How to Take the Best Photos of Real Estate

How to Take the Best Photos of Your Real Estate

Whether you’re a property manager looking for tenants or a real estate agent tasked with selling homes, it’s important to understand that there’s no better time to go all out with your marketing than this year. “We expect [real estate] sales to grow 7% and prices to rise another 5.7% on top of 2020’s already high levels,” says chief economist Danielle Hale. She even notes that single-family housing is expected to grow by at least 9% at the end of 2021. And the best way to attract promising clients is to show off your property via some eye-catching photos. But how do you capture some great photos of your real estate? Below are some tips.

Time your photoshoots

No matter how great your equipment is a badly timed photoshoot will produce equally bad photos. For example, if you want to capture the property from its front, ensure that the sun is behind you, so the image won’t contain any glare. Additionally, if it is overcast or rainy, postpone your photoshoot for another day when the weather is much better.

Use mirrorless cameras

As the name implies, a mirrorless camera is a camera without a reflex mirror, allowing light to directly pass through to its sensor. This will allow you to adjust the image’s settings before it’s shot, so you can get the best detail and color captured. The best mirrorless cameras will at least have an APS-C sensor, which grants them a better dynamic range. This ensures that the camera captures all the shadows and highlights when photographing your property. Sony’s Alpha series mirrorless cameras, like the 7R IV and a6400, are good mid-range equipment you can start with. The brand even has a mirrorless camera for drones called the Airpeak S1 if you need to get a bird’s eye shot of your property. In fact, this leads us to our next point.

Take aerial photos

While interiors are important, it’s equally important to show potential buyers what the surrounding area looks like. And the best way to go about this is through aerial photography. In fact, did you know that aerial photos can improve click rates for a property listing? This is because buyers aren’t just in the market for a new home but a lifestyle as well. They want to see what the area looks like, how far the bus stop is, and even what shopping and dining places are available nearby. But to take aerial photos, you’re going to need a drone. However, drones are expensive and there are many state policies you need to remember before you fly one. As such, outsourcing this type of photography is probably the best option. Indy Aerial Drone Photography offers accessible rates depending on the kind of photos you need.

Use presets during editing

Of course, no matter how good your pictures already look, it’s still best to go through post-process if only to get rid of that stray glare or make the coloring more vibrant. Top photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom will allow you to edit photograph settings (such as color saturation, contrast) using sliders, which the user can save as a preset. The preset can then be applied to multiple photos. Not only does this speed up the editing process but presets also ensure that your photos look uniformed. Real estate photography is a challenge, but as long as you have the right equipment and know the proper timing, your photos should come out nicely. This is why it’s crucial to plan your real estate photoshoots weeks in advance.