Real Estate Listings Photography

Real estate listings shoots are one of the more predictable types of photography projects as long as you make sure to ask a few vital questions about the property and the shoot day.

At GoLive Tampa Bay, our PHASE ONE pre-production planning stage includes a one on one creative discovery call with the Creative Director, wherein the following key points are established to ensure a smooth shoot day for all:

QUESTION ONE: Is the property empty, or currently occupied? 

If the property is empty, follow up to make sure the space is clean or will be cleaned by the time you arrive for the shoot.

If the property is occupied, follow up to make sure the owners will not be home. Owners may submit any important information of note in advance of the shoot, but should not be home during the shoot. 

QUESTION TWO: What direction does the house face? 

Exterior shots are a necessity in any real estate listing profile. In fact, the exterior shot of the home is typically the first image a buyer will want to see. We always ask what direction the home faces in order to determine what time of day we will schedule our production. 

The sun shines brightest at the midpoint of the day, and depending on the time of the year it will be casting harsh shadows if the facade of the home is in that direct light. We ensure that based on the direction and time of day, we will capture the most attractive photo possible of a property’s exterior.

QUESTION THREE: Is there anything that needs to be highlighted or hidden?

Be sure to include the current owner’s feedback as well as the realtor so you can be sure to avoid any undesirable areas under construction with creative angles- or accentuate certain features that increase the value of the home. 

THE BEST WAY TO SHOOT REAL ESTATE PHOTOGRAPHY 

When it comes to real estate listings photography, there are two main schools of thought: HDR photography and Flambient photography.

What’s the difference? The most obvious difference is that the former uses no flash and the latter uses flash.

But what that means to the end product, and whether your real estate listing is best shot either way really comes down to what equipment you have, and the capacity of your editing skills. 

WHY WE USE HDR PHOTOGRAPHY FOR REAL ESTATE LISTINGS

Here at GoLive Tampa Bay we shoot our real estate photography listings using the HDR photography method. HDR photography requires much less hardware and equipment on site and that allows you maximum efficiency as you navigate the home or property during your shoot. 

If you have a DSLR or mirrorless camera but do not have the budget to purchase a quality flash kit, there is no need to worry about the extra investment and insurance cost with HDR. 

Using the HDR real estate photography method will mean that your upfront production day will take minutes per image. (Knowing your maximum minutes spent capturing photos of each room will help you track time and productivity.)

Your post-production time, however, will take considerable more investment especially if you are not familiar with Adobe Lightroom. You will also need to spend some pre-production time learning how to master the settings required to take proper HDR composite images on your camera. 

Regardless, the learning curve is not too steep, and spending a few hours becoming acquainted with standard real estate edits in Adobe Lightroom will prove worth your time the more properties you shoot!

BEFORE YOU SHOOT HDR REAL ESTATE PHOTOGRAPHY

EQUIPMENT
With HDR you don’t need any flash! So on shoot day, all you need is your camera, your batteries, your tripod, your fullest frame lense like a telephoto lense, and finally a detail lense like the nifty fifty. 

CAMERA SETTINGS

HDR images are actually a composite of three images taken consecutively with three different exposures. You will need to set your camera to take a burst of three photos, and set the exposure to be 3 points under 0, 0, and 3 points over 0. 

SHOOT EXECUTION
Be sure to adjust your ISO whenever you enter a new room or area of the property so that your images fall right within the desirable area of the histogram. Use the tripod to stay stable as the camera captures three consecutive photos.

EDITING HDR PHOTOGRAPHY

Once you have filled your memory card with your ready to edit HDR real estate listing images, it’s time to upload, sort, and begin editing in Lightroom! Stay tuned as we cover our tips for editing HDR real estate images.