Basic Camera Settings for Real Estate Photography Exteriors
- Aperture - Aperture refers to the size of the opening created by the diaphragm in the lens. It controls the amount of light: the larger the opening, the more light that enters the lens; the smaller the opening, the less light. Aperture is measured in f-stops, where f/1.4 refers to a very large aperture opening, f/11 refers to a mid-range aperture, and f/22 refers to a very small aperture opening. Refer to this detailed tutorial for more information on aperture.
- Shutter speed - Shutter speed refers to the length of time the camera's shutter is open. It controls the duration of light: the longer the shutter speed, the more light that enters the lens; the faster the shutter speed, the less light. Shutter speed is measured in seconds and fractions of seconds, like 1 sec, 5 sec, 1/100th sec, and so forth. Learn more about shutter speed in this guide.
- ISO - ISO refers to the sensitivity of the camera's sensor to light. ISO is indicated by numbers like 100, 200, 400, 800, and so on, with lower numbers indicating less sensitivity to light and higher numbers indicating greater sensitivity to light. For more details about ISO, be sure to read this guideline.
- Focus Mode - In most circumstances, single-shot autofocus (which is usually the default mode) will work just fine for photographing exteriors.
- Metering Mode - Typically, using multi-zone metering (also known as matrix, evaluative, or pattern metering) is a good bet for exterior shots. This mode evaluates the areas of light and shadow throughout the scene to help the camera get the best exposure.
- White Balance - Auto white balance (AWB) works well in most situations. Even if it's slightly off and you find that your images have a color cast, that's an easy fix to make in post-processing.
- Image Quality - Shooting in RAW gives you a greater ability to process your images because unlike JPEGs, RAW files are uncompressed and retail all the detail captured by the imaging sensor. However, RAW images cannot be immediately shared - the must be processed and saved as a JPEG first. If you're taking photos to share on social media, for example, change the image quality to JPEG or simply shoot a few photos with your smartphone.
- Exposure Mode - Aperture Priority
- Aperture - f/11
- ISO - 100
- Shutter Speed - Determined by Camera
- Focus Mode - Single-Shot Autofocus
- Metering Mode - Matrix
- Exposure Mode - Aperture Priority
- Aperture - f/8
- ISO - 200
- Shutter Speed - Determined by Camera
- Focus Mode - Single-Shot Autofocus
- Metering Mode - Matrix
Though it might be appealing to set your camera to full auto mode to photograph a property's exterior, you should be wary of going that route.
Why?
In short, full auto mode puts all the responsibility for exposure decisions on the camera, and that often leads to exposure mistakes.
This is especially true if there are challenging lighting conditions present.
Instead, taking control of your camera settings by shooting in a semi-automatic mode like aperture priority can make all the difference in the world.
In this tutorial, you'll learn some of the basics of taking more control over your camera so you get better real estate photos.
Essential Camera Settings for Real Estate Photography: Exposure Controls
If you're unfamiliar with basic camera settings, you'll need to first familiarize yourself with the following:
These three camera settings - aperture, shutter speed, and ISO - control the exposure of an image and are referred to as the "Exposure Triangle."
In looking at the graphic above, you can see how each of the three settings have individual impacts on how bright or dark an image looks, yet they all work together to determine the exposure as well.
Additionally, each setting has creative impacts on the images you take. For example, aperture determines the depth of field (how much of the shot is sharp), shutter speed determines how motion is captured (sharp or blurry), and ISO determines how much digital noise (or grain) appears in the image.
Photo by Craig McLachlan on Unsplash
Typically, aperture is the most important of the three settings when photographing a property. There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, you want to ensure everything in the shot is nice and sharp by maximizing the depth of field, as was done above. You do so by manipulating the aperture (and a few other things, as explained here).
Second, since the property you're photographing is a static object, you needn't worry as much about the shutter speed.
That means that prioritizing the aperture setting is often a good idea when taking these kinds of photos.
Learn More:
Best Exposure Mode for Exterior Photos: Aperture Priority Mode
Aperture priority mode (indicated as A or Av on your camera's dial) is a semi-automatic exposure mode that gives you the ability to dial in the desired aperture while the camera retains control over the shutter speed.
This mode also allows you to make changes to the ISO. This is important because you can set a low ISO (i.e., 100 or 200) and avoid the graininess that's associated with higher ISO values.
This is great for taking photos of properties because it gives you more control over the exposure without having to worry about shooting in full manual mode and having the responsibility of changing all three exposure settings.
Quick Tip: When photographing exterior elements that have movement (i.e., a waterfall feature in the backyard), use shutter priority mode. This enables you to set a slow shutter speed that will blur the movement of the water to create a beautiful, dramatic image. Learn how to use shutter priority mode.
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Other Important Camera Settings
In addition to controlling the exposure settings and the shooting mode, you'll need to familiarize yourself with a number of other camera settings to get the highest-quality real estate photos.
Here's a quick list of settings with which to become more familiar:
Learn More:
Putting Camera Settings Into Action
Exterior Photos Taken During the Day
Photo by Pixasquare on Unsplash
With the abundance of light that's available on a typical sunny day, you can use a smaller aperture and lower ISO to help manage all that light while still having a good depth of field.
For an image like the one above, the following settings are a good place to start:
If at these settings you find that the image is still too bright, step the aperture down to f/13 or f/14 to restrict the amount of light and darken the photo slightly.
Conversely, if the image is too dark, you can open the aperture to f/10 or f/9 to brighten the image (or you can increase the ISO to 200 or 400 to brighten it as well).
Exterior Photos Taken in the Evening
Golden hour - the 30 minutes or so before sunset and after sunrise - offers gorgeously soft, warm light that is perfect for exterior real estate photos.
But because the intensity and amount of light in the evening is not what it is during the daytime, some adjustments are needed to get a proper exposure.
When shooting during golden hour, try these settings as your starting point:
Notice in this case that the aperture has been opened up to allow more light in and the ISO has been increased to 200.
Again, since these are just starting points, you might find that you need to experiment a little with these settings.
The most likely of scenarios is that the image will be too dark, thus necessitating a larger aperture (say, f/7.1 or f/6.3), a higher ISO (400 or even 800), or a combination thereof.
Another issue you'll likely encounter when photographing properties in the evening is having a very bright sky due to the setting sun and a very dark foreground. This often occurs even when using matrix metering, which tries to account for large areas of brightness and darkness, but the difference in light values can often overwhelm the camera.
Instead, merging multiple exposures will get you a pleasing shot that's got a well-exposed throughout, from the foreground to the midground to the background.
Quick Tip: When photographing a property at night, try starting with an aperture of f/5.6 and an ISO of 800 and work from there. Keep a close eye on the shutter speed, though - if it's too slow, you could end up with unwanted blurred movement in the shot. Also pay close attention to the depth of field. Remember, as the aperture gets larger, the depth of field will shrink.
Mastering Real Estate Camera Settings
As with anything in photography (and real estate, for that matter!), the key to mastering camera settings is simply to practice, practice, practice.
Though it can be intimidating at first, you'll find that switching from full auto mode to aperture priority mode opens up many more avenues for you to capture the best photos.
If you find that you're struggling to get the exposure just right, don't panic! Refer back to this guide and our real estate photography section for a little help, try again, and keep working on your skills. The results will make your time and effort worth it!
