Tips & Tricks for Real Estate Photography

Whether you are a photographer hired by a real estate broker, or you are a realtor yourself, you can make use of the following tips and tricks to make your property photos more attractive to potential clients. We’ll also include some of the best photo editing software for beginners.

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How to Improve Real Estate Photos

Equipment & Gear

The first thing that we have to establish is having the right equipment. Sure, a lot of people are making do with the cameras on their phones, but you cannot control as much using a mobile phone as you can with a high-quality camera. Also, real estate photography does better when you use a wide lens, which iPhones do not have.

You can either borrow, rent, or invest in a high-quality camera, tripod, and a wide-angle lens. There are a lot of DSLR cameras to choose from depending on the budget that you're working with. For real estate photography, we recommend the Nikon D750 and the Canon 5D Mark III.

You need a wide-angle lens to get proper photos for your listings. It is a simple addition to your gear that can make the whole difference between getting only half of the room and one shot and getting the full space in just one shot. Make sure to use wide-angle lens for every shot. If you got the Nikon or Canon cameras that we mentioned, the Sigma 10-20 mm f/4 – 5.6 wide-angle lenses will work perfectly.

Camera Settings 

Let's move on to camera settings. Make sure to shoot RAW instead of JPEG files to get more control during professional photo editing. RAW photos give you better flexibility in changing and editing images. This is because they are saved as negative files that have not been finished yet. As such, you are given better control over the photo’s exposure, highlights, shadows, balance, and contrast. 

RAW files are larger than JPEG files and you cannot use them unless you edit them. So if you are in a rush and don't want to engage in post-production retouching, then make sure to get your shots right the first time, and just save them as JPEG files.

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Other camera settings that you need to consider include the shutter speed, ISO, and aperture of your camera. Aperture signifies how much light is allowed through the lens, ISO controls light sensitivity, and shutter speed determines the speed with which light reaches the camera sensor. 

Here are some of our recommended camera settings for taking real estate photos:

●      Aperture: Between F/8 – F/11

●      ISO: 400 or lower

●      Shutter Speed: 1/60

Lighting

Nothing beats good natural lighting. You get really good indoor photos if the windows are opened and the sun is bright and shining. If you are taking outdoor shots, we recommend scheduling your shoot during dusk. Also, it goes without saying that you should not take photos when it is rainy, cloudy, or overcast, because these weather conditions can give you bad lighting and lead to uneven white balance in your photos. 

Going deeper into the technicalities, the optimal time for photoshoots depends on the direction with which the house and the rooms are facing. Ideally, you want to have the sun to be behind the camera to give the best illumination of colors possible. 

For instance, if you are taking photos of the house’s exterior, you should take the photo of an east-facing house during the morning. If the house faces west, take the photo during the afternoon. If the house is facing north, take photos from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. If the house is facing south, take photos or early in the morning or just before sunset. 

For indoor shots, it is highly important to put the placement of the windows into consideration. You should also evaluate the position of the sun. Taking test shots is the best way to see if the lighting is ideal. You will know that a photograph is good if you are able to see all the colors and details of the room, but the light should not be too bright that the windows and the colors are blown out. 

Finally, as a reminder, you should not depend on any form of artificial lighting when taking photos of houses or rooms unless the house is innately very dark, with no natural lighting is coming in, and if its own light bulbs are insufficient. 

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Colors

Colors matter when it comes to real estate photography. Have you ever seen a listing where the photos show bright neon walls? These kinds of photos can definitely be overwhelming. It can also mean that anybody who buys that house is planning on repainting. 

But if you are a fan of bold colors, make sure to repaint the house or hire a crew to do the job. Bright colors do not shoot as well as neutral colors. Darker colors even look better in photos than brighter colors. These include pinks and purples often found in kids’ bedrooms. So if you are thinking of putting up photos on your listing, make sure to feature rooms with lighter shades or neutral colors since they make the room look larger and classier. 

This doesn't mean that you cannot experiment with color. Pops of yellow can create a bright, welcoming, and warm vibe that can lead to a sense of belonging and being at home. As such, try to add yellow accents such as throw pillows, a bouquet of flowers, or a bowl of fruit on countertops.

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Post Production

After the photoshoot, you will need to do post-production photo touch up. For this type of photo editing, Adobe Lightroom and Box Brownie are among our recommended photo editing software for beginners. If you want to perform the editing on your own but do not have an account, Adobe Lightroom offers a free trial so you could do your project and experiment with the program before you decide to purchase it. Make sure to check for and adjust the following settings if you’re using lightroom: clarity, exposure, white balance, contrast, HSL, shadows, and highlights. Be sure to straighten the image as well if it's crooked. 

Some photo retouching services let you hire them to perfect your images for you. Box Brownie and MIKU are good examples. They charge per image. This includes enhancements and editing to make your photos look professional. These tools are actually some of most realtors’ favorite photo retouching tools. They re specialized in enhancing photos of houses, rooms, and property. They are even capable of changing photos taken during the day into ones that look like they've been shot during dusk. 

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Hopefully, these tips are able to help you enhance your real estate photography and get more clients.