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Panoramic Pictures or Distorted Fakes?

While making showing appointments this morning for my clients I started looking at all the listings my clients chose from their 'personal web page' that I set up through our MLS system. I looked at the profile page photo and then clicked to look at more pictures.

MANY of the listings had panoramic views of yards that looked ten times bigger than the sq./ft one would presume would have been smaller looking. Especially with only 3,000 sq. ft. of land with a 1200 sq/ft home sitting on it.

This is a "panoramic view" (stitching three pictures together) of a current listing of mine. It looks distorted and gives the impression of having a huge front yard and different style (rounded) home.

The pictures (below) were shot in sequence to stitch together. ( I used my own listing pictures to give you an example of what these agents are doing to exagerate the REAL pictures as it would not be proper to insert these other pictures from our mls site)

Panoramic...my behind. The pictures I gawked at this morning were stretched and distorted beyond recognition of the actual home! The bedrooms looked HUGE and definitely would be a 3,000 sq. ft. interior home easy....if the pictures told the actual story.

Aren't we supposed to represent our seller's best interests?

My questions to you folks are:

What's the sense of doing panoramic views that look all distorted?
What's the point of making distorted pictures and conning people into coming to look at the listing?
What's the hightlight of faking it to make it....only to disappoint the buyer?
What's the reason for wasting their time?

Posted by Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman HAWAII Relocations & Real Estate on 06/18/2008 03:10 PM

Comments (46)

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Originally posted at: Hawaii Real Estate & Relocations : Panoramic Pictures or Distorted Fakes?

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46 Comments on Panoramic Pictures or Distorted Fakes?

JUN

2008

Sally - you raise a good point. Can;t say I see folks using panoramic photos here, but the issue of lousy photos that do not accurately represent the client's home is doing them a disservice. We certainly see lots of that kind of stuff, or no photos at all.

Jeff

I see many agents using panoramic views and many look stretched. I don't know if it's them or their clients, but I dislike any distortion in listing photos. That could be stretched or fuzzy or so dark you don't know what room you're looking at!

Hi Sally. I haven't seen any panoramic pictures on the MLS here. What would be the point of that? Some people have no sense. :)

I love the way your AR blog looks now. Maybe I should spruce mine up a bit.

Jeff: I was astounded looking at all the pictures this morning! What a bunch of bull...i know some of these specific floor plans and there is no way they look like the ones that were in front of me....sad.

Laura: I agree...there are all kinds of ways to make a picture brighter and more inviting.....but to stretch out a picture to make it look bigger is bogus.

In the distortion category Sally, beyond the photos are the pools. If I see one more "pristine" pool with black water again it will be one too many. Accuracy in all information needs to be strived for. I know many virtual tours do the stitching of the photos.

Sally, panoramic photos are usually of landscapes where the scenic view doesn't fit into the frame. A good panoranic photo will not look distorted nor give the illusion of being larger. This is definitely a misuse of a panoramic photo. With today's photo software anything can be done.

Good Post!

Pam: There's a bunch here and it is downright disgusting. :)

I did a plain thingy so it doesn't take a long time to open.

Gary: One of the places we're looking at has a pool. Another agent from my office just called...she saw it at Broker's Open Houses just a few minutes ago...thank goodness it's clean!

Michael: Okay...so I'm not good at panoramic views.... just believe me when I say the views on our mls pictures are 'playing' with pictures and they look like that distorted one....just imagine...a yard stretched to look like it was 10k sq/ft. when it's 3k. Seriously.

Sally - I live in a place where the only way you can get an idea of the view and scenery is through panoramas. There is good software out there, ie - PTGui, which do not make the photos look distorted. I've also been doing some 360 views using pt.

I think what you are getting at is an ethics question. Don't "fake" pictures as it wastes everyones time. However, for me, doing Pano's is not a waste of time, it's simply the only way to capture the area around Lake Powell and the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

What does everyone feel about the "photoshopped" pics I am running in to where walls are cleaned up and yards are cleaned up? Gads, that is annoying :-) It does boil down to truth and integrity.

Heather: I have been using video to capture everything around me...I'm talking about purposely stretching photos to make rooms and sq/ft look larger. You mean instead of actually cleaning they just clean the picture ????

Yes, I have seen two of those, cleaned the photo, not the house. I would assume it goes on more than we would even imagine. I think it is a real grey area when we start "doctoring"photos. Adjusting brightness, tint, and contrast are part of photo processing, but when folks start using the "clone" stamp to fix stuff, that is just not cool.

Or, it could just be someone who can't figure out how to use the software.

Sally, I totally agree. The panoramic doesn't even look real enough to me. I don't mind a wide-angled lens but that's the limit!

When this happens, it just makes the buyers angry and they wonder what else the seller is distoring. I think the new Professional Standard Rules would not permit this type of gross misreprenstation of the property. f

Heather: I know what you mean.... Hey...look at my profile pic...not a wrinkle to be seen :)

Lenn: If you could see our mls....there are MANY who don't know how to use it. I don't even know if it's the software. Is it the camera settings stretching it? All I know is it's not a couple...it's MANY listings!

Yea, this is why I don't use the stiching software.

