A DIY guide to real estate listing photography
Captivating images and video are absolutely the most important pieces in your real estate marketing arsenal. With thousands of listings in nearly every city, you need the most engaging, eye-catching images you can get for each and every property. The problem is, not all listings will generate the kind of commissions that make hiring great photographers worth it. Worse yet, those smaller listings also tend to be the ones that will need the most TLC with photos.
Well, fear not! Because you don’t have to rely on amateur style images from an iPhone any more. Using a few key principles of architectural photography, you’ll be able to help your smaller listing stand out from the crowd.
First things first; get yourself a good camera. I don’t mean a point and shoot, but I also don’t mean a $6000 pro rig. You can find some very affordable, very high quality cameras for for as little as $1200. But you WILL want a full frame DSLR. In architectural photography (especially interiors) you’ll want the widest angle of view possible. Entry level DSLRs use smaller sensors, and will actually have a ‘crop factor’ on any normal lens you use with it. Imagine a projector pointed towards a screen that’s too small. See all of that projection bleeding off to the sides? That’s what you’ll miss by using a camera with a small sensor. Most frequently you’ll see a 1.6x crop factor. That means if you’re using a relatively wide 20mm lens on an entry level sensor, you’ll actually only be able to capture a 32mm angle of view. Not nearly enough to show off the average room, let alone a small one.
Brief: We recommend purchasing a Canon 6D. You can find these used on Craigslist/eBay for about $600.
Now that you’ve got your workhorse camera, don’t skimp on the glass! The quality of lenses varies widely and pairing a cheap lens with a nice sensor is like putting low grade gas in your new Maserati. You COULD do it… but why? If you’re using a Canon, check out the 17–40L. It will allow for some really wide interiors, and the versatility to get a little closer for some detail.
Now, you’re almost ready, but unless you happen to be a statue, you’ll need a decent tripod to keep your camera still. This is super important because you’ll actually be taking 3 images for each angle (more on that in a bit). So make sure you invest in a sturdy tripod that will eliminate camera shake when you press the shutter. Side note; one way to get away with a cheap tripod is to supplement it with a wireless (or even wired) shutter release cable. This will let you take images without having to touch the camera, so there will be no camera shake at all!
Ok, so you have your full frame camera, your high quality lens, a good tripod, and maybe a shutter release. It’s time to get shooting! You’ll want to cover your rooms from each corner, or whichever corner gives the most aesthetically pleasing result. I’d recommend setting up your camera at a little below eye level, and with the lens perfectly perpendicular to the floor. One major issue that comes with an angled photo is lens distortion, where walls no longer seem straight. This can be reduced by keeping the camera as straight on as possible. Now that you have your shot lined up, you need to think about perfecting the exposure. If you have windows in the frame (which you almost always will), you’ll need to consider the drastic difference between ambient and outdoor light. You know how when you take a picture of someone in front of a window, they end up as a silhouette with a blown out background? The same thing will happen here. You might think you need to choose between a well exposed room with a blown out window or an underexposed room with a balanced window. But this is where technology is your friend.
By using the HDR (High Dynamic Range) method, you can merge several images together to get the best highlights and shadows from each. Most cameras will have automatic exposure bracketing (AEB), where they can be set to take 3–9 images of differing exposures from ‘balanced’ to underexposed, to overexposed. During your Photoshopping process, you can then blend these photos together to get a great exposure out the window, while retaining the best parts of the interior. Most Canons will give you a 3-shot range, while many Nikons will do 9. This is one area where this Canon fanboy has to relent to Nikon. But I still get by on the 3. (The reason is my post-production techniques).
So, you’ve made sure every light in the house is on, all of the furniture is perfectly staged, there is no clutter on counters or tables, and everything just looks perfect. You’ll photograph every room at the widest angle from the best looking vantage point, using AEB to capture better highlights and shadows. When you capture your exterior images, find the angles that make the home look impressive, but without being a misrepresentation. Sure you’ll want to get as many potential buyers as possible, but misleading them into coming to view the home in person will only waste your time as well as theirs. Below is a perfect example of a real estate listing misrepresenting a listing.
Now you have all of your images (x3, or x5, or x9 depending on how many AEB images you captured). You’ll need to edit them together, color correct, and correct for lens distortion. I recommend using Photoshop Lightroom for RAW photo organization and initial editing. Start by selecting the 3 (or 5 or 7 or 9) images you took of each angle as part of your AEB set. Go to the Photo menu, then Photo Merge, then HDR. Lightroom will combine these images, automatically selecting the best exposed portion from each frame.
When you have a merged image, you’ll need to start color correcting. Start with White balance. If you have white walls in the image, you’re in luck. use the eye dropper to select a neutral area on that wall, and Lightroom will balance it for you. If not, adjust the color temperature until the colors from the home are accurately represented in your image.
Your next step is exposure. HDR Photo Merge usually does a good job, but you might need to go up or down a bit on the slider. You’ll definitely want to play with the Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and Blacks as well to make sure your image pops.
Vibrance and Saturation can be fun, but be carful not to overdo it. Remember, you want to accurately represent your property.
Your next step is perhaps one of the most important when dealing with architectural photography. You need to correct for lens distortion. This is a basic step, I’ve seen many professional real estate photographers skip it. This is essential in displaying your listing accurately. The short version here is that wide angle lenses distort straight lines. Your walls will look curved (nearly fisheye) without the right lens corrections. Luckily Photoshop Lightroom is pretty smart, and knows the lens profile for any popular camera and lens setup. It can automatically correct for your lens if you just tell it to. Under the Lens Correction section, check the ‘Remove Chromatic Abberation’ and ‘Enable Profile Corrections’ settings. If it doesn’t automatically select your camera and lens from the section below, search the list until you find it.
Now, if you didn’t shoot with your camera perfectly perpendicular to the ground, you’ll have some ‘upright transformation’ to do. In the ‘Transform’ section, select Auto and see if Lightroom was smart enough to correct your image the right way (make sure you check the ‘Constrain Crop’ option as well). If it did, great! If not, you’ll want to use the ‘Guided’ option to draw your own lines in the image that you KNOW should be straight, and Lightroom will use those lines to extrapolate how the image should be corrected. I will usually use cabinetry, appliances, or door-frames. Pretty fancy, right?
These steps will give you a very simple method for turning basic images into pro-like photographs. But make sure to export them at the highest resolution for print pieces, and a smaller size for web and MLS uploads.
