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Aug 14, 2017 13:01:44   #
suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ
 
There is a blog and forum called Photography for Real Estate with tons of really good information, tutorials, videos, etc. Know that many agents expect not only wonderful still photos but video and inside panos and tours. The competition is stiff from other photographers as well as agents that don't want to pay out of pocket for photography services- they would rather use their cell phone and post whatever pictures they can. Not to be discouraging but you need to realize that it's more than snapping pictures. You must have a head for business to make it in this venue and a service oriented disposition.
Your original question was how wide should your lens be. Not less than 18 mm and 16mm is better. But the wider the lens the more distortion you will need to deal with. So the first software you purchase should be to correct that and second software is to correct your exposure. Also you will need some on camera and off camera flashes or HDR to get the views out of the window rights. Anyway, the web site will go into all of that. Good luck.

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Aug 14, 2017 13:44:31   #
splitwindow Loc: Grapevine TX
 
Take a look at this guy's portfolio. I mentored him a few years ago and his work is really excellent now. You probably don't have the clientele, especially if you are doing MLS RE Agents, but you can certainly learn from his approach.

http://ronnachtwey.com/bas/beforeafter-residential/

Gene. I'm in the real estate business and have tried my hand at taking pictures with poor results with a Nikon D700 and a 17-35 2.8 on a tripod. I always shoot raw, HDR, use Lightroom and Photoshop. The results are better then many others on the MLS but not what I expect or want. You guy's photos are fabulous ! Where do I start to improve my skill ?

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Aug 14, 2017 14:14:47   #
Tracyv Loc: Del Mar, Ca
 
I recently got the Newer Tamron 15-30 Lens about half the price with the $100 rebate going on. This is a great lens with a lot of good reviews and 5 stars my favorite lens now on my D750.

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Aug 14, 2017 14:56:41   #
kenArchi Loc: Seal Beach, CA
 
Gene51, I am sorry to say this. Those before photos are not the actual photos. They are to me just walk around snapshots. They do not match the finish composition and time of day.

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Aug 14, 2017 17:23:55   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
Jules Karney wrote:
Gene:
Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I knew I had a lot of learning to do.
You helped. The before and after is a eye opener for sure. Great work. What lens was used? Where two shots blended together to get away from windows blown out and for detail?


Jules, he uses a variety of lenses - a 19mm tilt shift, 24mm tilt shift, on a Canon 5d Mk III, and now a 14-24 on a D810. He will use two exposures - one that is correct for the outside, and color balanced to neutral, and another exposure, sometimes with the windows covered from the outside, with only the inside lighting. He uses PHotoshop to make precise masks to blend the images together. He uses a variety of lighting tools, bounce surfaces, etc, and a ColorChecker Passport to absolutely nail a neutral color balance.

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Aug 14, 2017 17:30:01   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
jeep_daddy wrote:
In my opinion you need a wider angle lens than either one of those that you mentioned. For your crop sensor bodies you should have a 10mm lens. For indoor images you need a very wide angle lens. 10mm is the equivalent of a 16mm on a full frame body. Look for a zoom that goes down to 10mm. The reason you need wide angle is because you can make a room look larger and more appealing to potential buyers.


And that is precisely why I recommend against ultra wide lenses - they create a misleading impression of room sizes - and though they are often used, they are just as often misused, as in using an ultra wide when a longer focal length is a better option.What you don't want is a potential buyer coming in to see these huge rooms only to experience something considerably smaller. Truth in advertising is important.

I agree that a 10mm zoom is a good idea, but not for most shots.

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Aug 14, 2017 17:37:29   #
popheizz Loc: berks co., pennsylvania
 
Gene51 wrote:
Jules, you need to get an excellent understanding of light, color, composition, post processing (compositing, HDR, color handling, focus stacking, layer blending, frequency separation, cloning, etc, etc, etc) before you consider going down this path. Your 18-140 will give you the width you need, and if not, you can generally do a stitched pano to get wider.

First image - horrible keystoning. poor control over light, not sure what you are wanting a prospective buyer to look at that says "buy me."

Second image - wrong time of day, too much contrast, the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset would avoid your blown out sky and concrete driveway. Don't need to show the side of the house, it is unattractive. Slight keystoning here is ok, but I would have corrected it.

Third image - window totally blown out, keystoning, barrel distortion correctable in Lightroom, Photoshop PT Lens with the proper lens profile. Doesn't really show the room to it's best advantage.

In smaller rooms you will need to use a wider lens, but carefully, to avoid keystoning, volume anamorphosis, severe extension distortion. Or you can use a longer lens, but you'd have to start being concerned with having adequate depth of field, so you'll have to learn how to do focus stacking. A tripod with a bowl platform (often used in video) and a level will be indispensable.

Take a look at this guy's portfolio. I mentored him a few years ago and his work is really excellent now. You probably don't have the clientele, especially if you are doing MLS RE Agents, but you can certainly learn from his approach.

http://ronnachtwey.com/bas/beforeafter-residential/

FYI, he was a Canon 5d Mk III shooter until he found he needed a 14-24mm, at which point he bought a Nikon D800. A comparably wide lens on your camera would be an 8-16mm or a 10-20mm. I think the 12-24 or the 14-24 may not be wide enough for those difficult, tight spaces. But if you understand it and use it appropriately it should be your least used lens.
Jules, you need to get an excellent understanding ... (show quote)

WOW! What a difference from before and after shots. Thank you for sharing the link.


