The 5 Most Important Steps in Real Estate Photography
The best real estate photography is created by a professional company with experience in the field. Here are the five most important steps along the way toward creating professional real estate photography and use when selling their property:
1. Know Your Gear: The right equipment for the job is crucial for getting a great shot.
A camera and tripod are usually sufficient for most work. However, if a DSLR can produce better results after proper testing than a point-and-shoot or smartphone, that would be the best choice. A tilt-shift lens may also come in handy when shooting certain areas of large homes.
Presets for Lightroom is essential as well – especially if you’re shooting in the field. I use a variety of presets to help bring out specific colors, re-create natural lighting conditions, and even do some basic color correction.
2. Know Your Space: An understanding of the space you’re photographing is a considerable benefit.
If it’s an apartment, know the best angles to shoot from and try to create engaging compositions that highlight features like large windows or balconies. If it’s outdoors, then be aware of possible distractions in your shot, such as nearby power lines or dumpsters.
3. Get the Right Perspective: One of the best ways to show scale in real estate photography is through perspective.
Whether you’re shooting a grand stairway or an apartment’s high ceilings – wide-angle shots are going to be your go-to for this job. When photographing spaces with higher ceilings, try using a tilt-shift lens and shoot from a lower vantage point to avoid distortion.
Conversely, when shooting home with lower ceilings, try using a longer focal length and shoot from an elevated position if possible. This will help show the accurate dimensions of the space without stretching out the corners too much.
4. Take Your Time: As with most types of photography, the more time you spend capturing your shots – the better results you’ll receive.
Don’t try to shoot an entire house at once unless it’s small and simple enough to do so. Instead, take a few minutes (or hours) for each room or location that interests you and try to capture multiple angles and perspectives.
Take your time with exterior shots as well – even if they’re just of the front facade or driveway entrance. A few minutes spent finding exciting angles, features, and compositions will pay off in spades when you come back later on for post-production work.
5. Know What to Shoot: This is a big one and can’t be stressed enough.
You don’t want to miss important areas, features, or elements within the property that you’re photographing – especially if it’s for an upcoming sale or marketing piece. So before heading into your shoot, make sure you know exactly what needs to be photographed to convey the right message to potential buyers or owners.
The more preparation you put into your shoot, the better results you’ll get – especially in post-production, where editing time can be limited by a particular deadline. So please put some thought ahead of time and determine what angles are most important for each room so that when it comes time to edit, things will go much smoother.
