Real Estate Photography - Equipment List

From Manaheim:


  1. Wide Angle Lens - 18mm is NOT going to do it on a partial frame camera... not even close. You need the Sigma 10-20mm 4/5.6. It's the widest angle lens availabel for partial frame cameras without going fisheye. This is going to be your primary lens for 80-90% of your shots, interior and exterior. This is a MUST HAVE. It's also the most expensive thing in your must-have kit at ~$500.
O.K., so how do you deal with the distortion created by the 10-20mm Sigma
as well as the deception of size and space?

skieur
 
From Manaheim:


  1. Wide Angle Lens - 18mm is NOT going to do it on a partial frame camera... not even close. You need the Sigma 10-20mm 4/5.6. It's the widest angle lens availabel for partial frame cameras without going fisheye. This is going to be your primary lens for 80-90% of your shots, interior and exterior. This is a MUST HAVE. It's also the most expensive thing in your must-have kit at ~$500.
O.K., so how do you deal with the distortion created by the 10-20mm Sigma
as well as the deception of size and space?

skieur

There are programs that can be used to handle this, though I have never used them to know if any tradeoffs exist. I found it interesting when people on here were saying that fisheye was a bad idea, go with a 24/28mm instead...those lenses may not provide as much distortion as fisheye, but it's still pretty apparent when used on a full frame body. Strictly speaking, anything wider then 50mm is distorted...it just depends on whose eyes are watching.
 
From Manaheim:


  1. Wide Angle Lens - 18mm is NOT going to do it on a partial frame camera... not even close. You need the Sigma 10-20mm 4/5.6. It's the widest angle lens availabel for partial frame cameras without going fisheye. This is going to be your primary lens for 80-90% of your shots, interior and exterior. This is a MUST HAVE. It's also the most expensive thing in your must-have kit at ~$500.
O.K., so how do you deal with the distortion created by the 10-20mm Sigma
as well as the deception of size and space?

skieur

There are programs that can be used to handle this, though I have never used them to know if any tradeoffs exist. I found it interesting when people on here were saying that fisheye was a bad idea, go with a 24/28mm instead...those lenses may not provide as much distortion as fisheye, but it's still pretty apparent when used on a full frame body. Strictly speaking, anything wider then 50mm is distorted...it just depends on whose eyes are watching.

Yes, there certainly are. As to the main tradeoffs, often the centre is straightened but the edges are still distorted, and/or the need for cropping which reduces resolution. Sure anything wider than 50mm is distorted but through adjustments in camera angle and distance it is possible to minimize the distortion caused by a 28mm shot. When you go wider, it becomes much less possible or not possible at all.

skieur
 

:lol:

Interesting story, Chris. Like any venture, it takes a certain amount of acting like you belong/know what you're doing. I know a great house I'd like to grab a shot or two of; preferably when nobody is home. :D

heheh... if you're doing exteriors (please don't break in!) :lol: Just be fairly stealthy and quick. Generally I try to stay physically off of people's properties, but a quick jog to the center of their yard for a couple pics and back goes generally unnoticed.

A few more Q's:

1. How do I deliver the goods? Do I upload them directly into a MLS site? Do I send them via email to the agent? On a CD? Does anyone ever request a hard copy?

This is an area I know a bit less about because I've only done it once officially. What I can say is this... you'd be way better off getting an MLS account and uploading the images yourself personally. The MLS system does some rather arbitrary and unfortunate crap to the images sometimes and you need to be mindful of the result.

That being said, I think just knowing the exact specifications of the MLS system's expectations of the images will probably get you 90% of the way there... then you can provide pre-sized and pre-corrected images to your clients and all they have to do is upload them. I would think this would probably be ideal.

For my commercial clients I generally upload images to an FTP site for them, or put them up on an FTP site for them to grab. I can tell you from what I've seen that a lot of the residential real estate agents can't even click an http: link to download a file. Seriously. In which case you may plan to have multiple options to suit the needs of the level of client, but assume you'll be delivering corrected pre-sized images to them on a CD.

2. How in the world to I determine what to charge? Do I take a retainer up front? Or just send an invoice after the job is completed?

I personally like to provide a quote before the work is started and then send an invoice after the job is completed and images are accepted. I invoice upon acceptance or 30 days after submission, whichever comes first. With commercial clients I go on a proof/select/correct system, but with residential clients my thought is "Here are your images" because the needs of a residential real estate agent tend to be much more clear and cut and dry than a commercial one. (you need pictures of all the obvious aspects of the house, period.)
 
From Manaheim:


  1. Wide Angle Lens - 18mm is NOT going to do it on a partial frame camera... not even close. You need the Sigma 10-20mm 4/5.6. It's the widest angle lens availabel for partial frame cameras without going fisheye. This is going to be your primary lens for 80-90% of your shots, interior and exterior. This is a MUST HAVE. It's also the most expensive thing in your must-have kit at ~$500.
O.K., so how do you deal with the distortion created by the 10-20mm Sigma
as well as the deception of size and space?

The distortion is actually -really- not at all bad on the Sigma. One of the nice things about it. That being said, I use ptlens to make some adjustments automatically, or you can do it via photoshop. It's rarely exactly perfect... mostly noticable at the very outside extremes of the image, but still not bad. Check out my website... a significant majority of the images up there are taken with that lens- particularly any one that shows an interior space.

As far as the deception of size... again, not really as bad as you suspect, though occasionally it does have that effect. Frankly... meh. It's marketing. It's not always accurate.

