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Best Time of Day to Take Photographs

I received an email message from an AR member which said:

"Mike, since you seem to have a good grip on photography I have a question for you. I know this should be simple but I guess I need a cheat sheet. I couldn't find anything on AR so would you be kind enough to write a blog about it?

What time of day is the best time to take photos of the exterior of the house based on the direction it is facing. Also, is there a good general time of day if I am taking several photos in an area of different places facing different directions.

Thanks so much for all your great photography tips."

Lighting is the key to good photography. For real estate photography you want to avoid shadows, so backlighting is the key. You want the sun behind you. If the front of the house faces east, the morning is the best time. If the front faces west you want to take your pictures in the late afternoon.

A good general time of the day is around noon or early afternoon on a sunny day for most exterior pictures since the sun is overhead and there are few shadows. If it is overcast and your camera has exposure compensation, increase it from +0.5 to +1.0 to brighten the picture. If not you can adjust brightness in Photoshop Elements or other imaging software.

For creative photography you want shadows, so you need to try different times to get the effect you want.

For dramatic evening photography, turn on all the house lights, and take the picture after sunset but before it is totally dark. You will see light coming out of the windows, however there will be enough exterior light to capture the details of the house. White balance will be a problem as you will have two sources of light. Take one picture set on natural light and another set on tungsten lighting. Also you may want to take one set at normal exposure compensation and another at +0.5 or +0.7. Again adjustments can be made with the photo imaging software. For an example of this check out Maureen Henry's BLOG. It is a excellent example, however a white balance adjustment in Photoshop would reduce the yellow from the windows and give it a more natural effect.

For interior room photography avoid mid day, since on sunny days the light coming in the windows will be too bright. The best times are after daybreak and just before sunset. Use a powerful bounce flash or turn on all the lights and adjust the camera white balance for tungsten lighting. If you can do neither, the white balance and brightness can be adjusted in Photoshop Elements or other imaging software later.

As a general rule of thumb pay attention to lighting, avoid shadows and get some photo imaging software. The brightness adjustment could be your best friend.

If you have questions or need me to clarify any of these points please comment and I will reply.

Mike Stankewich, Realtor, Huntington Beach, Orange County, California

ZipRealty, Inc.

Huntington Beach Real Estate

Your Huntington Harbour, SeaCliff, and Seabridge Real Estate Expert in Huntington Beach

Surf City USA

Posted by <i>Mike Stankewich, MBA, e-PRO - ZipRealty, Inc.</i> on 05/13/2007 07:19 PM

Comments (11)

photography, lighting, sun, natural light, tungsten, photos, real estate, pictures, huntington beach, realtor

11 Comments on Best Time of Day to Take Photographs

MAY

2007

I have found that I must visit a property several times to get good exteriors because of the angle of the sun. I sometimes have to do the same when taking interiors because I cannot fully compensate for excessive light through the patio doors.

Mike: Thanks for another informative post on photography--and the link to Maureen's blog. The evening shot is pretty impressive!

Thanks Roberta,

As a fellow Californian real estate agent I would like to mention that you have some impressive blogs yourself. I have read many but probably had not the time to make a meaningful comment. I do not like to just say "nice blog" and move on. That is too trite.

Maureen is a stager that is really trying to get better with our advice and is a great AR contributing member.

By the way have you joined and posted to the Southern California Real Estate group? It is a good way to converse with others in our region.

Best regards to both of you.

Jim,

You are so correct, especially if you want rear view or side view shots. The rear view is the opposite time of day from the front view.

Usually rear views are not important, but homes in Huntington Harbour have great curb appeal and also the rear view from the channel showing the back and private dock has great appeal. I need to do these at different times of the day and often by boat in the harbour.

Good info about the exposure compensation. I video taped 2 listings today, between 11:00 and 12:30. The lighting was practically perfect! But I didn't know the actual setting for the exposure comp. Thanks!

Mike thank you for clarifying these points. I love taking photos but I realize that a passion for the art does not equal great photography. Hopefully I can continue to improve my photos.

Mike - Thank you for taking the time to write this. I am not the greatest photography so I am always looking for tips.

JUL

2007

Hey Mike. Those are great tips - I imagine they're especially useful for realtors who take their own photos.

I just wrote about this same topic "Best Time of Day to Take Pictures" on my blog. It's always best to avoid shooting mod-day if you're trying to get the outside of a house.

A lot of the time, right before the sun sets, you can get some really good dramatic lighting for homes, especially if they're white.

JUL

2007

Great post Mike thank you so much for sharing this information, it is extremely helpful.

Ciao!

SEP

2007

Thanks for your insight! I like in the early morning or if I am lucky an overcast/cloudy day. We have huge trees in the areas I sell real estate in and tree branch shadows sometimes obscure the exterior photos.

I once had a professional real estate photographer tell me the best time to photograph a house is when it is about to begin raining. Any thoughts on that one?

SEP

2007

Twilight (both morning and evening) can be great times to make excellent pictures of exteriors. Morning and afternoon lighting (depending on the location within the house) can be nice. Closer to the twilight times, the light is generally a little weaker, so there isn't as dramatic of a difference from interior to exterior (the windows aren't "blown").

Bottom line is that there are multiple times to shoot most properties.

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