The Importance of Quality Real Estate Photos
- How to Get Started in Real Estate Photography
- Real Estate Photography Tips for Consistently Great Photos
- Basic Camera Settings for Real Estate Photography Interiors
- Basic Camera Settings for Real Estate Photography Exteriors
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I remember a time when marketing for real estate was little more than newspaper ads and flyers in a brochure box in front of the home. But things have certainly changed in the last 20 years.
The rise of the internet also gave rise to the critical importance of quality real estate photos. Rather than someone's first impression of a home being the first time they saw the home in person, the internet made it possible for us to see homes - inside and out - from anywhere in the world.
Once COVID-19 gripped the world, the importance of good real estate photos once again increased. Now more than ever, homes are being vetted on the internet and purchased, in some cases, without the buyer stepping foot on the property.
And therein is the importance of quality real estate photos - they can literally make the difference between a property going under contract or loitering for sale online for months, if not longer.
Quality Real Estate Photos Give Buyers a Complete Picture
Photo by hikesterson via iStock
Good real estate photos aren't just images that are well-exposed and composed. While those are critical features, online images of real estate must also work together to offer potential buyers a complete picture of the property.
In today's world, home buyers need to see the property top to bottom, inside and out.
Your real estate images should take them on this tour - through each bedroom and bathroom, through the common living spaces, into the basement, inside the garage, and around the grounds.
Photo by hikesterson via iStock
To help usher potential buyers through these spaces, the images need to be organized in a fashion that mimics how they would explore the property in person.
The first listing picture (more on that in a moment) should be a medium to wide shot that shows the front of the property. Many real estate photographers feel that it is critical that this image shows the front door, as that is the anchor of the home and will immediately grab the viewer's attention.
The next image should be the entry of the home - perhaps the exterior entry and then the interior entry if both are present. Along with the image of the front of the home, these photos help set the stage for further explorations of the interior spaces.
Photo by hikesterson via iStock
From there, the images should take the buyer on a tour of the common spaces - the living room, dining space, kitchen, and any other common spaces on the main floor.
Speaking of the main floor, if there are bedrooms and baths on the main floor, those should be explored next, followed by bedrooms, baths, and other spaces on any upper levels.
Images of the home's basement (if there is one) should be the final set of interior images before adding images of the exterior of the property to close the photo tour.
Learn More:
The Primary Image is the Most Important
Photo by hikesterson via iStock
The saying that "you can't judge a book by its cover" is sage advice. Yet, when many people shop for a home, that's exactly what they do.
All of the images of a property should be of high quality, but it is especially important for the primary image of the front of the property to be eye-catching.
To use another cliche saying, you only get one chance at a good first impression. The primary image is that one chance.
Granted, there are times when properties just aren't in very good shape or your ability to get a well-composed shot of the front of the property is hindered by other buildings, landscaping, and so forth. But aside from these issues, there is no excuse why the primary image of a property isn't the epitome of an excellent photograph.
Photo by hikesterson via iStock
There are obviously many factors that are at play here...
The image needs to be well-exposed with details in the highlights and shadows. The image also needs to be framed well with enough foreground and background to provide context to the property but not so much that the home feels small in the frame. Likewise, vertical lines should be just that, and horizontal lines should be perfectly level.
The property should also be presentable. Before you step foot on the property to take photos, the exterior and interior of the home should be in show-worthy condition. It's difficult - if not impossible - for you to create positive interest in a home if it isn't in a picture-worthy state.
Use Modern Processing Techniques to Your Advantage
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This is the Golden Age of photography if you ask me. We have more - and better - tools today for processing images that we ever have before. And that's a good thing for your real estate images.
Understanding the power of programs like Lightroom and Photoshop is essential for real estate photography success. But you should also tap into photography techniques in order to maximize the quality of your images.
Here's a perfect example - HDR photography.
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One of the greatest difficulties of getting quality real estate images is managing the wide dynamic range that interior scenes, in particular, present to your camera.
Interior rooms with bright light coming through windows can trick your camera into thinking that the room is much brighter than it is. The result of that can often be images that are underexposed.
But HDR techniques can fix this issue and without the need for expensive lighting equipment. It is simply the easiest way to get well-exposed images, as shown in the video below:
Of course, taking the bracketed exposures to create an HDR image is just the first step. You then need to merge them to create the final shot that gives potential buyers that high-quality view of the property that is so essential.
Merging multiple exposures can be done in a variety of programs, including Photoshop and Lightroom. There are also programs like PhotomatixPro that make merging multiple exposures a quick and seamless process.
Quality Images Support Other Marketing Materials
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Quality real estate photos not only serve as the first enticement for potential buyers to inspect a listing, but they also help support other marketing materials for the property.
Your images will be featured in printed and online brochures, email blasts, and the like. They will often be used in creating virtual tours (along with panoramic and 360-degree photos) as well as video tours of the property.
So you can see just how essential good real estate images are. They lay the foundation for how the home is perceived by potential buyers and can, in a very real way, make the difference between selling a property quickly and the property being on the market for an extended period of time.
Even when the pandemic comes to an end, the importance of quality real estate photos will not wane. If you want to maximize your success as a real estate photographer, be sure you follow the tips in this article and our other real estate photography tutorials.