What's Your Angle?

I know there are about a gazillion posts on Active Rain, and all over the Internet, for that matter, regarding real estate photography.

Well, none like this one.  How can I say that?  Because I took the pictures! Ha!  So it's totally unique!  Hopefully it's a unique approach to this subject too...the subject of "angle" or "perspective" when taking a photograph.

I worked for a professional photographer for a while, and he taught me a great deal about composition - it is the key to a good photograph.  Unfortunately, a lot of real estate agents haven't got a CLUE when it comes to taking good pictures.  Many think "A bad picture is better than no picture!"  Or "It's good enough!"

The problem is, our mind interprets, or filters, what we are actually seeing and makes "corrections" for things.  It's often totally reflexive, on our part - which is why sometimes we are disappointed when we look at a picture we took - thinking "But that's not really how it was!"  Oh yes, it is!  The camera doesn't "interpret" anything!  It's a straight shooter!

The other day I was skipping around in my hometown of Hawley, and came by old railroad trestle.  It's very interesting to look at - to some, it may be hideous; all rusted and "blah."  I was fascinated by it.  I loved the "oldness" of it.  I liked the way the shadow of the track hovered on the gravel below.  It was neat.  So I took a few pictures.

One thing Stan Pratt, my former photographer-mentor/boss, taught me was to take LOTS of pictures, and from different angles.  So I took about seven or eight pictures, from different vantage points.  You can see that this same bridge was transformed from a "blah" piece of corroded metal, to a pretty postcard sample - not because I'm a magician with the camera, but because I finally found the right angle.  Rather than lay them out side by side, I'd like to share them here, progressively.

Not very exciting, is it?  All my elements are there.  The water, the shadow, the bridge.  Yet, it's flat and uninteresting.  Let's see the next shot.

Much better, but still not very exciting.  I think the grass and the bare spot is distracting.  Bridge/trestle still bores me.  That's not the way it was... (oh, yes it was! it just wasn't the way I saw it!)

 Ahhh...progress.  Still not happy though. 

Hey, what the heck is that milkweed doing in my picture?  Let me try this AGAIN...

There it is!  It has all the elements I want!  Enough of the bridge, I have the shadow; the trees on the left help soften the starkness of the bridge, and the flowers provide a pretty frame that directs your eye, along with the shadow, to the bridge.  I'm sure this picture could be improved even more - but you get the idea.

How the heck does this relate to REAL ESTATE?  It's simple...what's your angle, baby?

So many pictures of homes online look like CRAP!  There, I said it!  I'm sorry, but it's TRUE!  Blah, boring, blech!  Sure, some homes need a heck of a lot more help to look good than just a new camera angle, but stepping a little bit to the side, or back a ways, or on another part of the yard all together can transform your house from dull to dramatic!  Check this out:

One real estate agent will look at this cabin in Pike County listed for sale and think the picture below is "good enough."

Well, there is nothing wrong with the picture, technically.  It's clear, it shows the cabin pretty well (or so you think) but shoot, it looks SMALL.   That huge bush on the right hand side really cuts off a lot of the view...that's all of the front that you can see from this angle.  BUT it looks dull.  And believe it or not, a lot of pictures on the MLS are exactly like this! 

However, while I included this picture in my line up, the main MLS picture, and the first picture seen by my website visitors, is this one:

You can still see the front door, only it doesn't look so stark. No annoying bush in the way.  Yeah, the propane tank is ugly but you can't have everything. 

You can see that the cabin has dimension, and that it has this extra addition on the side, dramatically changing the perception given by the first picture.  When taking the first picture, you KNOW the addition is there and you are "seeing it" in your mind's eye as you snap the picture.  When you get back home and look at the picture on your computer though, you are still "seeing" it the way you "remember" it - you are remembering that it's bigger than it appears.

Unfortunately, your potential buyers are NOT "remembering" that addition on the side, because they never saw it to begin with!

So - what's your angle?  Your angle should be to keep things "in perspective" and take many photos for your sellers - and choose the one that highlights the home the most for your main photo.

This may seem like a "duh" or a "no brainer" - but unfortunately, it's not.  A lot of agents settle for shots like the first one.  "It's good enough..."   NOT!

This isn't rocket science; it's not even art.  It's a learned skill - and it's one every REALTOR should master.

[/soapbox]