There has been much written about photography here on ActiveRain recently, touching on a number of issues.

For example, our resident photoblographer, Teresa Boardman, has awed us with her photos for no reason (Do I Need a Reason?), of the Mall of America, and when documenting the sad state of the foreclosure debacle (Blog Posts can Help).

Lola Audu shared a wonderful article today on one of the most famous photographic companies in the world, Polaroid. Along with a bit of nostalgia.

This post has been percolating for a few days, but these last articles (and so many others here in the Rain) inspired me to finally put fingers to keyboard and earn some points, while sharing some valuable information for clients and prospects – mine and yours.

And perhaps for YOU as well.

The camera can be a client’s best friend. Here’s how I use it:

• Listing photos – as many as I can and the best I can produce, even if I have to take them multiple times (I have taken as many as 100 pics of a listing inside and out). Buyers DEMAND to see photos, and good ones. I do the best I can to accommodate them. And sellers appreciate quality photos that make their house LOOK GOOD. As an added bonus I then have many pics to select from to use in virtual tours (I usually do an interior and exterior of the house tour plus one of the neighborhood) and slide shows

• Taking pre-listing photos – I always take photos before a listing presentation. I then either create a mock-up of a feature sheet, and/or a virtual tour using Real Estate Shows which I can show the prospective seller. I find that having photos in advance can be flattering to some sellers. Here's one I did for a home before I actually got the listing contract.

• Community profiles – I take my camera everywhere. Driving through neighborhoods is a great photo op to document the area for posts that I write on communities I service. Buyers love this. Not just houses, but area attractions, views, amenities, street scenes, beaches, and so on. If it's interesting to you it will likely be interesting to buyers. Even the stuff YOU know well could be NEW for buyers. Here's a series of tours I included in my Carlsbad Village By The Sea community profile.

• Taking photos of listings I preview – I take additional photos of listings, whether those in the MLS are good or not, when previewing homes for buyers (especially out of town folks). The more they can see, the better. I set up galleries of photos and email the buyers the links.

• Taking photos of FSBOs I preview - I share these pics as well. Plus I get a double whammy: I can potentially inspire the FSBO into listing with me by sharing photos I have taken, advertising for them on my site, or creating a feature sheet for them to use in their marketing if they are not willing to list yet.

• When touring homes my camera becomes my buyers’ camera, if they don’t bring their own. Great when you are seeing many homes in one day and confusion can set in. Plus you get a better sense of what properties are of greater interest.
  

• During inspections, a camera is a tremendous aid to document issues for my buyers. And when submitting a request for repairs I can use photos to better qualify the buyers’ concerns on a particular repair matter.

Needless to say, my camera and I are almost joined at the hand, shall we say. How about you?