bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

The agent listing our condo hired a pro. He was friendly and showed me what he was doing. I learned a lot.

His gear:
-Canon 80D
-10mm lens: I didn't see or ask the brand. He said it was the widest he could get without a fisheye effect.
-Manfrotto Tripod with a three way head
-Godox AD 200 flash
-Godox remote trigger
-DJI Mavic 2

The interior shooting technique was to bracket three exposures automatically and then take a fourth shot with the flash pointed at the ceiling. Everything was on the tripod. Twice he shot from outside through a window with me holding the flash inside. I think the outside shots were the same three exposure bracket but without the flash.

The drone shots were fun. He showed me his FAA license. The DJI software on his phone ensured he was in clear airspace. The drone had the "quiet propeller" option. Nobody paid any attention. Once it was 100 feet in the air you couldn't hear it. My guess was that the primary shots were from about 250 feet.

Of course composition is the important part. He was always in a corner and studied the very wide angle view on the screen. The three way head made adjustments easy.
I never saw him look in the viewfinder. It seemed clear that he knew a style of composition that worked for him.

I asked about processing. "My wife does that." He said she uses Aurora HDR. All skies will be blue and the "feel" will be of a warm and pleasant day.

All the photos will be sent to the agent for her to pick what she likes.

A huge part of any business is getting the clients. He's been at it for several years. I didn't ask about his sales and marketing system. The agent said he is well known among agents in the area.

daplight Loc: Kansas

Thank you for passing this information along. Very interesting.

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

You missed the most important part, what does he charge??? I would spend a Total of around fours hrs per house shoot, from start to finish. I charged peanuts compared to what the Realtor makes in commissions. Along came photographer B that gives close to the same results with even more work involved for $100 per house. We're talking homes $250,000 and up. The Realtors Love this guy, why share any of the money when others are willing to give their work away for free.......It's a cut throat business.......

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

You've uncovered "THE" secret. Realtors are cheap! I too work with Realtors and I avoid those that want a quick and cheap job. I prefer clients that want good work and are willing to pay fairly for it.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Let us know if you are impressed with the results.

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

They Don't exist in my area. I was working for the best around. The lesser agents take photos with their cell phones and post them. Enough to make a grown man cry...........

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

"You missed the most important part, what does he charge???"

Didn't ask. That is between the realtor and the photographer. We picked the realtor for a lot of reasons including how effective she is at getting interest through the MLS, Internet, Zillow, etc.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Given the current state of the RE market, that's not likely to change soon. Good clients do exist, they are just fewer and further in-between. My advice, don't join the cheap crowd. That's exactly why RE is only a small part of my business. Best of luck.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

"I too work with Realtors and I avoid those that want a quick and cheap job. I prefer clients that want good work..."

I used to teach sales and marketing. One of my favorite lessons was to explain that the best businesses are the ones with the best clients or customers. Great sales people pick who they want to do business with. Going further, driving the bad customers to the competition can be fun!

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

There is no doubt I will like the results. I've seen the work he's dose for our realtor.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

Right on. The lesson is realtor's and owner's are cheap. When I sold my house in PA 3 years ago
I shot photos for the agent we knew well. They wanted me to shoot upscale houses for them.
$150 dollars for a $600K house. Visuals makers are being humiliated now by people who need
imagery but dont really want to pay much.
The was an article about photographers in Photobloger which comes with my news connection on iPad.
They surveyed earnings of photographers's in US. It was depressing. Average much less then the high
like Florida 40k a year. I am selling video now when I can. Companies really dont want to pay for
good work. I am now working with 3 companies who want marketing. But don't want to pay for
video imagery, interviews, photo's etc. Might be the iPhone but good shots are still good shots.
And the gear costs 1000's. Go figure.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

"The lesson is realtor's and owner's are cheap."

I'm not and neither is the realtor we are working with. As in everything else there is a top 20% and a bottom 80%.

I wonder what would happen if realtors, and real estate photographers, went away. Could there be an internet site or app that could completely replace them all?

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Real Estate agents keep the process orderly. Although there probably are photographers that do only Real Estate, most do something else as well. I consider myself a sports photographer, but I do many other things, including Real Estate. The only thing I don't do anymore is weddings. The jobs I take are completely my choice. I'm happy to help someone out in a pinch, if I can, but I have no desire to work for cheapskates, and I don't. Best of luck.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

I am going to withhold comment on this pro until I see results.

However, if you want to see what a real pro produces on an RE shoot, take a look at this guy's work"

http://ronnachtwey.com/

He is in Scottsdale AZ. He found me on a PPA forum when I used to be a member. He wanted to "step up his game" so I asked him to send me 10 images that he felt could be improved but was at a loss as to where to start. I critiqued them and offered suggestions - and he hired me on the spot. Some of his before and after shots are a result of our mentoring relationship. His primary mistake was to rely heavily on HDR, which always has an "MLS quality" about them. We worked on angles, using panorama vs ultra wide lenses, focus stacking, compositing, lighting, lighting, lighting, using frequency separation in post processing to even out the color and shading on a wall, etc etc etc. Needless to say, the results speak for themselves. He is a great RE photographer. All I did was tweak a few things so I can only take about 10% of the credit.

BebuLamar

When I sold my house it was $250,000. The realtors didn't hire any photographers they took the pics themselves with a P&S. I gave them some of the scans I made from my 35mm color negs I took of the house both inside and out. They used my pictures only.