Why home seller need Professional Photography? 

  • Professional photography capture the buyer's attention even for low end homes.

  • Professional Photography is one of the best effective marketing tool for selling homes.

  • Professional photography can generate interest and excitement, which leads to good offers.

  • The Photograph is almost always the first elements in any ad that connects with home buyers. 

  • There is only one chance to make a great first impression to potential home buyers searching online.

  • Listings of homes with photos taken by professionals have about 61% more views than listing without.

  • When people are searching for homes, they search by price range, location and the numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms, but once they have the list, the visual piece becomes a larger and more important part of the decision.  

  • Multiple studies have shown that homes marketed with professional photography can pay off in more showings, quicker sales and even better pricing.

How photos work for the Home Seller

  • The Photograph is almost always the first elements in any ad that connects with the buyer. It is the handshake, the first impression,  the marketing tool to capture the buyer's attention.
  • Listings of homes with photos taken by professionals have about 61% more views than listings without
  • Multiple studies have shown that homes marketed with professional real estate photography can pay off in more showings, quicker sales and even better pricing.

How photos work for the Real Estate Agent

 As a real estate agent there are compelling reasons for using great photography to present a listing:

  • The home seller will be pleased how you are presenting their property.
  • It’s a well-established fact that great photos and marketing materials are a way to sell listing quickly and get more listings.
  • Neighbors of the listing property watch carefully how a property is marketed, if they like what they see, they will ask the agent to list their property when the time comes to sell.
  • If there is competition for a listing, the commitment of professionally done photography and marketing materials can help win the listing.

The listing agent is the marketing expert in charge of selling a client’s property and it is important they understand the way marketing photos work so they can use photography to the maximum benefit.

According to the National Association of REALTORS® Highlights from the Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers92% of potential buyers are looking at listings online before physically visiting a property. A study by Google in the same year suggest that the number is even greater at 97%, almost as staggering, 88% of those buyers want to see professional quality photos with each listing. Thus, conventional wisdom may indicate that online listings with attractive, professional photos will garner a lot of attention. Professional photos are becoming an essential strategy for most sellers.

What makes professional photographer so valuable? Professional photographers will focus on the best features of your property and make them stand out and shine…while, unlike amateur photographers just ‘show the space’, which doesn’t give the buyer any concept of space or relationship of rooms. Professional photographers make your listing stand out above the competition. Our goal is to make the potential buyer want to look at that specific property more than the others, and make the buyer to visualize themselves moving in before they even walk through the front door.

There are three factors that contribute to a property selling fast and for top dollars: staging, professional photography and pricing. Marketing the property online is the best way to reach the most people and it's also the most popular place viewers are searching. I’m seeing more and more agents and owners deciding to make that extra effort, you only have one chance to make a great first photographic impression for online viewers.

What is the main difference between amateur photography and professional photography in regards to real estate? There are two main differences: the first is equipment and the second is understanding how to take full advantage of that equipment. Having the skills and knowledge to utilize a DSLR camera, lighting, and lens is going to give a much better result than a point and shoot, or even worse, a camera phone.  The right equipment and technical skills of professional photography are far away from the point-and-shoot approach.

While having the best gear is a great start, it means little if you can’t use that equipment to its full advantage. That comes with training and experience. Being able to take that camera off auto and manipulate every aspect of the space and light really brings your photos to the next level and makes them ‘pop’ much more.

While photo editing skills are key in post-processing, it means little if the original image isn’t good to start with. Another big difference I see online is the overall composition and choosing how we are going to create a visually interesting image while keeping it informative at the same time…we want beautiful images but we also want them to convey the best aspects of the property to help it sell faster or rent more often.

Some elements we use to make an online Real Estate Photo stand out and capture the attention of online buyers.

  • Wide angle lens: Increase the feeling of space in Interiors.
  • Light and Bright: Bright interiors make a more positive impression on the prospective buyer.
  • Bright windows distraction: Unless special lighting or photo editing software is used interior windows will tend to look too bright so the view out the window is not visible. It is always possible to show the view out the window if the view is an important selling point of the property, however, special work by the photographer may be required to make sure the exterior view is clearly visible. Bright windows distract the viewer’s attention because the eye naturally moves to the brightest area in the photo. Sometimes the view outside is not important, while other times, with view properties, being able to show the inside and the view out the window is critical.
  • Don’t let color casts distract: Strong color casts (typically a strong orange color) distract the viewers attention.
  • Composition: When presenting interiors visually the way a photo is framed, what’s left in and out contributes to its effectiveness. There are some general rules, but most people intuitively recognize when a photo works and when it doesn’t.
  • Vertical and Horizontal lines (furniture, walls etc.) must be perfectly straight and level:  We live in a world where we unconsciously know that all walls are perfectly vertical. When a viewer sees a room where the walls are not parallel with the side of the photo, the viewer is visually distracted and disoriented. A voice in their head is saying, “This is not right”. Verticals that are not perfectly straight with the edge of the photo is the first indication of a non-professional interior photographer. Wide-angle lenses cause lines near the edges of photos to curve, special efforts and software must be used to remove distortion.
BHD_7126 Unprofessional photoBHD_7126 Unprofessional photo                Unlevel, color cast, noise, low light, etc. BHD_7126 Exposure compensation ACR noise reductionBHD_7126 Exposure compensation ACR noise reduction         Professional Interior Photo Techniques
Remax - Susan AshRemax - Susan Ash                 Unlevel, color cast, noise, low light, etc. BHD_2420 with Distortion and Color CastBHD_2420 with Distortion and Color CastBraulio Hernandez brauliohdez@yahoo        Professional Interior Photo Techniques
  • Avoiding photographer and Flash for all things reflections (mirrors, glasses, backsplashs, tiles, hi-gloss laminates, etc.): Interiors photography presents many challenges for the casual photographer. Placing the camera where it can’t be seen always helps. Sometimes that can be impossible. When it is impossible for technical or aesthetic reasons, experience can make post-processing easier and more effective. Avoiding flash pops is also worth watching out for and again very difficult to avoid with on camera flash. Unfortunately, no flash may result in poorly exposure.
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Unlevel, reflection, camera and agent in mirror.

