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Jun 17, 2018 14:41:43   #
bmike101 Loc: Gainesville, Florida
 
Pole shots sound good. What does one need to get to do that? How does on release the shutter or see the photo he is taking?

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Jun 17, 2018 16:04:12   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
stanperry wrote:
I'm a Realtor/Real estate photographer. First, let me say right up front that these are my opinions only, based on my experience as a Realtor. Photographers have a different bent. Realtors don't care about your photographs, nor do their clients/customers. The focus isn't f8, it's twofold, really. Attract and repel buyers. Realtors want to get in the groove with their buyers...what they like. They also want to cut out needless trips showing a home that their clients aren't the least interested in. Keeping that in mind, here is my Real Estate Photographer Mantra: Declutter, Declutter, Declutter.
Your photos are identical (in composure) to those taken by cheap Realtors with their iPhone, in terms of what they are photographing (not the quality, of course. Your photos are great). Your kitchen photo, for instance, would be awesome....if you had gotten rid of that god awful dish drainer. Declutter completely. My pre-shoot checklist for homeowners tells them to take EVERYTHING off of counters, workspace, etc. no cute (to you or the homeowner, not necessarily anyone else) decorative towels, no paper towel racks, dishes with chickens painted on them. Your JOB isn't photography, it's sales. The client needs to imagine that space decorated in their own style...almost always different than yours. Decorative cushions on the couch, etc, detract from the goal. I take all of that off of tables, counters, furniture, etc., down to bare, clean rooms and spaces. They're going to be moving anyway, so put that kind of stuff in boxes. If they have to, put it back after the shoot. I do this as a Realtor, as well. I tell my customers to,put away the family pics, take the artwork off the walls, etc. (not completely in all cases. It's a matter of balancing clean with antiseptic). I want buyers to see their own pics on the wall, and the imagination can't easily remove the photo of Uncle Fester). Like I said, these sellers are planning to move. Get them started by packing up the unnecessary distractions.
Exterior shots,which show hedges, trees, etc., again....Declutter. Show the home, not the vegetation. Every shot you have showing the big beautiful tree obscuring the home are throw always for me. Clean windows, well trimmed landscaping which shows off that window are better. You can't cut down a tree, but you can have hedges trimmed below window level.
Also, consider pole shots. I put my camera on a pole that extends 10 feet above the ground and shoot features like the front of the house, a pool, hot tub, etc. it gives an unusual perspective that seems to set that home apart from the other one with a pool, without inferring personality. (You can do drone shots, I have, but the cost, the liability and the licensing needed to fly one isn't worth it. My pole does just fine.) Get rid of the pool toys that are so cute, of course. Lots of people hate kids.
Lastly, check your local MLS and find out what their photo requirements are. File size, etc. Your deliverables should be formatted for exactly that purpose. Your Realtor will often call you again for no reason other than that. Help them simplify their lives.
You should see, from my comments, what my original,premise was. It's not photo gallery hall of fame photos your customer cares about. It's his listing, and selling it as quickly as possible. Keep your eye one the ball. These are the professional skills that make your shots worth buying, instead of taking out the iPhone.
Now before some of the acid tongued, critically acclaimed know it all's jump all over me, yes, the quality of the photos count, polarizing filters,etc. My comments are intended for Real Estate Photographers. If you don't already have the essential photography skills, you ain't one. Your a Real Estate pitcher taker.
I'm a Realtor/Real estate photographer. First, le... (show quote)


Proper staging is MUCH more important than the actual photograph, as long as there are no obvious mistakes with lighting and composition.

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Jun 17, 2018 19:12:58   #
kenArchi Loc: Seal Beach, CA
 
I use a CPL filter. Reduces a lot of post processing. Most cases you will not need to do any pp work.
Here are samples before and after with CPL.





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Jun 17, 2018 23:07:18   #
csmith4math
 
What jumped out at me is that the camera was not level for some of the photos--especially the interior shot 0163, and to a lesser extent some of the exterior shots (e.g., 0019, 1002). Sometimes perspective can make a level shot look slightly off if there is no purely horizontal line (such as a lake-meets-sky horizon), so use your visual judgement as well as a bubble level.

Even when a viewer is not consciously aware that a picture is not level, there often is a subconscious negative reaction which will turn them off to the house you pictured, so this can be very important

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Jun 17, 2018 23:14:25   #
AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire
 
csmith4math wrote:
What jumped out at me is that the camera was not level for some of the photos--especially the interior shot 0163, and to a lesser extent some of the exterior shots (e.g., 0019, 1002). Sometimes perspective can make a level shot look slightly off if there is no purely horizontal line (such as a lake-meets-sky horizon), so use your visual judgement as well as a bubble level.

