Photographing a suite

[jarrettvaughan]

I am sure we have all seen rental ads with horrible pictures. Every time I take pictures of my properties, I am disappointed with the quality of the photos as they do not do the property justice. This is especially true when photographing a small bathroom, empty bedroom or dimly lit living room. We all know that photos are very important to attract clients to your properties.

I would love to have some instruction on how to take better photos at one of the REIN meetings.

Any photography advice is much appreciated.

 

[Pheenix]

QUOTE (jarrettvaughan @ Nov 7 2010, 05:11 PM) I am sure we have all seen rental ads with horrible pictures. Every time I take pictures of my properties, I am disappointed with the quality of the photos as they do not do the property justice. This is especially true when photographing a small bathroom, empty bedroom or dimly lit living room. We all know that photos are very important to attract clients to your properties.

I would love to have some instruction on how to take better photos at one of the REIN meetings.

Any photography advice is much appreciated.

Look up Carla Johnson and her book, she is a member. Magnetic Real Estate Photography

 

[JBagorio]

QUOTE (jarrettvaughan @ Nov 7 2010, 03:11 PM) ...
Any photography advice is much appreciated.
Make sure to use a digital cam with lot so memory space so you could take as much picture till you get the pictures right. Also you could start with the manual it self. They have a outlined instruction on how to utilize the different photo modes and techniques.

 

[BenSanderson]

QUOTE (jarrettvaughan @ Nov 7 2010, 05:11 PM) I am sure we have all seen rental ads with horrible pictures. Every time I take pictures of my properties, I am disappointed with the quality of the photos as they do not do the property justice. This is especially true when photographing a small bathroom, empty bedroom or dimly lit living room. We all know that photos are very important to attract clients to your properties.

I would love to have some instruction on how to take better photos at one of the REIN meetings.

Any photography advice is much appreciated.

Hi Jarrett,

Here is the ultimate key to better real estate photography - a good wide angle lens!

When I first started advertising my first Rent To Own property, I was using a standard digital point and shoot. Outside shots were fine, but most of the indoor shots were cramped and would only show about half of the room, usually one lonely corner. Bathrooms were practically out of the question.

Once I learned about the advantages of a wide angle lens I picked one up immediately (as well as a decent digital SLR camera - a good used one is only about $300 - $500) and the improvement was like night and day. Now I could show 75% - 90% of every room or space within the house. Bathrooms looked like bathrooms and all the shots felt like you were standing there, in the room.

My Sigma wide angle lens cost me about $900. Yep, I thought it was pretty expensive too. But after I started using it I noticed an immediate increase in the number of people coming through my property, and many of them started to remark how nice the house looked in the photos I had posted in my online advertising. Seven RTOs later, and this lens has paid for itself many, many times over.

Here`s another tip - if you have access to some photo enhancing software (there are even free online services), learn to use it to put the finishing touches on your photos. Of course, you shouldn`t lie about what the house is in your enhancements, just try to represent your property in the best possible light. Typically, I would boost the colour saturation, straighten out overly-angled perspective lines and clone out unwanted toys/clutter that might have been in the shot at the time. My before and after shots looked like entirely different houses.

But seriously consider a wide angle lens, maybe even borrowing one if you`re only filling one property every so often. Good luck!

 

[TodorYordanov]

QUOTE (BenSanderson @ Nov 8 2010, 06:04 AM) Hi Jarrett,

Here is the ultimate key to better real estate photography - a good wide angle lens!

When I first started advertising my first Rent To Own property, I was using a standard digital point and shoot. Outside shots were fine, but most of the indoor shots were cramped and would only show about half of the room, usually one lonely corner. Bathrooms were practically out of the question.

Once I learned about the advantages of a wide angle lens I picked one up immediately (as well as a decent digital SLR camera - a good used one is only about $300 - $500) and the improvement was like night and day. Now I could show 75% - 90% of every room or space within the house. Bathrooms looked like bathrooms and all the shots felt like you were standing there, in the room.

My Sigma wide angle lens cost me about $900. Yep, I thought it was pretty expensive too. But after I started using it I noticed an immediate increase in the number of people coming through my property, and many of them started to remark how nice the house looked in the photos I had posted in my online advertising. Seven RTOs later, and this lens has paid for itself many, many times over.

Here`s another tip - if you have access to some photo enhancing software (there are even free online services), learn to use it to put the finishing touches on your photos. Of course, you shouldn`t lie about what the house is in your enhancements, just try to represent your property in the best possible light. Typically, I would boost the colour saturation, straighten out overly-angled perspective lines and clone out unwanted toys/clutter that might have been in the shot at the time. My before and after shots looked like entirely different houses.

But seriously consider a wide angle lens, maybe even borrowing one if you`re only filling one property every so often. Good luck!

Excellent post by Ben.

Carla`s book has everything you need and more in order to shoot beautiful RE photos.
You can take decent photos with a point and shoot camera, but need to know how to operate manual mode, i.e. ISO, aperture settings.
But the good wide angle lens is the key. If you have a good digital SLR camera you can rent the lens for a day, before deciding to buy one.

 

[cmattric]

Canon EOS 7d with wide angle lens takes heavenly photos.
This DSLR is a spectacular camera with movie quality videos.
I strongly recommend to anyone who is interested in a little art, semi-professional work.

A little pricey but once you have it you can enjoy it for personal use as well.
Or you can ask your photographer to use this beauty.

Mehmet


QUOTE (TodorYordanov @ Nov 8 2010, 07:24 AM) Excellent post by Ben.

Carla`s book has everything you need and more in order to shoot beautiful RE photos.
You can take decent photos with a point and shoot camera, but need to know how to operate manual mode, i.e. ISO, aperture settings.
But the good wide angle lens is the key. If you have a good digital SLR camera you can rent the lens for a day, before deciding to buy one.

