A $200K Bottle of Aspirin -- Real Estate Photography Tips

I know the iPhone has gotten pretty good.  I also know I’m biased, but really?  I was browsing through real estate photos of properties online to see what might be available for my expanding family.  You know what I noticed?  Some properties didn’t even have photos.  I didn’t even bother to look at them.  There was way too much out there to waste time looking at listings without a photo.  Then there were those clearly photographed in a hurry - with a smart phone.

A friend of mine who is now a real estate agent used to work in the lighting and photography field in a Hollywood studio.  He recounted to me one day how they would spend hours upon hours lighting a $2 bottle of aspirin just to get the perfect shot for the ad.  We laughed about how a $2 bottle of aspirin could justify more time, money and effort than a $200K property!  Hopefully you’re persuaded that good photos are a must in this “online” age.  Let me offer a few pointers for the do-it-yourselfers.

1. Equipment isn’t everything - but it is something!  Ditch the iPhone camera.  You’ll be well served by a DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex) camera with a wide-angle lens.  While most architectural photography purists will never shoot over 28mm wide, most real estate agents and potential home buyers want to see as much as possible of that property, and some degree of wide angle will help.

2. Ditch the flash.  Turn on all the lights in the home, much as you would do for a showing.  If you have a camera like that DSLR we talked about, you should be able to manually control the shutter and aperture.  Expose longer to brighten the room without flash.  In most cases, especially in smaller rooms or when looking away from any windows, the natural light from daylight and lighting in the home will look better than with flash.  In cases where you’re shooting toward a window, invest in a good flash that sits on the hot-shoe and bounce the flash at the ceiling or the wall behind you.  Like with everything there are exceptions, but give it a try.

3. De-clutter.  De-cluttering is important for showings, and doubly important for photos!  That same shot will be showing up over and over and over again and can be scrutinized.  Cleaner and simpler is almost always better in photography.

4. Consider shooting real estate photography at night.  You’ll minimize the window glare and reflections on floors, counter-tops and other smooth surfaces and get a more even exposure of the room.

5. Know where the sun is and use it to your advantage.  If you have an East facing property, photograph the front of the home in the morning hours when you have sunlight helping brighten the photo and making the colors more vibrant.  If you can come back to do the back side later in the day with good sunlight that’s a bonus!

6. Consider a professional.  Of course this is always a good bet since real estate photographers are experts at what they do so that you don’t have to be.  

Happy photographing!

Tim Ray
www.ColoradoVirtualTours.com

Bio
Tim Ray is the owner of Colorado Virtual Tours and Vantage Point Imagery, LLC.  A full-time business owner and part time military pilot, he got his start with a camera providing aerial photography services to commercial and residential clients.  He can be found at a coffee shop near you.