In Real Estate, A Picture Is Worth More Than 1,000 Words

I have a saying - "In real estate, a picture is worth thousands of dollars".  You have to be careful with even buying all that fancy, expensive equipment. If you don't know how to use it that ultra wide angle lens can make your photo look like a fun house at the local carnival with curvy walls and all sorts of weird perspectives.  Don't be afraid to call up a photographer/virtual tour provider.  Agents are trained to sell houses, photographers are trained to take photos. In my opinion an agent that takes their own photos are just like a FSBO - sometimes it will turn out OK, but sometimes you just need to call the professional. In many markets you can get high quality photos for under $200 - how much did that last homes magazine ad cost?

Unfortunately, there are very few point and shoot cameras that even OFFER a satisfactory wide angle lens... and it's not really good enough (but better than most).  They also run around $500 (Canon G11, Lumix LX3, etc), more than most agents want to spend on a camera.

The other issue is that with lesser quality wide angle lenses, you have major issues with the verticals, as in the second picture above where the refrigerator looks as if it's falling over.

This CAN be fixed with programs such as Photoshop, but it needs to be fixed if you're using these types of lenses.  High quality lenses (which of course, run $500++++ just for the lens) reduces this considerably.

It also helps to have your camera LEVEL.  Perfectly LEVEL.  This means on a tripod.  NO EXCEPTIONS.  And your best photos are taken about 4-5 feet off the ground.  LEVEL.  Not from 6' high pointing down, which makes for these weird funky angles.  Keep the camera low and LEVEL goes a long way towards good real estate photos.

Sam, I couldn't agree with you more! You are 100% right on.  I'm even amazed when you come across a listing that doesn't have any photos and the Seller probably has no idea.  Photos are critical and can make the difference whether or not your home gets sold.  Great post and fabulous photos!

Matt that picture should never go in the MLS. Missing lights, someone in the mirror, what's a barstool in the bathroom????

Sam,
great examples... darn I need a new camara now.... I'm doing example two at this point...

Definately gives the house the edge with better photography. Great examples of why a good camera or someone that knows how to use one should be used. Good post.

Photos are very important and key really to showing what the inside of the house is like.  You need to reel the people inside before they'll consider buying.

Patricia/

HDR photography can create some really cool photos, but it's also really easy for beginners to really overcook the photos and then they look cartoonish. If anyone is going to consider going the HDR route, I'd suggest NOT practicing with live client listings. Get it down pat before starting to upload HDR photos into your MLS/virtual tours.

Here is the basic idea: Wikipedia on HDR

An excellent setup will cost around $1000-2000, depending on your level of bargain hunting.

To be sure, you're going to want a Digital SLR, I'm personally fond of Canon and Nikon. I used a Canon Digital Rebel Xt. At 6 megapixels it wasn't the highest resultion around, but it's still better than most anyone will use for online marketing anyway - nobody wants to wait for a page full of huge images to load.
The current bottom-rung Canon digital SLR is the EOS Rebel XS, which is a 10.1 mega pixel camera. With the 18-55mm lens, its MSRP is under $600 and it would make a great entry level setup for taking decent photos.

For photos of tight spaces, I highly recommend getting a better ultra-wide angle lens, such as the EF-S 10-22mm zoom. It's fairly spendy, at over $800 MSRP, but you will be amazed at how much of a difference it makes in photographing small bedrooms, bathrooms, nooks, or whatever you were previously unable to get all in one picture. Be aware that when taking shots at less than about 12-14mm you will start to get the fisheye effect.

Another piece of equipment you will want to invest in is a high quality flash. I used a Canon Speedlight 580EX - the current version is the 580EX II. At $500 MSRP, it's spendy, but well worth it. The built in flash simply cannot compete when trying to brighten dark spaces, and forget about bouncing the flash to remove shadows or diffusing it to soften the light up.

Of course you can hit eBay and Craigslist and find deals on all of the above, or comparable units from other manufacturers, so the budget really does vary. Try your local pawn shops too, in this economy you never know what you'll find down there.

Simply buying the product doesn't make you a photographer though, you need to practice and learn how to take good photos, and you really need to consider learning the basics of a photo editing program.

Sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it? It is, but it can lead to other things, such as combining your efforts and putting a Shutterfly album together for your client. Do they need a photographic record of their belongings for insurance reasons? Maybe the new buyers want a copy to start the documentation of the rehabilitation of their first home? A little branding of your own thrown in on their free gift certainly wouldn't hurt, and it could get you referral business from anyone they show the book to.

