It might be cliche here to offer the age-old expression that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ In today’s digital age, however, where prospective buyers make online researching a big part of the decision process before they even make proceeding to make first contact with a seller, it’s perhaps more true than ever.
Naturally, the significance of this is magnified hundredfold when the product being sold is a home worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and perhaps more in some instances. You absolutely must have high-quality, high-resolution images of the home, and there’s a whole host of considerations that go into that beyond the one of having a high-end camera with plenty of megapixels and auto image-stabilization etc.
All that said, it is entirely possible for you to take on that challenge on your own with your own camera, equipment, and know how. Let’s talk about some tips for getting quality photos of real estate properties.
Equipment
Though pricey, a DSLR camera is preferable. Most DSLRs will have an image processor that is 18MP or higher, and the difference in image crispness and definition delivered by these kinds of processors is immediately discernible when you compare them to your average point n’ shoot camera or the one on your smartphone – which is likely 8MP.
For residential interior photography, the home itself and it’s design particulars will dictate what equipment you need. Some homes designed by great architects are designed specifically with natural lighting in mind and won’t need much extra lighting. Other homes will need plenty of it.
The bare essentials you’ll need for interior photography include a tripod, electronic flash, and non-distorting lenses. Wide angle is fine as long as it isn’t too wide. If you can, get architecture specific lenses. Try using prime lenses over zoom lenses as this will minimize curvature. Faster lenses are best, as interior photography will have much less available light to work with.
Lighting Basics
Many architects understand the importance of light, and design houses around incorporating natural light. If you are fortunate enough to have a well designed lighting system, you may be just fine with using only existing light.
A staple approach is to turn on all the lights in the house. This adds more depth and colour variance to your photos. Make sure the lights do not show up as reflections in pictures, windows, mirrors, or other reflective surfaces. This is visually disconcerting for any viewer.
It’s not difficult to determine when this isn’t working well. If that’s the case, you’ll need to use external lighting such as flashes or strobes to balance the natural and artificial light. A simple tactic is to replace the incandescent bulbs with more powerful tungsten bulbs. These have a higher output and tend to be more consistent in colour temperature with outdoor lighting.
Lastly, when using a portable flash, it is advisable to not to point the light directly at your scene. Instead, aim it at a light-coloured wall or ceiling. This will diffuse and spread the light throughout the entire room. Light coloured is better as coloured walls as the darker colour may change the reflective nature of the light.
Composition
Now to the dos and don’ts of the actual taking photos of the home. The first tip is to be spacious with your shots, and a primary means of achieving that is to avoid shooting straight at walls. This will make the photo look flat and can also create less definition to the perspective. Shoot into the corners of rooms instead to create more depth and make the room appear larger. Also, taking the photos from a lower angle and with a wider angled lens creates an effect where the room is seen to be larger and more open.
The next tip is to choose attention grabbing areas. As you can’t photograph an entire room in one picture, you should focus your lens on the parts of that room that you imagine would have the most immediate visual appeal for buyers. Choose objects of importance that really make the space attractive, or parts of the room with more interesting architecture. Be sure that the vertical and horizontal lines in your photos are straight. Crooked lines are signs of poor technical skills and will detract from the image.
These arejust a few introductory points to consider with taking photos when selling a home. There’s many more, and it’s advisable to become familiar with them if you’re a real estate agent who takes the initiative to sell more homes. Signing up with Real Estate Leads to receive qualified leads that are provided to you and you alone for your region in Canada is highly advisable too, and here’s where you can get in on the action