Even when a viewer is not consciously aware that a picture is not level, there often is a subconscious negative reaction which will turn them off to the house you pictured, so this can be very important
What jumped out at me is that the camera was not l... (show quote)


This is a good point. Use whatever tools you have available to perfect the level. Might be the most important point in RE photography beyond the "Declutter first" commandment.

Andy

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Jun 18, 2018 02:58:52   #
jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA
 
[quote=bmike101]What do you mean?


1 and 2 point refers to perspective in composition. 1 point is where the back wall is parallel to your camera sensor (only one perspective point) and 2 point means there are 2 walls that have their own perspective points. (Like a corner of the room with walls that project at different angles)

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Jun 18, 2018 08:04:56   #
susieq26
 
I also do real estate photography and will agree with many of the comments made but will add my own....as others have noted, absolutely remove the clutter especially in the kitchen (seen in your photo) as well as the rest of the house, inside and out. I often have to do a mini-staging of the interior because people don't listen. That can include moving chairs around to create more symmetry (or removing them) , taking pillows away, whose color distracts, and hiding toys, etc..Putting up outside umbrellas, setting outdoor and indoor dining tables. I always take wide angle shots of the main rooms (to get everything in) but then correct in LR using Transform to remove the distortion. I avoid HDR (looks unnatural) and like rooms with streaming light when possible, if its a particularily beautiful light. Usually, though, I expose for the windows (if its a beautiful day and the outside looks pretty) then take the interior with a bounce flash... I've had decent luck doing that. I don't like elevated shots for interiors, looks weird to me...I typically shoot from corners, not straight on and shoot from about waist high. Agree that it is nice to get close-ups of details in small rooms but also of any interesting architectural detail in the home in addition to the normal shots ie. beautiful molding, curved stairway, interesting fireplace, top of the line appliance, etc. You want the house to tell a story but also allow a prospective buyer to envision themselves and their things in the house. Hope that helps.

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Jun 18, 2018 09:29:28   #
bmike101 Loc: Gainesville, Florida
 
Thanks to all who have chimed in!`

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Jun 18, 2018 17:45:18   #
DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX
 
Gene51 wrote:
Too much post processing is not your issue. Poor composition, not properly correcting field curvature when doing interior panoramas, too much sky, too much ceiling, incorrect use of flash (never flash from the camera's position, bounce to the side if you need to - better to think of flash as a way to enhance ambient rather than as a replacement). Taking a picture from the point of view where the bushes and foliage obscure the entrance to the house - these and other choices are things you may want to address in the future, along with some better cropping.
Too much post processing is not your issue. Poor c... (show quote)



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Jun 18, 2018 17:52:05   #
DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX
 
Pole shots are images made about 12' to 20' using a painters pole from a hardware company or an extremely expandable light stand. There are quite a few available. You shoot with a remote radio trigger. Yoy can use a CamRanger or some-such. Your camera may sway from being mounted so you have to use a faster shutter speed. This is a skill you will need to practice but when done properly it provides an interesting perspective.
bmike101 wrote:
Pole shots sound good. What does one need to get to do that? How does on release the shutter or see the photo he is taking?

Reply
Jun 18, 2018 17:55:01   #
amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
 
Lots of good suggestions here!

I think one of the most important things is to try to show the house as realistically as possible... much as we would see it if we were walking through the house.

For that reason, some post-processing may not only be acceptable, but an even be necessary. Cameras and lenses simply don't "see" things the same way we do with out eyes. Unless you balance indoor light with an extensive lighting setup, windows will be overexposed. Outdoor light is over bright and a different white balance than indoor, artificial lighting. Yet our eyes and minds compensate for and don't "see" that difference nearly as much as our cameras do. In this case, I'd say that stripping together two different images... one exposed and white balanced for indoors and the other done for outdoors... would be more correct and realistic than not doing any post-processing. Correcting wide angle distortions are another way that post-processing can make a photograph a better reflection of reality, not trying to "fool" potential buyers at all.

Stuff like clearing clutter and making sure everything is clean and shown in its best light is ideal and reasonable, too. Once again, if something is overlooked and ends up in a photo.... say toy left out, which could easily have been removed... can be cloned out of an image, too, without making the image "fake" in any way either.

