How to to photograph Real Estate

Over the past decade photography has become the essential part of the real estate industry. This genre of photography is more business-related than some other genres like nature or landscape. It uses the art of photography to market and sell real property, for example, houses or apartments. The first impression of the property is created through the photographs before the buyer can visit the location, and that first impression can in many cases be decisive. Real Estate Photography can be challenging, but it is one of the most efficient ways to make an income as a photographer. We will discuss some factors that are to be considered necessary.

Get the right gear

There are several components to focus on while choosing the right gear.

• Camera: You don’t need a costly camera with features like auto-tracking focus etc. as the subject is static, and you have complete control over it. However, some basic functions are to be considered while choosing a camera for real estate photography, like the ability to shoot manually. It is recommended to use a full-frame digital camera.
• Lens: This is a job for wide-angle lenses as they will help you get tight spaces in a single frame. Their purpose is to emphasise the area of the property. 15mm-35mm lenses are commonly used, but cheap wide-angle lenses can cause distortion especially on the edges of the image. There are also fish-eye lenses to capture more in a single frame, but in real estate photography, their use should be avoided as they can create unrealistic views.
• Tripod: Tripod is essential to capture long exposure and exposure bracketing shots. Long exposure is used to get perfectly bright interior photos. Using slower shutter speeds without a tripod can result in blurred photos.
• Strobes or flashes: Flashes and strobes are essential for places such as inside of a house where the lighting is low. One of the great flash models for Real Estate photography is Godox.

Best camera settings

Decide the most suitable camera settings according to the environment. Only with the right settings, you can capture professional and exceptional photos.

• Shutter Speed: The most used shutter speed while shooting real estate interiors is generally between 1/250^th and 1/2 of a second. This can vary according to how much natural or artificial light you have available.
• Aperture: The goal is to capture clear interior photos that will attract the viewer. For this purpose, the recommended aperture is f/7.1 to f/9. You can change it if you want to highlight a specific subject or need a shallower depth of field.
• ISO: As you will be using a slower shutter speed due to the light conditions, you will need to increase your ISO. Increasing the ISO too much can result in noisy photos, which can be a headache. In order to make sure that you are not introducing too much digital noise, keep the ISO below 400. To get the best results, try the different ISO settings, and test how far you can go without compromising the photo quality.
• Camera Stability: While photographing interiors, the light conditions are probably low, thus you will be shooting at slower shutter speeds. Make sure that the camera is stabled and you are using a tripod or remote control in order to avoid any sort of blur that can be caused by the camera shakes.

Preparation

Preparation is crucial. Decide the time of the day you will be visiting the property. Double-check the address. Most importantly, prepare your photography gear. This will include, packing up your bag, charging all batteries, formatting your memory cards. Try to keep extra batteries and cards with you. If you have an extra camera body, it also recommended to take it along.

Take a tour before starting shooting

Walking through the site you are shooting to observe will help you in deciding the best compositions. Take your time to see different components for selecting what camera settings to use in that particular place. Each place is different, so getting an overview of the pace helps a lot. Remembering small details can be difficult, for this try taking notes on a note pad or a paper while you are touring the property.

Shoot in RAW

Always shoot in RAW format as it saves more photo information than a JPEG file or any other format. Because of this, it makes it possible to make extensive changes in terms of exposure and other elements, which can be essential.

Shooting the interior

Shooting the interior is the most important skill in Real Estate photography. In order to achieve professional-level photos, you have to be very careful.

• Compositions and layouts: Effective composition can create a visual flow through leading lines, layouts, furniture, etc. While shooting the interior, this can increase the viewer’s interest in the photograph.
• Good exposure is necessary: It is challenging to get perfect interior exposure in one shot. You can use different exposure settings and take multiple shots of the same scene to preserve all details in highlights and shadows. Flashes and strobes help to balance exposure of the interior with the outside light.
• Light: Interiors have two sources of light i.e. window light and interior lights. Natural light can be the best element for shooting. However, sometimes, natural light might not be enough to capture well-lit interior photos. Therefore, you can add some interior lights. Constant lights or use strobe or flash can be used for this purpose.
• Subject Alignment: Subject alignment is the key point of compelling real estate photography. Make sure that the camera view is appropriately levelled and the edges are straight. Also, note that the crucial parts of the scene are not cut out of the frame.
• Create depth: Creating depth in the photo can result in making it more appealing to the viewer. A useful way to create depth is by adding the element of three distinct layers i.e. foreground, middle ground, and the background.

Shooting the Exterior

For shooting the exterior part of the property, use the natural light and only add flash if necessary to light up details. Lookup for what time of the day the light is most suitable for that scene. The best time is when the part you want to shoot is facing the sun or angled 30-45 degrees to your scene. More on shooting exterior is in this article here.

Post-Processing of Real Estate Photos

After the shoot is complete, retouch the photos using different editing software of your choice. You can correct the exposure, make the picture adequately aligned, and fix any minor distortions to make your photos look better. Correcting the colour of the photograph can make it better and more professional. Also blending the images of different exposure levels into one high dynamic range image almost always results in a great professional looking shot.

Conclusion

Real estate photography is a challenging niche. In order to be a professional in the field, you need to maintain consistency and consider the essential details. Practice is the key. The more you shoot and edit the better you become. An exceptional real estate photo is clear, bright, sharp and crisp. Use the light correctly to the best results possible. And do not forget that composition is the key.

If you are looking for an exceptional quality service to photograph your property than City Vista Photography exactly what you need. We have worked with a huge array of high profile clients and photographed hundreds of properties. To discuss your needs please get in touch today.