There’s a massive demand for photography in real estate. It may seem simple, but it does require some skill to take photos of homes.
Real Estate Photography Equipment
To start as a real estate photographer, you only need a camera, a lens, and a tripod. The items below will help you work faster with better results, but you don’t have to buy them all at once:
Camera: A manual camera is essential.
Lens: A wide-angle will help you in tight spaces and make rooms look larger.
Tripod: A tripod helps to shoot long exposures, steadies your camera and prevents blurry images.
Remote Trigger: For shots that require low shutter speed – don’t touch the camera – use a remote trigger
Flash: Flashes or strobes are vital for places with low lighting.
Flash Trigger: When you use an off-camera flash, you must have a flash trigger.
Light Modifiers: Naked flashlight can too harsh; point toward the ceiling to soften the light or use light modifiers.
Light Stands: Regular stands are sufficient for your lighter flash units, but you’d need a C-stand for big monolights.
What to Do Before the Shoot
These are the shots estate agents expect:
2 wide-angle shots of each bedroom, the kitchen, and the living room
1 photo of the bathroom, unless it’s spectacular
1-3 photos of the backyard AND 1-2 shots of the front of the home
1 shot of each feature such as pantry garage and laundry room.
Prepare Your Gear the Night Before
Always take your charger and a second camera
Prep your gear – charge batteries, pack your bag and format your memory card
Make sure you know the address and how to get there on time.
What to Do at the Property
Declutter and get rid of all personal items
Leave only one to three decorative items
Walk through the entire house, and decide what you’ll shoot, make notes as you go.
Decide about lighting
If the light bulbs in the home have varying color temperatures, turn them off and use a flash.
Cool fluorescent and warm incandescent light don’t go well together
Your best bet is natural light, like in a house with large windows.
Bright and airy real estate photography of a bedroom with light balanced using bounce flash
This photo was taken with one flash on the camera, turned to bounce light off the ceiling above the photographer.
What to Keep in Mind During the Shoot
Diffuse and soften
A flash unit on your camera will speed up the entire shoot. Bounce the light off the walls to diffuse the flash glare and shoot in manual mode for control
Attaching light diffusers onto your light source
Place light stands with flash units out of the frame and angle toward the ceiling.
Side-by-side comparison of ambiently-lit room photographed with and without flash
Shoot straight to avoid distortion
The ideal height for real estate photography will be at about 5 feet (152.5 cm)
Keep the camera straight when using different angles to avoid distortion
If you point the camera up or down slightly, vertical lines begin to slant and distort.
Post-Production
PropertyRender is the easiest way to professionally edit your property photos to save time and ensure your client’s listings stand out online. Our team execute a high-level attention to detail with our 20-Step photo-editing process to ensure consistently high-quality photos. We even have a range of add-ons to take your photos to the next level with green grass, new bedspreads, item removal, day to dusk conversion and many more.
Here’s the final photo from the before/after:
Conclusion
You can gain a regular income from real estate photography – just be consistent.
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