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Photography Tip’s and Tricks

By
Real Estate Agent with The Keyes Company

Good Pictures are priceless when it comes to the marketing of a listing. You don't have to spend much time on Realtor.com to realize there's a bunch of bad photographers out there and most Realtors don't value what good photography can do for their image and sales.

Tip 1
Wait for a good day, blue skies sell houses. I've seen million dollar houses photographed in the rain.

Tip 2
Take your front shot with the sun to your back, your skies will be bluer and your image will look much crisper. Front shots should not have cars parked in the driveway and the garage door should be closed.

Tip 3
Turn all the lights on inside and out and turn all the ceiling fans off.

Tip 4
Window blinds Open. Natural light makes a home feel warm.

Tip 5
Ask the home owner to move. I saw a picture with the home owner standing at the door of the house.

Tip 6
Take pride in your work.  Try to take beautiful shots.  If there is a tricycle next to the pool, or a towel hanging over the shower door, move it. 

Tip 7
Put the toilet seat down.

Tip 8
Try not to shoot yourself in the mirrors. Many times you can squat down or move to a different angle. At least TRY.....

Tip 9
Try to avoid your own shadow...sometimes you can't.

Tip 10
Take interior shots where you can see out the windows. This takes time and practice. The trick is to balance the interior and the exterior light. To do this you need to turn your flash on. You also need to learn how to manually control the ISO (film speed) on your camera. Lower your ISO to expose for the exterior light as you do this the interior part of the picture will get darker. Increase your flash amount to keep the interior properly lit. Like I said it takes some practice but its well worth it.

Tip 11
Shoot exterior pictures in your digital cameras shutter priority mode with the white balance set to cloudy. This will make your photo sharp and yet warm. Know that I think about it read your cameras instruction manual so you know how to do this.

Tip 12
Take a photography and a Photoshop class. They will make you thousands.

Tip 13
Take a few minutes and clear of the counters in the kitchen and bathrooms. I also like to clear any junk from the fridge door.

Tip 14
After loading your picture in Photoshop, use the auto contrast, auto levels and auto color options. There located at the top of your screen under image and then adjustments. Apply each effect separately.

That's it for now got to run, if you have any tips or tricks please comment, I'm always looking to learn. If you have any question just ask. I'll post a few pics I'v taken in the last few monthes.

Ben Gwilliam
Keyes Company 1
954.309.1444
BenGwilliam@keyes.com

 

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Jeff Belonger
Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc - Cherry Hill, NJ
The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans

Ben.... I am not a realtor, but these were some awesome suggestions. I could relate to several, because today I went out and took pictures of churches in my town of Haddonfield for localism. And even though it was a very sunny day in the late morning, some of the angles were semi dark, because of the position of the sun.

On another note... CONGRATS to your 1st featured post and welcome to AR. 

feature

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                        jeff b

 

Apr 14, 2007 04:31 PM
John Novak
Keller Williams Realty The Marketplace - Las Vegas, NV
Henderson, Las Vegas and Summerlin Real Estate
Great pics and advice! And I notice that each photo is taken from an interesting angle. That can be your Tip 15 -- Don't shoot head-on.
Apr 14, 2007 05:50 PM
Bob Force (REALTOR®)
Weichert Realtors - Aspen Hill - Mount Airy, MD
The FORCE in Maryland Real Estate
Ben:
I join in with all the comments GREAT, GREAT info, GREAT pictures.
Thank for the advise.  I have plan to buy a camera by the end of this month and the comments are appreciated.
Apr 14, 2007 06:07 PM
Chris Griffith
Downing-Frye Realty, Bonita Springs, FL - Bonita Springs, FL
Bonita Springs Listing Specialist - Agent
I'm all about tip #7.  I just don't know why it never occurs to some to not put that seat/lid down.  ick.
Apr 14, 2007 11:40 PM
Ann Cummings
RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH
Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Ben - these are great tips and I appreciate you taking the time to write them down in a post for all of us to learn from.  Most of them seem like they'd be common sense, but so many times, the easiest things are just plain overlooked for some reason.  Your post should be a 'must-read' for all of us who take pictures of our listings.

Thanks for sharing!
Ann

Apr 14, 2007 11:46 PM
Diane Bell, Hilton Head Real Estate, Bluffton
Charter 1 Real Estate, Hilton Head, Bluffton, SC - Hilton Head Island, SC

Ben,

Great post---you know my favorites here are usually about technical points that help us to do a better job as Realtors.  I just purchased my first wide angle digital camera and am really looking forward to seeing better results with my photos.  Thanks for sharing.

