The value of photography

The person that said, " A picture is worth a thousand words," must have been a realtor. At least they should have been. The one thing that people want when they investigate your listing is lots of pictures. I hate when I go to a listing that has a single photo. People that are attempting to make decisions about their future home want and need to see what it looks like. We live in an age of digital imagery, so there should be no problem with taking lots of photos. More is definitely better. You don't need to spend a fortune on a good camera, but it does help to get the widest angle lens possible for those interior shots. One note of caution, however; stay away from fisheye lenses, unless you want all you images to look like they were taken through the bottom of a soft drink bottle (do they still put soft drinks in bottles?) The key word to look for is "rectilinear" lenses. On a single lens reflex camera (SLR), the lens of choice should be between 15mm and 20mm. You can certainly buy a wider angle than this, but you better stop by the bank first. Ask to take some test shots with the lens first to see how much distortion you will be getting from the lens. There will be a natural tendency for vertical elements to lean in toward the center of the image, but this is a small price to pay to get a much wider view of a beautiful room. Oh by the way, if you can afford a flash that will bounce the light off the ceiling...your photos will make your clients think you hired a professional just to take pictures of their home.