 

[bizaro86]

QUOTE (cmattric @ Nov 8 2010, 09:02 AM) Canon EOS 7d with wide angle lens takes heavenly photos.
This DSLR is a spectacular camera with movie quality videos.
I strongly recommend to anyone who is interested in a little art, semi-professional work.

A little pricey but once you have it you can enjoy it for personal use as well.
Or you can ask your photographer to use this beauty.

Mehmet

I don`t think the specific brand of DSLR makes that much difference, it`s more a matter of personal preference. I have a friend with Canon EOS Rebel XTI, while we use an Olympus e510 personally. I think Nikon also makes a pretty good camera, and probably others that I`m missing. For taking real estate shots, any DSLR should do fine.

Michael

 

[JonathanH]

I shoot as part of my profession.

If you`re not going to get into photography, I would suggest any older DSLR.
An older Canon 20 or 30D will be more than enough and not too expensive.

The way lenses work, the smaller the number of mm, the wider it will be.

I shoot with a 10-20mm canon for most of my indoor shots.

Another, just as important suggestion, is buy yourself a TRIPOD.

When you purchase your DSLR, you will soon learn how to play with the shutter speed.

When you are in a dim lit room, you want to keep the shutter open longer to get more light.

But if its hand held, it will be very shaky.

good luck. With a bit of practice, you`ll be taking excellent photos and you`ll appreciate it on vacation as well

 

[BenSanderson]

QUOTE (JonathanH @ Nov 8 2010, 04:23 PM) Another, just as important suggestion, is buy yourself a TRIPOD.

When you purchase your DSLR, you will soon learn how to play with the shutter speed.

When you are in a dim lit room, you want to keep the shutter open longer to get more light.

But if its hand held, it will be very shaky.

I`ll second the tripod advice. Tripods can be bought for cheap and will make a huge difference in the clarity of your shots. Consider how large you can view an image on Kijiji and you`ll want to make sure there is no shake in your photos.

Another trick I use is to try and light the room naturally, using the available window and electric lighting. Then take the shot on a tripod without a flash and let the camera decide how long to leave the shutter open (on Auto mode). The shots will look nice and natural, with warmer yellow lighting from multiple sources vs. a straight-ahead, cold-looking flash. This won`t work with every shot, but it`s worth some experimentation.

 

[jarrettvaughan]

That is all great advice. Thank you for the pointers.

I have a Nikon D70S, now i just need to get a wide angle lens.

QUOTE (BenSanderson @ Nov 8 2010, 01:55 PM) I`ll second the tripod advice. Tripods can be bought for cheap and will make a huge difference in the clarity of your shots. Consider how large you can view an image on Kijiji and you`ll want to make sure there is no shake in your photos.

Another trick I use is to try and light the room naturally, using the available window and electric lighting. Then take the shot on a tripod without a flash and let the camera decide how long to leave the shutter open (on Auto mode). The shots will look nice and natural, with warmer yellow lighting from multiple sources vs. a straight-ahead, cold-looking flash. This won`t work with every shot, but it`s worth some experimentation.

 

[TodorYordanov]

QUOTE (jarrettvaughan @ Nov 8 2010, 08:08 PM) That is all great advice. Thank you for the pointers.

I have a Nikon D70S, now i just need to get a wide angle lens.
I also have a Nikon D70S. I find that it is a great camera, but not easy to make great photos, unless you know what you are doing. Also the small viewer makes it very difficult to review your photos accurately. But a tripod and a wide lense will improve your photos greatly.

Recently I bought Canon Rebel T2I for my son and will start converting everything to Canon equipment. It makes great Full HD video.

 

[Dan_Eisenhauer]

Don`t go out a buy a "wide angle" lens thinking the widest you buy is the best. If you go too wide, your pics start to look as if they are fish-eyed. Look at lenses around 28 mm.

Someone mentioned free photo editing software to improve your shots. I have and use regularly, PhotoScape. It is a free download.

Once you learn how to manipulate your shots you can do lots with them. The one below is a compilation of three separate pictures. In real life there is about a 80 deg angle between the far left and the far right in this shot.

I made this picture to show the view from an RTO apartment I was marketing. It is on the corner of Broadway and Oak in Vancouver, for those who are interested,

 

[DonCampbell]

Carla`s book is indispensible for Real Estate Investors. No question about it, I have given a copy to every one of the property management companies I use to `set the expectation.`

 

[Berubeland]

Well, through the years, I have never taken my own pictures very much leaving it to the professionals at View It instead. However having recently acquired the IPhone 4, I gave it a shot for one of the properties I manage because I wanted the ad up ASAP. I really liked them and even used them in my ad on View it

http://www.viewit.ca/vwExpandView.aspx?ViT=105077

What do you think? The ad went up today.

 

[RedlineBrett]

QUOTE (Berubeland @ Nov 9 2010, 03:30 PM) Well, through the years, I have never taken my own pictures very much leaving it to the professionals at View It instead. However having recently acquired the IPhone 4, I gave it a shot for one of the properties I manage because I wanted the ad up ASAP. I really liked them and even used them in my ad on View it

http://www.viewit.ca/vwExpandView.aspx?ViT=105077

What do you think? The ad went up today.

Hire a professional real estate photographer. Will cost you less than a hundred bucks and you can re-use the photos until you update the suite. Do the math and I`m sure you`ll find it will be less than an expensive camera and less time for you to do editing etc.

 

[AndyLuchies]

Harry Gils (based in Hamilton) is great. He shoots all over Canada. Although he also does advertising for some big names, he prefers shooting home staging, and his prices are no different than others!

harrygils.com