Homeowner Tips for Spring Real Estate Photography
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- Best Camera Settings for Real Estate Photography Exteriors
photo by KatarzynaBialasiewicz via iStock
Spring is one of the best times of the year for real estate photography. The snow is melting, so yards look prettier. Flowers add a pop of color to homes that are otherwise drab (I’m looking at you, HOA-enforced suburbs). Plus, people are more willing to move because the weather is nicer so there are a ton of people on the market for a new house.
Homeowners need tips for photographing real estate too. Your real estate photographer can’t do much if you have piles of trash in your yard or windows that nobody can see through. If you are selling your home, here are some great spring cleaning tips that homeowners can do to help make their homes look as beautiful as possible in real estate photos.
Make Sure Your Roof Is Clean
photo by ghornephoto via iStock
This is one of the more difficult spring cleaning tips for real estate photography, so don’t be ashamed to ask for help if you need it.
You’ll need to either power wash your roof or sweep it to get all of the leaves and debris off of it. If you have large, mature trees in your yard, this may be the last step you want to take to prevent more leaves from falling.
And, after you sweep your roof, make sure to clean out the gutters as well. It’s fine details like this that are going to make your real estate photography more appealing than anyone else’s in your neighborhood.
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What to Do About the Driveway
photo by welcomia via iStock
Hose down the driveway and your walkways while you’re at it. As cute as your children’s chalk drawings are, they probably won’t add much value to your home.
Roll up your garden hose and put it away.
You’ll also need to hide your trash cans. This one is a little more difficult since they’re large and you can’t simply stuff them in your junk drawer. Either ask your neighbor to hold them for you for the day or move them as the photographer works. Either way, nasty trash bins aren’t going to do photos of your property any favors.
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Don’t Forget About Landscaping
photo by ozgurcoskun via iStock
A lot of tips for photographing real estate leave out what I think is the most important portion of your house’s exterior: the landscaping.
Firstly, rake any leaves lying around in your yard that are decomposing. They may be cute in the autumn, but by this point they’re all dead.
Secondly, think about bringing some new life to your house by planting flowers or other bright plants.
Thirdly, re-mulch your flower beds (if you have them). Flower beds make for a beautiful photograph when they strongly contrast with the other colors in your yard, which means you need brand-new mulch.
Some Miscellaneous Tasks
photo by lissart via iStock
Clean your windows. I can’t reiterate this point enough. People don’t typically include this item in their exterior real estate photography tips because it’s also so important for photographing the inside of your home, but dirty windows are a huge turn off.
You’ll also want to powerwash the siding on your home, especially if your home is painted a bright color.
Finally, get rid of cobwebs hiding in the corners. Nothing says welcome home like spider webs all over the front porch!
Taking Photos Yourself? Make It Easier!
photo by baona via iStock
If you’re taking photos of your home on your own, there are plenty of things you can do to make the final results much better.
Aside from having the right gear and a shot list for the interior and exterior spaces, you need to understand how to use natural light to get the best shots
If you head outside and take photos of your home in the middle of the day, you’ll find that the sunlight is very intense. This results in bright highlights and deep shadows that distract from the charm and beauty of your home.
To get around this, you can bracket the exposures and merge them to create a composite image that’s well-exposed throughout.
In the video above, you can learn how to bracket exposures quickly and easily. The tutorial focuses on interior real estate photography, but the process is the same for photographing exteriors.
Merging these images together can be a quick and easy task as well.
In the video above, you can see how to merge images using Photomatix Pro. Again, the tutorial is for interior photography, but the process is the same for shooting photos of the exterior.
Using this approach, you will be empowered to take far better photos of your home, and the better the photos, the more interested buyers you will have!
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