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Aug 14, 2017 17:48:19   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
kenArchi wrote:
Gene51, I am sorry to say this. Those before photos are not the actual photos. They are to me just walk around snapshots. They do not match the finish composition and time of day.


Oh, you know Mr Nachtwey personally?

If click on the link in the middle of the left side "DISCOVER THE DIFFERENCE, between quick pics and compositions" you'll see that he is comparing "standard" shots - what you refer to as walkaround snapshots - and "composed and enhanced photographs." But thanks for pointing out the obvious. No need to apologize.

He is not taking an image and reworking it, silly boy. He is showing the difference with what many RE photographers find acceptable, as you say "walk around snapshots," and using his technical knowledge and aesthetic sense to properly stage and compose the shot, including time of day, to best create an appealing - and honest - image. One of the first things I had him do was to stop lighting the scene from the camera's perspective, and use his lighting to enhance the natural lighting, including existing fixtures in the room.

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Aug 14, 2017 17:53:29   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
popheizz wrote:
WOW! What a difference from before and after shots. Thank you for sharing the link.



You're welcome. He knows what he is doing. I just added some critique and some of the "tricks" I used to use when I did architectural photography back in the early 70s. But I had a 4x5 view camera, and used rented Lowel "hot" lights, and other "stuff" to get the job done, and worked exclusively in black and white.

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Aug 14, 2017 18:01:14   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
berchman wrote:
Judging from the before and after, you did a great job of mentoring. And your comments on the photos by the OP are very much to the point.


Thanks! But he was a good photographer already. Just needed to learn some tricks and have a second set of eyes to look at his work and make suggestions.

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Aug 14, 2017 18:10:15   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
Jules Karney wrote:
What about distortion using the 10mm? versus 12-24.
Thanks for your comments.


At the wide end, probably not too much different.

There are three types of distortion typical to wide and ultra wide lenses - barrel/mustache distortion which is easily corrected with a good lens profile, volume anamorphosis, where stuff at the corners and edges gets expanded, which is hard to correct, but it can be done, and extension distortion, where distances and relative sizes of objects become disorienting, with the elements closest to the lens being much larger than life, and the stuff at the rear of the shot looking like it is in the next state, and there ain't nothing you can do about it.

For the most part you would use an ultra wide lens in a small room with short working distances. In slightly larger rooms you may be better off with a longer lens and a pano head. With a longer lens depth of field can become an issue, so focus stacking is usually employed to get everything sharp.

Now if the photographer is doing volume work (5-10 properties a day), then he is not getting a budget to make great images, and may have to settle for the ultra wide look.

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Aug 14, 2017 18:32:11   #
aellman Loc: Boston MA
 
Jules Karney wrote:
Hi to all members.

I am thinking about getting into real estate photography. As a matter of fact I shot my first interior-exterior yesterday.
The equipment I have is Nikon D500, D7100 50 1.4, 24-70 2.8, 80-400 4.5-5.6 70-200 2.8. Nikon SB 700 flash. Nikon 18-140.
My question is (I have read all in the search section real estate photography), I need either a 12-24 f4 or a 14-24. Which lens would I purchase? And why.
Thanks in advance.

Jules
Las Vegas



Your samples are no more than snapshots.You should have have much larger concerns
than acquiring the perfect lens. Architectural photography is like any photographic specialty.
It requires significant learning and practice. Go to Google Images, and search for
"architectural photography interior" and "architectural photography exterior." You will see all
the high quality samples you could ever want, like this example. >Alan



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Aug 14, 2017 18:37:16   #
sirlensalot Loc: Arizona
 
Between the two would go with the 12-24. Have found that doing residential real estate, wider is the better option.

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Aug 14, 2017 19:01:29   #
pendennis
 
Lots of good replies and suggestions. PC lenses help, but for the most part, don't have enough range.

There are limits on any digital camera, and you're going to need work on composition and lighting. In fact, you should think about some type of studio lighting which can effectively expose corners and high spots. You can use a couple of off-camera flashes, expose the shadow images over several exposures, and stitch the images together, using editing software.

Lenses wider than 24mm on FX (16mm on DX) cameras bring nearly uncorrectable distortion especially the instant the sensor plane gets off the perpendicular axis. It's one reason why view cameras are still great for interior photos. With the adjustments available, a lot of "sins and weaknesses" can be corrected pre-exposure.

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Aug 14, 2017 19:11:18   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
camerapapi wrote:
I use my 12-24 f4 AFS although not necessarily for real estate photography. At 12mm (18mm if using full frame) it could be very useful for many wide angle shots. The lens is sharp and professional grade.
I have two observations that I would like to share with you. The first one is that one flash alone will not be enough and the other is that for a more realistic look in many of your interior shots you will have to go HDR (high dynamic range) photography. Your last shot, even when I do not know what was outside is a good example. High dynamic range photographs will show properly exposed what is outside.
Useless to say that a good tripod is a must. Flash modifiers is something that you also should consider.
I use my 12-24 f4 AFS although not necessarily for... (show quote)


Actually, you CAN use just one speedlight, but only if you know what you are doing. And it will look like you had an entire crew helping you set the lighting. I don't have any examples of my own to show because I haven't done it since I started doing digital, but it can be done. Quite easily, in fact. Think of light painting but you are doing a room and not a subject, and it is done during the day, and you are using a speedlight and not a flashlight.

https://lefeverphoto.com/methods/speedlite-interior/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHtbkIKmzgQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WIHddqZhPs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8tIUU9unos

http://www.pecephoto.com/one-light-tutorial/

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