Apr 15, 2007 12:04 AM
Kevin Tomlinson
One Sotheby's International Realty- Miami Beach Real Estate - Miami Beach, FL
Miami Beach Real Estate
Wow--great, great info!  You 'da man!  Totally bookmarking this one!
Apr 15, 2007 03:16 AM
Greg Herson
Mal & Seitz Real Estate - Portland, OR
Thanks for the great tips Ben.  Much appreciated!!!
Apr 15, 2007 04:46 AM
George Tallabas
RE/MAX Advantage - Nampa, ID
Idaho Real Estate
Thanks Glen, I love photography and will rememer to put the toilet seat down! LOL  I own a Canon Rebel Camera and was about to give up on it because I could not obtain quality interior photos.  I decided to write the post The Big Camera That Can't! Please Help! and was blown away!  I received better advice than had previously had from Canon Support!  I am know taking incredible interior photos by making some minor and easy manual settings.  I have fallen in love with my Cannon Rebel and would not trade it for any camera!  Thanks and have a great day.
Apr 15, 2007 05:06 AM
Sharon Simms
Coastal Properties Group International - Christie's International - Saint Petersburg, FL
St. Petersburg FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS
Great shots. The most difficult for me are getting both the interior and the view, as you did so magnificently with the skyline in Shot 2.
Apr 15, 2007 06:01 AM
Mike Stankewich, MBA, e-PRO - ZipRealty, Inc.
ZipRealty, Inc. - Huntington Beach, CA

Hey Ben,

Let me offer my two cents and put you on page one ahead of my blogs. Your pictures are excellent but I think you are limiting youself with the 18-55mm kit lens. I have a Canon 20D, which is your camera prior to Canon increasing the LCD size and renaming the model.  My daughters wedding photographer had a Canon 10D and did an exceptional job.

The 18mm in this camera is equivalent to a 29mm lens in a film SLR, wide but not too wide.  You need to get a true wide angle lens such as the Tamron 11-18mm lens.  There are others, including Canon, however the Canon model is pretty expensive. You will be amazed at what you can do with interior shots.  Other than the wide angle, if you buy other lenses get the Canon with IS technology.  A little more money but you will lve the quality.

Please visit my posts and comment with your two cents. I own the Kodak v705, a simple camera with a lot of functions for real estate photography and am doing tutorials.  It has become quite a sensation on ActiveRain and fits everyones budget at $200-225. The Canon setups cost more and have more functions and versitility, but the Kodak is compact and serves real agents well.

Apr 15, 2007 02:50 PM
Julie McLaughlin
Staging Chico - Chico, CA
Your photo's look like those of a professional commercial photographer. Nice job!
Apr 15, 2007 04:34 PM
Ashley Drake Gephart
Drake Intel Group - Albuquerque, NM
Nice photos. If I can add one tip: Don't take photos with people sleeping in the beds.
Apr 18, 2007 05:28 PM
Lucky Lang
Premiere Plus Realty Marco Island - Marco Island, FL
Marco Island & Naples Florida Real Estate

Ashley,

Thanks for adding that one.  It would've never dawned on me.

Lucky :)

Apr 18, 2007 10:28 PM
Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400
HomeRome Realty 410-530-2400 - Pikesville, MD
Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome
Ashley and Lucky, Does that mean that dogs and cats in and on  the beds are  off limits? lol
Apr 19, 2007 12:51 AM
Yvonne Root
rooms b.y. root - Prescott, AZ
Home Stager - Northern Arizona

Ben, What a great post. You are so correct about preparing the space to be photographed. Even though I'm a stager, I'm not talking about staging here. I mean the things you mentioned like:

  • toilet seat down
  • clear off the counters
  • clear junk from the fridge

Now how hard can that be? I worry that a little of the problem may be the mentality of, "that's not MY job."

Apr 19, 2007 01:10 AM
Jaynee Acevedo
Capital Style Home Staging - Kensington, MD
Capital Style Home Staging
With great, inexpensive digitals becoming "point and shoot", the plethora of crappy photos out there continues to amaze!  Even with the group of us that really strives to "tell the story", there's always lots to learn.  Thanks so much for sharing!
Apr 19, 2007 01:11 AM
Lucky Lang
Premiere Plus Realty Marco Island - Marco Island, FL
Marco Island & Naples Florida Real Estate

Margaret,

Dogs are okay but cats are a big no-no.  I'm allergic to them!

Lucky :)

Apr 19, 2007 02:06 AM
Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400
HomeRome Realty 410-530-2400 - Pikesville, MD
Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome

Yvonne, Along those same lines, clear the electric cords.

Lucky, Do we let the sleeping dogs lie?

Apr 19, 2007 02:18 AM
Lucky Lang
Premiere Plus Realty Marco Island - Marco Island, FL
Marco Island & Naples Florida Real Estate

Margaret,

Absolutely let sleeping dogs lie!  Especially the BIG ones!

Lucky :)

Apr 19, 2007 08:09 AM