You’re reading this post, so it’s clear you already understand the value of high-quality real estate photos. Real estate listings with professional photos sell faster and for higher prices compared to listings without. But what goes into the creation of a set of persuasive marketing images for a successful real estate listing?
The Right Preparation
A good real estate photo shoot starts well before we even arrive on site. As soon as you contact us to request an appointment, we will check the weather to make sure conditions are favorable. We can do a lot in editing to improve dark skies and dreary conditions, but it’s always better to start with the best conditions possible. This is especially important if your photo shoot involves drone-based aerial photo or video.
If we’re flying a drone, we also check for any airspace restrictions that might impact our ability to take off at your location. Jacksonville and Northeast Florida are dotted with airports and military installations that require special care. We maintain special authorizations for virtually every restricted airspace in the area, allowing us to fly more locations while following all FAA regulations to make sure your images are captured legally.
Preparations at the property by you or the homeowner are simple and equally important. In addition to just tidying up inside and out, here are a few things you can do to help:
- Turn on ALL lights — even table lamps and overhead stove lights
- Turn off all ceiling fans
- Open all curtains & blinds
- In the case of horizontal blinds, we tend to find they look best with the blinds down and the slats completely level to allow as much light into the room as possible
- Pay attention to small details
- Look for and remove small items that might make a space look cluttered — things like unnecessary plugs and charging cables around the house, soap and sponges in the kitchen and shampoo bottles around the tub
During The Shoot
A few things that set our professional photos apart are equipment, experience and attention to detail.
Equipment — Photos and video shot with a cell phone or consumer grade camera are getting better and better, but they still don’t compare to photos and video taken with professional equipment. Both our stills and video are captured with full-frame mirrorless cameras with lenses wide enough to show off a room’s space but not so wide that it looks unnatural.
Our real estate videos are shot using a professional gimbal system to stabilize the camera, allowing for smooth cinematic movements as we move through the house. Similarly, we use the latest drone technology that allows us to capture the highest quality aerial photos and aerial videos possible, giving potential buyers an all new perspective on their new home.
Experience — We prefer to use only natural light when shooting residential and commercial real estate. To achieve the best results, we use a combination of techniques like long exposures and High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography to achieve beautifully balanced color and lighting, even in the most challenging lighting environments. HDR photos are achieved by shooting several different
Our experience allows us to choose not only the right technique but also the right angle, so that each image is pleasing to the eye and shows off the space perfectly considering factors like the size of the space, height of the ceilings and placement & height of furniture.
Attention To Detail — No matter how much preparation takes place ahead of time, we’re constantly on the lookout for any small detail that might have been overlooked but that will contribute to a better photograph. Although we can always edit photos to remove unsightly cords and clutter, it’s always easier to capture a clean image in camera. So don’t be surprised if we take our time to tidy up or slightly rearrange furniture to create the perfect presentation.
Editing — Where The Magic Happens
Some real estate agents are surprised to find out that our work doesn’t end when we finish clicking the shutter. Our cameras take excellent photos and video, but once we’re back at our office, we take time to edit every single photo and video clip to fine tune details of lighting exposure, color, cropping and composition. For a standard package of 30 real estate photos, it’s not unusual for us to spend an additional 2-3 hours performing work such as:
- Sorting and selecting the best images
- Processing HDR images
- Editing RAW images to fine tune exposure, color, cropping and composition
- Adding a subtle vignette to draw attention to the focal point of each photo
- Exporting images as high-quality JPGs
We take a journalistic approach to photography and do our best to make each image an accurate representation of what we saw at the property so no buyer is ever surprised when the reality doesn’t live up to expectations. However, we will also do our best to make sure that each photo shows your listing in the absolute best light possible. Before finalizing every image, we make one last pass looking for small details (like those pesky wires or nails in the wall) that detract from the photo. We also have the option of performing very tasteful sky replacements to help exterior photos when it was simply impossible to avoid a cloudy day.
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