It would be another matter removing a microwave/cell phone tower from an image, such as was visible above the house in one of the sample images at the link above. I'd never remove that in post-processing. Instead I'd try to take a shot from a different perspective. Some of those images didn't show the house well due to trees and other obstructions, too. It looks like it would have been easy to shoot from a slightly different perspective and get a better shot of the property, without in any way trying to mislead.

A lot of real estate (and other types of photography) really just requires you to open your eyes and LOOK.... to really SEE what's right in front of you, consider and try different possbilities, and not just quickly take snapshots. So long as your goal is to honestly portray the house or property in a realistic and un-exaggerated way, you're good!

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Jun 18, 2018 20:13:08   #
bmike101 Loc: Gainesville, Florida
 
delete

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Jan 6, 2019 20:38:07   #
hj Loc: Florida
 
I absolutely hate real estate pics that use specialty lenses to make rooms look larger. When that's done I will pass assuming the room is not an impressive size. Don't you just love refrigerators that look six feet wide and sofas that appear to be 12 feet long. NOT!

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Jan 6, 2019 20:52:16   #
kenArchi Loc: Seal Beach, CA
 
Well, you would think so.
I use a 15mm lens and I had clients who said I need a wider lens. Next lens 8-16mm Sigma.
It doesn't matter. My clients pay me.

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Jan 6, 2019 20:57:02   #
tdekany Loc: Oregon
 
stanperry wrote:
I'm a Realtor/Real estate photographer. First, let me say right up front that these are my opinions only, based on my experience as a Realtor. Photographers have a different bent. Realtors don't care about your photographs, nor do their clients/customers. The focus isn't f8, it's twofold, really. Attract and repel buyers. Realtors want to get in the groove with their buyers...what they like. They also want to cut out needless trips showing a home that their clients aren't the least interested in. Keeping that in mind, here is my Real Estate Photographer Mantra: Declutter, Declutter, Declutter.
Your photos are identical (in composure) to those taken by cheap Realtors with their iPhone, in terms of what they are photographing (not the quality, of course. Your photos are great). Your kitchen photo, for instance, would be awesome....if you had gotten rid of that god awful dish drainer. Declutter completely. My pre-shoot checklist for homeowners tells them to take EVERYTHING off of counters, workspace, etc. no cute (to you or the homeowner, not necessarily anyone else) decorative towels, no paper towel racks, dishes with chickens painted on them. Your JOB isn't photography, it's sales. The client needs to imagine that space decorated in their own style...almost always different than yours. Decorative cushions on the couch, etc, detract from the goal. I take all of that off of tables, counters, furniture, etc., down to bare, clean rooms and spaces. They're going to be moving anyway, so put that kind of stuff in boxes. If they have to, put it back after the shoot. I do this as a Realtor, as well. I tell my customers to,put away the family pics, take the artwork off the walls, etc. (not completely in all cases. It's a matter of balancing clean with antiseptic). I want buyers to see their own pics on the wall, and the imagination can't easily remove the photo of Uncle Fester). Like I said, these sellers are planning to move. Get them started by packing up the unnecessary distractions.
Exterior shots,which show hedges, trees, etc., again....Declutter. Show the home, not the vegetation. Every shot you have showing the big beautiful tree obscuring the home are throw always for me. Clean windows, well trimmed landscaping which shows off that window are better. You can't cut down a tree, but you can have hedges trimmed below window level.
Also, consider pole shots. I put my camera on a pole that extends 10 feet above the ground and shoot features like the front of the house, a pool, hot tub, etc. it gives an unusual perspective that seems to set that home apart from the other one with a pool, without inferring personality. (You can do drone shots, I have, but the cost, the liability and the licensing needed to fly one isn't worth it. My pole does just fine.) Get rid of the pool toys that are so cute, of course. Lots of people hate kids.
Lastly, check your local MLS and find out what their photo requirements are. File size, etc. Your deliverables should be formatted for exactly that purpose. Your Realtor will often call you again for no reason other than that. Help them simplify their lives.
You should see, from my comments, what my original,premise was. It's not photo gallery hall of fame photos your customer cares about. It's his listing, and selling it as quickly as possible. Keep your eye one the ball. These are the professional skills that make your shots worth buying, instead of taking out the iPhone.
Now before some of the acid tongued, critically acclaimed know it all's jump all over me, yes, the quality of the photos count, polarizing filters,etc. My comments are intended for Real Estate Photographers. If you don't already have the essential photography skills, you ain't one. Your a Real Estate pitcher taker.
I'm a Realtor/Real estate photographer. First, le... (show quote)


Excellent post!!!

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