Beginner Real Estate Photography?

sduk

sduk

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Sammy
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Did a search on here but only a few dated threads about shooting interior shots of houses and buildings.

I have been doing it as a favour for friend's from time to time and would be interested to talk about it with others who take these sort of photos.

I have been going with my 10-24mm lens (usually at 10mm) and with the tripod have been shooting around F11 and ISO50. I then just adjust the shutter speed for the lighting conditions.

I know the wide angle distorts the room but I think it's better to show the most of the room as you can. I also go with nice bright shots if I can.

Here are a couple of shots I took in the last house I did...

DSC04364 by Sammy Donaldson, on Flickr

DSC04376 by Sammy Donaldson, on Flickr

DSC04380 by Sammy Donaldson, on Flickr

DSC04433 by Sammy Donaldson, on Flickr


One thing I struggle is the glare from windows, I have tried merging different exposures for the window and then the interior but it never looks quite right.

So anyone else take these shots? Any tips?

Sammy
 
I used to do this a few years ago when I worked for an Estate Agent , basically because I was better at it then the boss was with his P&S camera.
I used a 40D , Sigma 10-20 , bounced flash and sometimes a tripod.
It really depends to a large degree why you are doing them.You say you have done a few for a friend ( Estate Agent?) are you getting paid for them and where are they going, most of these type of shots end up on a web site and those you have shown IMHO are more than adequate for that purpose and would have been perfectly acceptable to the company I worked for.
Yes windows are a problem , where possible I used to draw the curtains/ blinds or try to get the shot away from glare although this is not always possible.The biggest problem is as you say distortion /Keystoning , you can get round this with software and make a reasonable job.
If you are getting paid a reasonable fee which justifies the time spent in setting up the shot and PP,ing the result then exposure bracketing and blending makes a world of difference but its time consuming.
It all comes down to what you are trying to achieve and what return you are getting.
This one for example is a bracket of two exposure , one for the window and one for the walls and was quite time consuming and even then its still not right
p80479581-5.jpg


This BTW is with a tripod using a 5DMk2 and a 24mm TS-E manual exposure
All the best and I hope this has helped

Chris
 
Currently looking for my first house, your pictures are better than 95% of house pictures I have seen a d iv looked at 100s of houses online.
 
I've done this for a friend's holiday home, a mix of wide-angle shots at 14mm and stitched panoramas. The panoramas generally work better than going with the extreme-ultrawide as they have less distortion and the wider aspect ratio generally looks more natural and more intimate.

It always seems to take longer snagging the room than taking the shots - e.g. hiding the rubbish bin, concealing cables and plugs, avoiding reflections in the tv (if possible, isn't always), lighting the gas fire and any candles,

I like your shots @sduk but I'd have closed the blinds partially in the sun room and the kitchen to control the dynamic range and the garden isn't interesting enough to deserve them to be left wide open (and you can see it better in the exterior shots).
 
•
Technically…
• none of the shots was keystone corrected

Artistically…
• the mix daylight/artificial light is too strongly in favour of the daylight
• there no "living atmosphere", or charm

The exterior take #1 is not vertical.
 
Kodiak Qc said:
•
Technically…
• none of the shots was keystone corrected

Artistically…
• the mix daylight/artificial light is too strongly in favour of the daylight
• there no "living atmosphere", or charm

The exterior take #1 is not vertical.
Click to expand...

can you explain keystoning?

when you say the mix is too strongly in favour or daylight what would you do to correct this?

how would you add living atmosphere or charm?
 
SamTD said:
Currently looking for my first house, your pictures are better than 95% of house pictures I have seen a d iv looked at 100s of houses online.
Click to expand...

thanks :) do you think it's better having a wide angle (with a bit of distortion) that shows more of the room or a lesser angle that does not have distortion but is a more realistic view?
 
What i would say is pay particular attention to your horizontals and verticals, most (if not all) of the indoor shots are off on the horizontal

When using a Ultra Wide Angle you really need to keep the lens looking straight at the horizon as if you are pointing even slightly up or down you will get converging verticals
 
sduk said:
thanks :) do you think it's better having a wide angle (with a bit of distortion) that shows more of the room or a lesser angle that does not have distortion but is a more realistic view?
Click to expand...

personally i prefer being able to see more of the room even if it is a bit distorted, so many house photos barely show whats actually there.
 
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