Keep in mind, too, that MLS displays these images as something like 400x300 pixels or something. :lol: If there are issues there, they're not going to see them. (This is not the case for my commercial clients, by the way, but the commercial clients want you to do everything possible to make every space seem as big as you possibly can... I would actually assume a residential agent wouldn't cry over such an effect, either... but it is a different market)

At the end of the day, my buddy just sold his house in under 10 days, have over 30 parties to come see the place, and had three actual offers from three parties. The real estate agent said she has not seen that kind of traffic in a house in years... and a significant number of people made a point to comment on how amazing the house looked in the photos. Everyone is quite convinced that the photos made all the difference here.
 
From Manaheim:


  1. Wide Angle Lens - 18mm is NOT going to do it on a partial frame camera... not even close. You need the Sigma 10-20mm 4/5.6. It's the widest angle lens availabel for partial frame cameras without going fisheye. This is going to be your primary lens for 80-90% of your shots, interior and exterior. This is a MUST HAVE. It's also the most expensive thing in your must-have kit at ~$500.
O.K., so how do you deal with the distortion created by the 10-20mm Sigma
as well as the deception of size and space?

skieur

There are programs that can be used to handle this, though I have never used them to know if any tradeoffs exist. I found it interesting when people on here were saying that fisheye was a bad idea, go with a 24/28mm instead...those lenses may not provide as much distortion as fisheye, but it's still pretty apparent when used on a full frame body. Strictly speaking, anything wider then 50mm is distorted...it just depends on whose eyes are watching.

Sorry about the Fisheye crack, but I have agents as friends and they use fisheye's and ultra wide lenses to make the rooms look larger than they are to get people to the house. You can't sell a house very well If you can't get them to it..

Read this .

Google Image Result for http://www.vistaview360.com/_property/petit/0living2.jpg


Oh yeah, I meant to say... fisheye is absolutely on my list of things to get. Somtimes you want to go crazy wide... and keeping in mind that you CAN adjust for the distortion.

Another trick is to pan and take a few shots and stitch them together for a super wide view of a room. Photoshop handles this mightily and it gives you that wide view with minimal distortion.
 
FWIW, from everything I've read (not just here), the Sigma 10-20mm is the lens to have for real estate photography.

My biggest, most puzzling, most difficult question remains: How do I determine how much to charge?

Jon
 
FWIW, from everything I've read (not just here), the Sigma 10-20mm is the lens to have for real estate photography.

My biggest, most puzzling, most difficult question remains: How do I determine how much to charge?

Yup, that's the sticking point.

Think of it this way, perhaps...

Assume you're probably going to spend about 3-4 hours per house. Not just in capture, but also in corrections, uploads, etc. How much are you willing to work for per hour?

That is not to say that the market would bear your prices (thus my dilemna), but at least it will give you a sense of where you should be comfortable. If, in the end, you determine that the market wants to pay you less than you are comfortable with, you may want to consider a different line of photographic work.
 
I've done residential real estate photography for nearly 15 years. Somewhere over 2,000 homes.

My current equipment consists of a nikon d300 and a sigma 10-20, and of course, a nice tripod.

I work totally in available light, meaning natural light from windows and lamps and ceiling lights in the home. No flash- ever. Everything I produce is in HDR.

If you don't know what you are doing, "acting" like you do will just get you in trouble and lose you potential clients. The best thing is to do your homework and talk to real estate professionals. I wouldn't even worry about a portfolio until you know what they would expect (uploaded to MLS, cd, hardcopy, emailed, etc.)

Good work if you can get it. I can live off of 3-4 virtual tours a month. When things are busy I do about 25-30.
 
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I wasn't suggesting you pretend you know what you're doing so much as assert and show that you have the skills to do the job... without actually having done the job. There's a subtle difference.

"live off" means different things to different people... could you give us a sense of what you charge?

How did you get into it?

It's interesting that you choose to do ALL HDRs... the couple houses I've done it became immediately clear that I needed to do at least some, so generally I wound up doing about 50% of them that way, but I wouldn't have necessarily chosen to do all of them that way... (personal preference)
 
If you don't know what you are doing, "acting" like you do will just get you in trouble and lose you potential clients.

I think this is in reference to my remark:

it takes a certain amount of acting like you belong/know what you're doing.

To clarify, I was not suggesting this is all it takes to be successful. In fact, I was specifically referring to having the 'nads to shoot a random house in order to create a portfolio.

Anyway, nice images, Abraxas. Your HDR: How many images do you typically combine?

Thanks for contributing,

Jon
 
If you don't know what you are doing, "acting" like you do will just get you in trouble and lose you potential clients.

I think this is in reference to my remark:

it takes a certain amount of acting like you belong/know what you're doing.

To clarify, I was not suggesting this is all it takes to be successful. In fact, I was specifically referring to having the 'nads to shoot a random house in order to create a portfolio.

Anyway, nice images, Abraxas. Your HDR: How many images do you typically combine?

Thanks for contributing,

Jon

That's why I suggested talking to some real estate pros- Define their wants and needs. At this point portfolios are irrelevant.
 
I work totally in available light, meaning natural light from windows and lamps and ceiling lights in the home. No flash- ever. Everything I produce is in HDR.

This is the direction I've decided to go in.

Abraxas - Do you do HDR? Or a blending of exposures? Have you tried both methods? Which software do you use?

I expect I'll use the HDR angle as a major selling point, something to make my product unique. How much do you emphasise HDR in your marketing?

Thanks,

Jon
 

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