Real Estate Photography - Kicked my butt today!!!

[MichaelHenson]

So, today I embarked on my first photoshoot of the journey...It didn't go well. I would eventually like to move into doing some real estate photography on a freelance basis to bring in some extra money from time to time.

I'm new to this type of shooting and have found a few people that are willing to allow me to practice on their stuff. Today's was an empty house that a coworker is putting up for rent (the house is completely vacant). Here's what I learned...Correct me if I'm wrong or add tips!

1. Get low - The shots where I set up about waist height seemed to give a better representation of the space than I got when I took shots from closer to head height. (Have any of y'all found this to be the case?)
2. Don't be afraid to shoot in portrait orientation...Tiny bathrooms will thank me.
3. I'm not sure what "keeping your verticals vertical" actually means. I mean, which vertical do you pick? I had the gridlines on my live view screen and sometimes I would ensure that a random vertical was exactly in line with the grid but other vertical lines (corners, door frames, etc.) wouldn't seem to line up. Any insights here?

All in all, it was fairly fun and great practice! Any tips or insights other than the cliched stuff I've read in about thirty articles would be appreciated! (I'm going back to try again tomorrow.... )

 

[dennybeall]

Real estate photos are all about the lens and the light. You have to have the right lens to get the wide angle with limited distortion (keep the verticals vertical and not fisheyed(made up word). Not curved in or bowed out. I fix that with Photoshop myself. Lots of light but the view out the windows should also be clear and correctly lighted. Multiple exposures and merge in PS will fix that .
Full time RE folks use multiple strobes and reflectors and vertical panos and on and on...

 

[JoeW]

Several other suggestions:

1. Agreed.
2. I think that depends upon the lens. Most of my interiors shots have involved a wide angle lens .
3. Keeping verticals vertical is about distortion (especially when you use a wide-angle lens).

Some other tips:
--think of shooting with a tripod (so you can get sharp pictures with something like an f8 or f11 aperture).
--be willing to put a speed light outside a window with a gel in order to create a warmer color that floods the room (or enhance what appears to be ambient light).

 

[manaheim]

Get low, but not always.
Use a fill flash bounced off the wall behind you, but watch to make sure no hot spots in the frame.
Use HDR in situations with bright windows.
Put the camera as far into the corner as possible (on a tripod) to get as much of the room as you can. Make the space look big.
Shoot every single room in the house.
Turn on any and all light fixtures. It adds light and warmth to the room. Fixtures off look dead.
Make sure all elements of the room are spotless and well laid out. Re-arrange magazines, fluff pillows, clean up clutter, fix angled paintings on the wall.
When shooting exteriors, never shoot straight on- always at corners.
When shooting exteriors, make sure the sun is to your side or at your back on the most important surfaces of the house (front). Gives you blue skies.
Try to shoot on the leading edge of low pressure systems as it gives you nice clouds in the sky.
CHARGE ENOUGH MONEY TO JUSTIFY YOUR TIME AND GAS. IF YOU'RE MAKING LESS THAN A MCDONALDS EMPLOYEE, THAT IS A PROBLEM.

There's tons more, but those are some of the key bits.

Some examples...

 

[MichaelHenson]

Awesome tips! Thanks so much!

 

[tirediron]

I'd say the window-licking bunny pretty much nailed it, but I will dispute his recommendation of HDR for backlit windows. Bring enough light into the room that you can create the proper exposure in one frame instead! It really is about the little things - I recently did a consult for an RE shoot for a BIG (>$1.5 million) sale and when I suggested that the couple remove the blue blind and the dusty pink blind right beside each other in the formal living room and replace them both with matching white ones, they looked like I was reading the Ten Commandments!

 

[MichaelHenson]

Good stuff...again... Thanks so much! I'm going back today and will try to implement these suggestions. I'm currently limited with my lighting so I'll work to make my single flash work. It's a small house so I think I might be able to. Would you say that getting low is more valuable for small rooms? All of the rooms I'm working in today are pretty small and when I stand/have the tripod around neck height for me (I'm 6'3") it cuts off a good chunk of the room. Otherwise, I'm pointing the camera at the floor... That brings me to another question, how much of the ceiling should generally be included?

