The beginner’s guide to real estate photography
It would be fair to say that the real estate industry has changed as nobody could ever have predicted. Years ago, the process may have been as follows:
- You contacted a bricks-and-mortar real estate agent to list your property with
- They would arrange to advertise the property in the local newspaper
- They would organize viewings and negotiate on your behalf, before collecting a healthy commission
While this process sometimes still occurs, it’s slowly ‘going out of fashion’. The rise of the internet means that most properties are found online, while it’s also worth mentioning that a rising number of people are no longer using an agent. They are taking a DIY approach and saving thousands of dollars in the process.
Not every element of this approach is easy, though. For example, photography is arguably one of the most important parts of selling a house, and we’re not all blessed with excellent skills in this regard.
This is the reason today’s guide has been put together. You may still decide to go with a professional, but if you do have your heart set on doing things yourself, here are some of the points you should look out for.
It’s all about the staging
While the right equipment can help you no-end (more on that shortly), you also need to make sure that you are photographing the right areas.
Firstly, this means eradicating clutter. The last thing any prospective buyer wants is to be staring at a pile of someone else’s belongings in the corner of a room.
Secondly, it means adding ‘special touches’. One of the easiest wins comes in the form of flowers, as these reviews from Avas Flowers show. Avas Flowers are commonly used for house staging, for the simple reason that their products can add a blast of color in one swoop – and transform those photographs. There’s some more example of some of the products Avas Flowers sell on this page.
Finally, it’s about cleaning. Nowadays, cameras (particularly when a user zooms) can capture everything. Make sure your home is given a deep clean, long before you get the camera out.
Invest in a wide-angle lens
One of the most difficult tasks you’ll find is getting an entire room into one shot. The professionals make it look easy, but this is largely due to their equipment.
Unless you want your online listing to just be showing small portions of a room, invest in a wide-angle lens. You’ll get the entire view of a room, and it will also appear much bigger when it makes its way onto the internet.
Lighting is key
For anyone who has dabbled in photography, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, the difference between a good and a bad photo can sometimes just come down to the lighting.
If your property has a garden, it’s even more important to perfect this. The best outdoor shots arrive at dust, and it should go without saying that you should be avoiding any days where the weather has taken a turn for the worse.
You can add extra layers of complexity to this as well. For example, you always want the sun behind the camera, so calculating when the best time this is to happen can help you significantly.
