My Canon 400D + Real Estate Photos

[SELN 2U]

Good morning all!

I'm new to the site so please forgive me if i ask silly questions. I have done a search but cant find any answers, i have also looked through the user manual and have found some helpful items but not a lot.

I have a Canon 400D (unsure of the exact model, its only around 2yr old) with the standard EFS 18-55mm lens plus a wide angle EFS 10-22mm lens. I use the wide angle lens 9 times out of 10, both inside and outside the houses.

I use the camera for my Real Estate photos. These photos are used online and in my paper advertising so the better the pictures, the better the response (hopefully, no one likes to look at ugly photos)

Now, what I'm looking for is some hints/tips/ways to make my photos come out better. I'm looking for more colour, more sharpness, more definition.

Here is an example of what I'd like my photos to finish as:

http://images3.au.reastatic.net/800x600/props/106560272/Main@20Feature/20100715072700.jpg & http://images3.au.reastatic.net/800x600/props/106560272/ImageB/20100715104154.jpg

Now I'm sure that some photo editing can help to make the shot look even better, but with out it being a good shot off the camera you cant do much with it on the computer. The above photo was taken by a similar model camera to mine (i used to work with the agent) so I'm hoping i can get some similar results.

Here are some shots i have taken for comparison

http://images.ljhooker.com.au/PROPERTY/pictures/05562011.jpg
http://images.ljhooker.com.au/PROPERTY/pictures/05667806.jpg & http://images.ljhooker.com.au/PROPERTY/pictures/05667811.jpg

Thanks in advance for any help!

Cheers, Mitch.

 

[Morpheuss]

I would say play with the lighting as much as you can white houses are tough to take pictures of and make them look good. I would play with what time of day to take the pictures and I would also use GIMP it is a free photo editing program and you can play with the brightness and contrast and stuff like that. also if you end up using gimp they have some tutorials on there to help you out with editing your photos.

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

As mentioned, photography is all about light. So the better the lighting, the better the photo. Unfortunately, when shooting properties (especially exterior shots) the lighting will be largely dictated by the weather.

You might also consider embracing the idea of photo editing. It doesn't have to be a lot and you don't have to be an expert, but a little bit of know-how, can go a long way.

For example, the first shot you linked to, looks to be a result of 'HDR' processing. This is a technique where you take multiple exposures and use software to combine them. This allows you to get good detail in both the shadow and highlight areas.