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Professional Interior Photo Techniques

  • Distractions: You want to remove all the distractions from photos that don’t help in presenting the features of the home. Things like cables, people, dogs, cats and miscellaneous junk.

DistractionsDistractions

Distraction

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Staged for better photo exposure

  • Elevated Photography: Not all properties have a perfect view from the street, various things can be in the way that blocks the view of the home, things like landscaping and fencing can make it difficult for buyers to see the front or back of the property. Pole aerial photography allows us to put our camera higher up in the sky to be more eye level with the property. Additionally, viewers are able to see features behind the house like sea, river, lakes, forest, pools, and more. They are a wonderful way to showcase your property.

The Preserve at Estero, Estero, FloridaThe Preserve at Estero, Estero, FloridaBraulio Hernandez brauliohdez@yahoo

Eye level

The Preserve at Estero, Estero, FloridaThe Preserve at Estero, Estero, FloridaBraulio Hernandez brauliohdez@yahoo

Elevated photography

Important Real Estate Photography Articles

The following are some of the most significant articles on the subject of real estate photography. These articles show an increasing awareness of the importance of real estate photography in marketing homes. Note that the blue titles are links to the articles.

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Why our clients deserve better than DIY photos

  • I would never consider using my phone for photographs used to market a client’s home.
  • Anyone who believes that just anybody can take pictures needs to look at some MLS listings.
  • We owe it to our clients to do everything we can to make their property look amazing. Click for more...
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Hiring a Professional Photographer Versus Shooting Photos Yourself: Most people are finding their new home via the internet. The online presence is probably the most important aspect of realty in the 21st century. The biggest difference between hiring a professional photographer and taking the pictures yourself is the fact that the professional knows how to make something ordinary look spectacular Click for more...

Quality photos make all the difference in marketing your home: if you didn't get them with that first impression, you may never get that buyer back. Technology is making it easier to shoot bad photos — camera phones don't have enough flash or depth of field (for rooms). Good, clear photography of a neat, clean home may be your one competitive advantageClick for more...

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Making Every Picture Count: According to a New Your article,  IN real estate, a picture can be worth more than a thousand words. Much, much more. When selling properties online, agents and Web designers say that the pictures buyers see of houses and apartments for sale are often the first — and sometimes the only — chance for a seller to make a good impression. Less-than-flattering pictures can turn buyers off and lead to lonely open houses. Click for more...

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Real Estate Photography Tips For Realtors - Don't Do it Yourself, You will lose Your Commission Check: I've done it myself; taken what I thought were great listing pictures and used them for my online MLS listing. My clients thought they were fine and I thought they were just fine, until I started working as a buyer's agent in Seattle a few years back. Real Estate Broker and the Founder of Shiloh Street University in Seattle, WA Click for more...

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The Successful Combination of Photography and Real Estate: Picture that are poor or less than flattering can turn buyers off, leading to fewer leads and offers. In real estate, good picture - the right picture - are worth more than a thousand words - they can be worth thousands of dollars. "Location, location, location" is the common catch phrase when buying a house. "Photography, photography, photography" will soon be the new advise when selling. And paying to have professional real estate photographs, in comparison, is not really expensive when you consider the benefits. Click for more...

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Photos Of Your Home Matter In Real Estate: The first impression buyers most often get of a home is from the photos in the MLS listing, which they automatically receive in an email from their agent, or the pictures that accompany an online listing. With limited time and countless listings to review, buyers will quickly move on if photos don’t reflect well on a property. Click for more...

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Get a Picture-Perfect Home Sale: When people are searching for homes, they search by price range, location [and the numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms]. But then once they have the list, the visual piece becomes a larger and more important part of the decision; photos are the first impression, and can generate interest and excitement, which leads to good offers. Click for more...