 

[Parker219]

Shooting multiple exposures is great...or if you have the dynamic range of the D5300 or better, then you can take 1 RAW photo, decrease the highlights, and increase the shadows, to get something like this...

Bayshore-Condo-13 by linktheworld219, on Flickr

 

[MichaelHenson]

Also, thanks manaheim for the tips and examples. Those shots look great! I see that a decent chunk of the corner the camera is set up in is cut off but the house is large enough that it doesn't seem to be a problem. That's what leads me to think that the smaller the room the more I should consider a lower angle?

 

[Parker219]

My other tips with examples would be...


1. Sometimes its okay to get HIGH as well...I would rather show the nice wood floors in this shot, rather than the ceiling...

15853-Greyrock-2-13 by linktheworld219, on Flickr



2. I think its also okay to show the house a little dark / in the natural shadow that being inside creates to show the view from "sitting" at a table...

15853-Greyrock-2-21 by linktheworld219, on Flickr



3. NOT everyone is going to agree on this...Sometimes being WIDE is more important that technically having every single vertical...well....vertical. In this example, I really wanted to show the entire room. If I started to fix the verticals to make them perfect, I would have to lose some of the room...

27307 Sora-35 by linktheworld219, on Flickr


4. Use a shot that is...a little artistic to impress clients. If they don't like it, you can always not use it. This shot isn't the most technical shot, however, sometimes a cool angle will make your clients say...wow...that's cool. That photographer is amazing...

14615-MB-88 by linktheworld219, on Flickr


5. Use a extension pole to get a view from above. On this house, you could not tell that it was on water from the ground level shots. However I have a 25 foot long pole that I mount my camera to, in order to get something like this...

10029-Semiahmoo-11 by linktheworld219, on Flickr

 

[MichaelHenson]

Awesome examples! Thanks a TON! Incredibly insightful and helpful.

 

[Tailgunner]

I'd say the window-licking bunny pretty much nailed it, but I will dispute his recommendation of HDR for backlit windows. Bring enough light into the room that you can create the proper exposure in one frame instead! It really is about the little things - I recently did a consult for an RE shoot for a BIG (>$1.5 million) sale and when I suggested that the couple remove the blue blind and the dusty pink blind right beside each other in the formal living room and replace them both with matching white ones, they looked like I was reading the Ten Commandments!

I agree with what you're saying but HDR imaging makes for a good alternative for folks who simply don't have the cash for that kinda of lightning but are looking to get into that market. My little lighting operation of 2 speed lights, 3-PW triggers and stands set me back $1,000.

 

[tirediron]

...My little lighting operation of 2 speed lights, 3-PW triggers and stands set me back $1,000.

You can do a LOT with two speedlights when you employ them to best advantage!

 

[MichaelHenson]

I might have to look into snagging another speed light and stand then if I keep going this route. From the research I've done, in my market in not going to be able to charge a premium at all until I'm well established so I would like to minimize my processing time... If I can do so with an extra speed light and stand I think it's be worth it because I can always use the speed light for other things as well... I'll post up some shots this evening if any of them turn out okay and get some critique.

 

[480sparky]

........3. NOT everyone is going to agree on this...Sometimes being WIDE is more important that technically having every single vertical...well....vertical. In this example, I really wanted to show the entire room. If I started to fix the verticals to make them perfect, I would have to lose some of the room...

.....

Then you should shoot wider still so you have the pixels on the outside edge to lose when you correct for the keystoning. You hardly have a 90° FOV here. There are lenses with wider FOVs.

If you're shooting as wide a rectilinenar lens as physically possible (ie, no one makes a wider one), then go with a fisheye, correct for the curvature, then correct for the keystoning.