Sally, You are so correct and I don't understand the use of it. In fact, I read recently the many of the Virtual Tours that we used to see, with the fishbowl eye, are losing favor. I've used those VT's in the past myself, by as far as stand alone pics, never quite liked them, unless they showed a true representation. I think using panoramic views is actually a disservice to everyone including the seller as well. Now, I've always been pretty much a fan of the VT and there is a program in beta right now that does a really great job of using your photos in a quick, easy program. I also must admit that I think the VT's themselves are losing favor as well. For that reason, I'm finally taking the plunge and trying out Jeff Turner's realestateshows.com. OK, sorry for writing too much!

Sally, I would argue the agents are taking the photos properly. I do pano tours on my site and they are not distorted. When I first started doing it I didn't do it right and they were distorted...which I didn't post. You have to be careful not to turn your body (feet) or you may end up with a room looking like a totally different room. I would suggest they figure out how to do pictures.

Dave

Diane: That was taken with my wide angle....so with splitting scenes and stitching them together it looks awful! I do believe this may be what some of these agents are doing....and it looks bad...distorted and yuk :)

Joan: I too agree with that....just use wide angle pictures or use RES shows. (I'm partial to those as they depict the exact picture...no weird stuff :)

Missy: After I did that one above to try it ...I said ...nah.

I would only use a stitched picture if it does not look distorted.

Marc: I will stick to my RES shows too! I'm in my second year now and I love them! Unlimited...do anything you want (you see mine:) and join from Jeff's blog now and there's a discount for us AR members 99 dollars a YEAR...yes ...a YEAR. (I'm advertising for jeff :)

Dave: I'll just stick to my RES shows. They're MY pictures and MY show ...and no adding stuff.

Randy: Yeah....me too.

JUN

2008

Sally, I was on the MLS recently and was actually shocked at many of the photos on there....do they think they're going to help sell a house? Goodness, now I read they are distorting them....

Morning Sally,

Be it pictures, presentation or communication, first and foremost should be creditability. We are paid to represent our xclients honestly, nothing more and nothing less.

Sally, Realtors that do this are just waisting everyones time, because if a Buyer goes to look at the house expecting one thing and finds another, there are already strating off on the wrong foot. And if someone would try to misrepresent the property in such an obvious way, do you then trust anything else that they are saying on face value?

Sally- Ok...I think out of all these comments.....I will go with Lenn. I think it might just be people not knowing what they are doing. You and Randy have the benefit of all this info at your fingertips....others just poiint and shoot, do the best they can and ....wha... la here's the MLS Picture. Again it is just letting your clients know that the pictures are distorted.

This goes with the saying...you can't please all of the people all of the time, but you can please some of the people some of the time.....:) :) Smile and have a good day:)

We don't have anyone using panorama shots on our MLS, but I feel it is important to give consumers a fair representation of the property. If the picture is altered or skewed, it is no longer a good representation. What real purpose does it serve when the consumer is disappointed?

I have a problem when there is only one photo on the MLS. I understand a seller who keeps the house so unkempt that you can't get good inside photos of all rooms, but if there are no inside pictures, at least put on several outside pics.

I have never stitched photos. I use a wide angle shot and try to make sure the picture reflects the "reality."

Carole: I do believe that we can take wonderful pictures without trying to overdo what isn't there :)

Hal: Ha! You got it Hal! I keep thinking that when there are listings with property condition as excellent and you get there and it's like....fair....I get all disgusted. I make sure to now ask ALL agents to describe the condition as well as give me some info when I call to make a showing appointment.

Sally, I don't like the distorted imaging systems either. I find a slide show much more effective. Sure it is a still picture but at least it doesn't give you a headache to look at it.

George: Totally agree with ya. I did ask one agent why the pictures looked all distorted and huge. She blamed it on the camera and said...yeah, the yard isn't that big...yeah, the master isn't that huge. geez.

Kathy: I think it is a toss up for knowing and not knowing...one thing is for certain... i wouln't put it up if it looked like my pic above...nope.

Alicia: I too agree with fair representation.... and to not give additonal photos of the property sure isn't trying to market welll....I see that as well. :)

Gary: Me too :)

Sandra: LOL! I agree! I don't even look at those anymore.. RES shows and slideshows are cool.

JUN

2008

I think photos should tell the truth...buyers don't like to feel duped when the walk into the actual house.

JUN

2008

Kelly: So true....

JUN

2008

Sally - ghastly, distorted, misrepresentation, just a few of the words that pop into mind when someone talks about panoramic photos for a listing. I will stick to my own video clips until I can afford real videography for all my listings.

Kathy: I agree....when it comes to listings...I'll stick to the real thing. :)

JUN

2008

Sally - that was a real lesson! I just post photos the way they are - I may crop them a little, but putting several together like that should not be allowed - it really gives a false impression of what the home looks like - great post!

JUN

2008

Hey Sally,

I purchased a very old used digital used Kodak DC215 because it includes a wide angle lense. It is very rare to find a digital camera with a wide angle lense. These are ideal for Realtors® to get as much property into the picture without having to shoot from across the street or in the back neighbors yard.

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