Property photography...

D

dcdanr

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31
Name
Dan
Edit My Images
Yes
Afternoon everyone.

I'm an estate agent (boooo, hisss) and currently use my DSLR to take photos of the properties that my company sell. I currently use a 1000d with a tamron 10-24mm lens.

When properties needed the almighty HIP pack to sell we used a company who provided a HIP, Floor plan and Photographs. Now these are not needed it's up to me to get the shots and I'm struggling to get the most out of the photographs!

This is an example of the hip companies shot...

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This is one of mine from earlier today...

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Now I haven't got a flashgun at the moment? Could that help me? Or is it just down to my inexperience behind the camera?

Any pointers to help improve?!?!?

Many thanks,

Dan
 
I'm no expert at property shots but I think you need a flashgun (or two). The exposure is balanced in the HIP shot - the view outside the window is fine and the room is bright, suggesting some extra light source inside the room. With yours, the outside view is way overexposed and inside is a bit murky as you had to rely on the sunlight getting into the room. I'd guess that the HP shooter bounced flash off the wall/ceiling behind him into the room (the walls seem to get a little darker the further they are from the camera). One flash would probably be enough for a standard room but some odd shaped ones might need a second flash remotely triggered to make sure everything is lit.
 
Hi Dan & Welcome :wave:

Have a look at the flickr account below, I did these for a very good friend who's set up his own joinery business. I was using the 10-20mm Sigma lens and a tripod using the natural light available - was very sunny that day.

My other comment on the 2 imges you posted are I think it's much more difficult to make an empty room look as interesting as a furnished room. What settings did you shot with, were you saving as jpeg or RAW -> RAW would allow you to adjust the exposure or tweak the highlights and shadows.

If you can, play around at your own home, practice and see what does / doesn't work, :thumbs:
 
1 time of day - different times of the day fill a room up with different ammounts of natural light

2. turn on the lights

3. Dont forget the details

4. Dont hide the bad bits, but do show the good bits

5. Prepare the room properly - clean polish, tidy, de-clutter

6. Compose the shots well

I recently sold our house privatally using this set of images: http://www.burtonjoycehome.co.uk/staticwebpages/houseandrooms.html

The overall response was great, and furthermore we only had good viewings (as in no time wasters) - the potential buyers knew exactly what they were walking into before they walked in. On rightmove etc. the quality of the photography is generally appaling. Producing a honest decent set is the sure way to sell a property
 
Have a look at the first one closely, you can see the hot spots on the right wall and ceiling where flash was used.

In your shot you have a problem with the physics. There is something called inverse square law and basically what happens is when you double the distance between the light source and the subject you reduce the light to a quarter. So what has happened is the light from the patio doors does not reach into the centre of the room. That's why it looks dull and where you need to add light.

So yes, flashgun time :) A diffuser to spread and soften the light would also be a good idea.

The other thing you will need to consider is mixed light sources. Daylight and flash have different colour temperatures so record slightly differently in an image. Time to read up a little on balancing flash and daylight. (It's not too difficult) but better read up on so if you have lights on in the house you know how to include those too :)
 
Dan, get the boss to send you for a day to someone like me. Estate agents with poor photography really put themselves at a disadvantage and four or five hours training with a DSLR and loaned speedlight would make all the difference.

To drastically improve domestic interior shots is not difficult, it's an area where i have seen some of the greatest improvements very quickly.

John
 
I have started using HDR to shoot properties - no flash - just pt your camera on a tripod and do a number of exposures - the use the HDR sftware to build the final file - it's built into Photoshop CS5 too..

http://www.cottages-and-castles.co....odation-cottages-edzell-the-cowshed-a693.html

Again - as it was said above - choosing the right viewpoint makes a big diference - and properties with furniture are much easier!
 
thing that is really annoying - as both a photographer, and a customer of estate agents

You are paying an estate agent a friggin fortune to market your property. It gets slapped on right move. We know that 70% of the enquiries come from online marketing. We know that images are the very best way to market a property

The estate agent is saying "I used the HIP provider to shoot the images". I aplaud the OP for trying, and having the balls to admit the images are poor, and something needs to be done, however - the rest of the industry spends next to nothing on photography, which arguably is one of the most important bits of selling a house

My advice to the OP - really get to grips with this, it is the best thing you can possibly do to improve your sales (besides running an efficient office)
 
Richard, I 100% agree with you.... but unfortunately It's not my company and I don't really have any sway in how it's run. Eventually if I do decide to open up on my own (I'm only 22 so too young to make anything happen at the moment) presentation will be one of the most important parts of the marketing of our properties.

John, I will definitely be in touch about booking a session with you. :)

Thanks for your help every body else. It's much appreciated!
 
a tripod is all that you need, making HDR on your images will help them look even better than the HIP company's shots :thumbs:
 
I've got my tripod with me today and am due to go to a property at 2.30 to take some photo's.

I've downloaded a specific HDR program so will give it a go and chuck a photo up later maybe :)
 
Just thought I'd put a little update. I know these aren't perfect as I've not got the time today to brighten them up but these are my latest shots :)

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Thanks for all your help. My understanding of what I should be doing has improved and with a little time my equipment will be at a level to get the best final photo's!
 
The HDR seems to work well there. Only one thing you need to be careful of is the first where you've got a lot of distortion due to using the wide end of the lens.
 
Looking good, and a furnished place does seem to be easier to photograph.....

I would say though that you should have tidied up the dining chairs, shut the patio door and straightened up the curtains in #3 - maybe i'm just being too picky though :(
 
Cheers guys. I've been practasing correcting the lens distortion so will be able to play around with it soon to get a better finish.

Tidying wise it would've been good to have had a good tidy up but with the owner there it can sometimes be slightly awkward.

Thanks again :)
 
Richard King said:
1 time of day - different times of the day fill a room up with different ammounts of natural light

2. turn on the lights

3. Dont forget the details

4. Dont hide the bad bits, but do show the good bits

5. Prepare the room properly - clean polish, tidy, de-clutter

6. Compose the shots well

I recently sold our house privatally using this set of images: http://www.burtonjoycehome.co.uk/staticwebpages/houseandrooms.html

The overall response was great, and furthermore we only had good viewings (as in no time wasters) - the potential buyers knew exactly what they were walking into before they walked in. On rightmove etc. the quality of the photography is generally appaling. Producing a honest decent set is the sure way to sell a property
Click to expand...

Great pictures, just out of interest, where did you advertise your house privately ?? I know you have the site built, but where can you list it? My mum is selling hers and was thinking about doing it private rather than use the estate agents.

thanks...

PS sorry to go off topic...
 
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