How to Capture Perfect Real Estate Photos: A Beginner’s Guide

Photos That Speak!

First impressions always matter and more so when it comes to showcasing properties on real estate listings. A couple of photos that determine whether or not a potential buyer will look for the agents’ contact info or scroll down to the next listing! To make that good impression, you as a photographer, have some homework to do! In this blog, we will discuss some essential real estate photography tips that will help you take stunning photos that amaze real estate agents and enchant house hunters beyond your expectations!

Shooting a Property for Listing

Good real estate photography requires having a perfect set of equipment. Without them, all your efforts would be in vain! As you gain more experience, you’ll learn quite a bit about the best gear you should have, For the starter, here’s what you can begin with.

High-tech camera

When it comes to buying a camera for real estate shooting, you may hear from professionals that Wide wide-angle lens cameras are the best! Well, that’s because such cameras give you a perfect view of your shots and allow you to shoot both manually and automatically. Besides, you can shoot narrow spaces with more ease making them look somewhat roomy!

Tripod

A tripod has at least three benefits. First, it allows you to set the camera in the right position. Some photos should be captured at a chest-level position. Others, at a lower or higher position. Second, it can be fit into tight corners where the photographer can’t fit. And third, it is steady. With no distortion or haze, due to sudden stirs of your hands, your photos will remain clear and sharply defined.

Flash

As a real estate photographer, you may sometimes find yourself in dimly lit settings. The space might not receive enough natural light or the ceiling could be too low. In such scenarios, you’d better have a camera flash in your gear.

Drone

To show buyers how great the property looks, agents prefer to provide them with a bird-eye view of the place. Such a view allows them to get a better sense of the neighborhood, how it can be accessed, and what attractions are located near it. So, although you may not use your drone for every project, you’d better be prepared.

Shooting the Property

Having the right equipment is just one part of the task. To do a clean job, you should also be careful with what you do before the shooting begins when you want to shoot the property, where you choose to set the camera, and so on. Let’s review the most important things you should do when shooting a property.

Declutter

Wherever you look for real estate photography tips, you’ll come across this one first! Other things aside, without proper decluttering, all your efforts will be in vain. A place must look neat and neutralized on a property listing to attract buyers.

Ask the agent or the owner to mob the floor, dust the furniture, clean the windows, and vacuum the carpets, if there are any, to make the place as calm and welcoming as possible. To neutralize it, move away any item that leaves a trace of the owner or anyone else! Family photos, a hunting gun, or even a typical children’s painting will suggest that “this place belongs to someone else” and that is not the thought you want to put into the viewers’ minds!

Choose the right time

First things first, never shoot a property on a rainy day. You’ll need the sun to light the interiors and give your photos some charm and appeal. On a sunny day, the best time to shoot is when the sun is positioned behind the house to ensure sufficient light inside.

Remember to shoot the exterior last when the sun is setting and there is a purple-yellow shade in the sky overcasting the property. This is the so-called golden hour in photography during which you can capture the best pics from the exterior of a property.

Check every corner before shooting

Before starting to shoot, make sure you check every room to decide on:

• Where to put the camera
• Whether or not you need artificial lighting
• Which items should be removed or returned, and
• The overall composition of the scene.

Detect the selling points

Every house has a selling point. For one house, it might be a big window overlooking a river, for another a fireplace mantle with intricately inscribed designs, and yet for another, a rooftop terrace with panoramic views. And guess what? There are also hidden ones that need your sharp eyes to discover!
Your job as a real estate photographer is to detect such selling points and shoot them from the best angle. Capturing a property’s selling points attracts more attention to property listings and makes imperfections look less important.

Shoot from different angles

You never want to present an incomplete picture of a property. Those pictures are the only things house hunters base their decision-making on. Shooting the same space from various angles enables house hunters to get the most complete view of the house, hence letting them make a more informed decision.

Sometimes, after the shooting phase, you’ll realize that some of the photos have poor quality. Shooting the same room from different angles allows you to replace such photos with other ones you have of the same space.

Edit Your Photos

Good real estate photography tips always include “photo editing”. Not that your work is faulty, but it could always be better. Time and again, you’ll notice that some of your photos have noise in them or are a bit dark. Here are some of the valuable real estate photo editing techniques that you should consider with any project.

Virtual staging

If the rooms are empty when you shoot them, it’s better to stage them virtually. Virtual staging has several benefits for agents but suffice to say that it makes the property look more appealing. Without the agent’s consent, you can’t use this technique but still, it’s good to suggest it.

Day-to-Dusk

Remember that golden hour thing we talked about, a day-to-dusk effect will give that look to your exteriors regardless of the time you shot the photos. again, this a something to go for only when your agent allows it.

Photo enhancement

Photo enhancement means to improve the lighting, fix overshadowing, and remove the noise from your photos. If you want to do this manually, you’ll have to spend an hour or so, provided that you know how to do it, on editing each photo. A quicker way would be to use our AI HomeDesign’s image enhancement service which takes only 30 seconds to enhance each photo.

Item removal

Last but not least, there are times you notice certain items should be removed from the photo. Could be a piece of furniture or even a little doll that spoils the photo. AI HomeDesign’s item removal service clears your photos from such items in the blink of an eye!

Create a portfolio

You’re done with your project, but your own job just begins. Nothing gives credit to a real estate photographer better than a nice portfolio. Keep on mind to make a collection of your work and put it somewhere on your website or social media so that other people seeking a real estate photographer see how stunning your photos are!