single angle is taken. This app comes with a guide on how to capture 360 degrees image. You can also directly share the image to your social media accounts.

6. Pixelmator. Another app with an easy user interface is this one. Originally, it was only released as a desktop software but later had its mobile version. Edit your image with quick and magnetic selection tools where you can repair the image by adjusting its colors and adding interesting and powerful effects. Be the artist of your own craft using this app.