Tips for Real Estate Photography

[Alpha_7]

Hey everyone, I've had a late request from a work mate to take some shots of his house that he's trying to sell. Having not done any of this sort of photography before I'm happy to have any tips and suggestions. My thoughts so far are..

- Use my tripod and bracket my shots (to combine in post processing)
- Use the 10-20, and Kit lens (I'll have the 50 1.5 and 80-200 with me but don't think I'll need them).
- I'll have the Sb-800 and sc-29 but I'd imagine flash would cause a lot of nasty reflections so longer exposures with tripod are better.


Am I on the right track ?

[Geoff]

Craig - u are definately on the right track and I've just done some recent real estate shots too.

My advice is to stick (only) to the 10-20.
Avoid flash if u can...
Shoot early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid harsh shadows (through windows too etc )..
Use a small step ladder to get high into a corner and shoot down...
Allow twice as much time as you anticpate this to take.

Hope this helps

[Reschsmooth]

Craig, something that seems quite common is to use a 4 star filter and keep all the lights on. Internal shots with the wide angle, shot from the farthest corner seem to make rooms look larger than they are.

P

[Alex]

Hi Craig,

Whilst 10-20 is certainly desirable. Sometimes and often the kit lens will do. These were shot with the kit lens and one sb-800 either directly attached to D70 or used remotely in a dark coner of the room.

http://agitlits.m6.net/nikond70/Birches.asp

Always use tripod and aperture smaller than f8.

Good luck

Alex

[beetleboy]

One of the owners of the studio I work at uses 600W tungsten "Arri's" with barn doors to light his architectural work..however it does mean a lot of clobber and good lighting knowledge - in this scenario you're more of a stage lighting tech than a photographer!

You could try some of those cheap outdoor workman's lights from Bunnings and see how that goes?

One thing to remember - ALWAYS turn on lamps/lights etc that will add warmth or ambience to a room! If you're not sure, do one with and one without! I'll pay for the extra frame! =P

Something else he does that you might consider is what he calls "cameo's". Grab some little shallow DOF shots of nice fixtures/fittings lamps textures etc.

The impact of your images will also depend on the quality of this guy's house..remember it's very difficult to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!!

Good luck! And one more thing - make sure you enjoy yourself!

[Paul]

Craig,
Good tips as mentioned already, use a tripod if you can, use your excellent 10-20mm lens but maybe back it off to 14mm to avoid any "fisheye" from the 10mm end. Use your SB-800 in remote mode to add fill flash to any dark area's in your shots.
If you want to you can borrow my 2 x SB-800's to help out on any of the lighting problems you have, just PM me if reqd.
You might also want to select a cloudy WB to warm up the images as well, although this can always be adjusted in NC4.4
Here's some off my images from my managers house that might help you.
http://paulquinn.smugmug.com/gallery/1886637

Oh and a few clean full glasses of wine or champers used in key positions always looks good!

[gstark]

Craig,

One other technique that's not yet been covered is to use a typical pano technique to get the shots. Stich the images together for a good view of the whole room - makes the place look a lot more spacious too.

[Wocka]

Gidday Craig,

Looking the local RE section for those professional shots you need to:
a) Make sure the flash has a visible reflection in the window.
b) Make sure you shoot through the doorway. It’s the required look having a solid wall on the right/left of the image (especially for the bathroom shots).
c) Make sure your not in focus.
d) Leave the kids toys on the floor, a messy house is a loving house.
e) Place as much furniture in the room as possible for that cluttered look.
f) Don’t make the kids bed.
g) Leave the RE agents paperwork and keys on the kitchen bench.

When Processing:
a) Squash the image to distort
b) Stretch the image to distort
c) Don’t worry about WB

All said tongue in cheek.

Cheers

[Yi-P]

One more thing maybe, make sure everything is in focus. Going hyperfocal on the 10-20 is not that hard... Take it down to f/11 or f/16 will get focus inches away from the lens.

[Alex]

One other things that I just remember is pay attention to detail before pressing the shutter. Sounds simple, but it is amazing how much you miss when you start pping. Watch out for things like wires sticking out from appliances, untidy cushions, dirt on the floor. Easier fixed prior to taking a shot than later with cloning out.

Good luck

Alex

[Alpha_7]

Thanks for everyones help, I ended up taking 450 shots well over what I needed too (I was bracketing like a bandit) in the end they only had room for 5 shots and IMHO they didn't necessarily pick the best combination, but I thought I'd share the link to them, I should also have my corporate headshots "published" on the web this week, so its a busy time for me

http://www.harrispartners.com.au/sale/628/#

[Viz]

I'm with Woka - I work in pre-press and I had to deal just a few hours ago with cropping the dirty shoes on one side, or drastically out of focus cheap door fittings but not both due to aspect ratio. And then some that looked like they were cyan monos.

[Paul]

Craig,
They look excellant!
Good to hear the client is happy! at the end of the day that's all that matters.

[obzelite]

Thanks for everyones help, I ended up taking 450 shots well over what I needed too (I was bracketing like a bandit) in the end they only had room for 5 shots and IMHO they didn't necessarily pick the best combination, but I thought I'd share the link to them, I should also have my corporate headshots "published" on the web this week, so its a busy time for me

http://www.harrispartners.com.au/sale/628/#

some nice shots.

got to love the 'large 383sqm block' that’s large for a cell block maybe or are we just spoilt in Perth

[Alpha_7]

Large for there area but tiny compared to the places out near me.

[ozczecho]

You have done well with the shots...a sense of space has been achieved..

[beetleboy]

Good work Craig!

Now, what to do with the other 'couple-a-hundred' shots?!

[Alpha_7]

Thanks everyone for there tips and comments, I ended up getting paid $100, which if you don't count my time is $20 a photo which isn't too bad, I was half expecting not to get paid so I'm very happy with the outcome regardless.

[Aussie Dave]

Craig,
Well done. Just think, you were paid $100 to gain experience.

Pretty good gig if you can get it.....IMO.

Here's to more coming your way soon