TheDman Loc: USA

For the house or the photos?

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

HDR works in a pinch, but does not compare to some good lighting!!

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

I am a full time real estate and architectural photographer. In a word, I only use HDR rarely and never with a surreal punch. If you are under the impression that RE photography is easy I can assure you it isn't. I have been in the Real Estate business for almost 40 years and still licensed, I know the business extremely well from an ownership viewpoint. While I am an owner, I only do RE and Architectural photography and others run the company. If you are exceptional you can do well if you stick with it and learn your craft. I charge a hefty fee for my services because the business is expensive, for me, considering all the equipment I have invested in. Your local market will also determine your value. Many real estate agents do their own shooting as you stated in your quote about substandard images. That's just the nature of some agents. Lynda.com has a six part real estate photography course presented by Scott Hargis and I recommend it highly. He also covers the business aspect of real estate photography. Mike Kelly is another RE photographer to research and he has a spectrum of courses. Mike does a lot of light painting and he is very high-end. I'm not trying to discourage you but you need to know what you are getting involved in and you need to do your homework. I love the business and I'm glad I am established with the 30 or so agents I shoot for. It's a fill genre as you will need other business until you are established. I also suggest that you prepare a business plan so you can determine your cost of doing business and what you have to have to make in order to achieve your goals. I do suggest that you practice skill development before you start approaching agents. Don't show them crappy work – they have long memories. Your marketing will not only require an excellent portfolio but you will have to be prepared to use a lot of shoe leather seeing agents face-to-face because they don't respond to emails or phone calls. Keep in mind that they don't get paid until a listing has been closed and funded and you are asking them to pay you before the fact and they are tight–tight–tight. You can private message me with specific questions and I will respond as quickly as I can. Good luck.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

A simple solution for rooms showing windows, I use manual metering and meter the outside (go to window and aim your camera outside), (make sure your shutter speed is low enough for your flash, most cases 1/250 sec. or slower) then back up to show the whole room, do not change your camera settings but turn on your flash to TTL and aim flash up and behind you, this simple approach will give you balanced soft light in the room and a perfectly exposed exterior view through the window. Also make sure your ISO is set so that you will include interior detail, play with this until you get that perfect balance. That's why digital is so nice, you can change settings and instantly see your results. By the way, that 4 million dollar house was probably shot by a pro using gads of equipment you can only dream about owning.

steve_stoneblossom Loc: Rhode Island, USA

I recognize much of the furnishings, highly likely they were all rented for the shoot.

steve_stoneblossom Loc: Rhode Island, USA

You can't be serious. 100k for the garage maybe, but that's probably low. But it's high for the cost of the shoot, too, even with staging.

SonyBug

Actually, it looks to me like these were shot with an overcast day outside. (Lack of strong shadows) If you tripod your camera and shoot slowly (maybe 1 sec or so) you should get the even light effect that I see here. I agree with those posters who comment on the strong perspective. Too much maybe. Just because you have a 14-28 lens, does not make it appropriate every time.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

First of all, you don't want to misrepresent a house, on the other hand, you do want to present the house at it's best. I try not to shoot houses or property on the west coast of Florida that are selling for less than $200k. First, 50k - 100k house owners are NOT going to want to pay what I charge for photography and it takes a lot more time to get them cleaned up and set for photography. Having said that, every market is different. I wouldn't Photoshop any photos though. I use Lightroom and I also do HDR.

Here is the site of Doyle Terry (a real estate photographer in southern California, but he shoots all over the world). http://www.photosofmylisting.com/
He is who I use for inspiration and to get ideas. And, he has clients that fly him over to Europe and Asia to shoot their mansions.

cthahn

Just how do you know the photographs were shot on automatic or manual?

FiddleMaker Loc: Merrimac, MA

David Pine, what you wrote is a real eye-opener. I certainly won't be doing this anytime soon. Certainly not at my age. I suppose if I were 40 years younger, I might consider this a career.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Trying to present a product, in this case a house, in a manner that isn't quite reality is disingenuous. Using your best exposure techniques to capture what is really there is more desirable, in my opinion, than using techniques, such as HDR, to produce eye candy. I can post examples, if you'd like.
--Bob

TheDman Loc: USA

100k for the house is more serious than 100k for the photos.

steve_stoneblossom Loc: Rhode Island, USA

There's an old saying: perception is reality. There's nothing disingenuous about doing everything you can to make the perception of what you're trying to sell the absolute best possible. If you've been hired to do so, anything less is being disingenuous to your customer.

TheDman Loc: USA

If our eyes see more dynamic range than our cameras record, then isn't it disingenuous to NOT shoot HDR?

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I am not THE expert as is David Pine, but I can second his opinions. Although I have been doing photography for 49 years, some of it as a professional sports photographer, I am a relative newbie in the Real Estate market. I bring not only my photography skills (whatever they may be) but I am also a licenced Real Estate (RE) Salesperson. I know from that side that RE agents are frugal, to say the least. You do need some skills to pull this off as well as the proper equipment. I have a good friend that is also in this market and he charges $$$$, but he is shooting million plus dollar homes and he is exceptional at his job. Some jobs require a lot of pre-work, setup and staging and can consume quite a bit of time. My forte is the middle of the market, the average home that doesn't get all that extra work, but sells for enough that I can get a decent paycheck if I work at it and produce good work -- work that helps the property sell. IMHO that does not include portraying the property as something that it is not by manipulating the photos, but trying to keep them very realistic while still showing the important and/or unique features of the home. I do use HDR; however, my goal in it's use is that the observer not really realize that I have done that -- a very subtle use to balance indoor and outdoor lighting. Best of luck.