A much better route to go if you want a do it yourself option is enfusing your images.  You will get a much more natural image than with HDR.  HDR is great for landscapes and artistic application but does not really have much place in traditional architectural photography.  

I good program to use for beginners is Photomatix, you can find it here http://www.hdrsoft.com/

What you need.  

1.  Any Dslr will work as long as it has manual mode and you are able to change the exposures manually

2.  10-20mm is a bit wide and you will see a considerable amount of distortion in the image,

3.  I have never used below 14 mm and mostly use my canon 17-40mm L series 

4.  You need a good and steady tripod, this is a must with Image enfusion because moving the camera a hair between exposures will make a image not as sharp.

5.  You either need a remote trigger or you need to time your shot(10 sec countdown) so your finger does not shake your camera 

6.  You need some basic image editing software like photoshop or paint

Now you have some equipment here are a few beginner tricks.

1.  Make sure you dont change aperture through your exposures(this will cause blurry images

2. Shoot at a low iso like 100 to reduce any noise that will result at higher iso's

3. if there are multiple light sources IE (incandescent, outside light) Make sure you gel your flash to match so you get an even white balance.

4.  If your camera has mirror lock up, use it as the mirror will slap when it swings back(this will cause a blurry image)

5.  Make sure you capture the complete tonal range of a scene and you dont just take 3 auto bracketed shots like a lot beginners mistakenly do.

There is alot more but for lack of time(alot of shoots in the spring) this is all i could fit in.

Sam - You vastly overestimate the cost to get really great real estate photos. A good low-end DSLR body goes about $400 new ($300 if you buy used and/or bargain-hunt). The cheapest ultra wide-angle lens I know of is the Sigma 10-20 for about $500 (I got mine used for $400). It comes in mounts fro Nikon, Canon, Sony, etc. If you prefer, there are similar lenses from Nikon, Canon, Sony, Tokina, Tamron and so on that cost a little more to a lot more. A good, cheap bounce flash goes $70-150. Slave flashes (which are triggered by the camera's bounce flash) are as cheap as $20 each. It can be done easily for under $1000.

Fact is, lighting in most shots is pretty similar. Once you figure out how to do it for one room, you've pretty much got it nailed for most rooms.Fact is, most small to mid-size rooms can be done with on-camera bounce flash and no external flash.

Oh and a few responses have brought up megapixels. MP is just about the most meaningless spec possible in real estate photos. Except for high-end properties featured in magazines (which should DEFINITELY be shot by pros), most photos are viewed online. Computer monitors top out at under 2 MP and most photos don't use the whole monitor which means they top out at 1.5MP. All pixels over 2MP are just wasted pixels - the photo is resized in order to be viewed on a monitor any way. I shoot my pics at my camera's 3MP setting.

All you needed were the pictures to make your point, Sam. The pictures do say more than 1000 words oftentimes.

A few points re wide angle lens

There are drawbacks in shooting too wide! Compare the apparent size of the refrigerator in shots 1 and 3. To minimise such distortion, physically move back (if possible) and zoom in to achieve your framing.

With your new power to show the whole room, resist revealing 3 walls in the shot. OK it's only a guideline, but the 3-wall look, with its many wall-ceiling and floor-ceiling edges guiding the eye like train tracks to a vanishing point, can make a room look boxy.

Inexpensive magnetic lens attachments have poor optical quality and will cause straight lines, such as door and window frames, near the edge of a shot to look curved. Not as badly as in the fish-eye photo posted above, but enough to look odd.

Wow!  What a difference a good camera and lens can make! Also knowing a little about taking photos!  So many agents don't seem to take the time to understand that their photos can help their listings sell.

Great post.  I believe that good pictures truly do make a huge difference.  I have learned how to use Photoshop to lighten pictures and use the color contrast to make an ordinary picture just jump off of the page.

They can be helpful, but I have also seen them make a two car garage look like a 3 car garage. 

Hi Sam, thank you for sharing your information on the wide angle lens.  Photographs are important in promoting the vacation rentals also, because most of the renters do not actually see the property ahead of staying in them on these short-term stays, and quality pictures make the difference.

Can't repeat this message enough!    Thanks for the reminder, and the great "show and tell".

That's awfully expensive equipment. A slave flash is much cheaper and adds considerably to interior photos.

Any "professional real estate" that takes their own pictures of their listings should be fired by their seller.

Wow, Sam.  The differences in those photos were remarkable.  I take pride in my photos and am appalled by some of the stuff that is posted by some agents.  However, I could certainly step it up a notch with some better camera equipment, and will add that to my wish list.  Thanks for the post.