When it comes to paying for photographs, you should know what you’re getting. Have you ever hired a professional photographer and upon receiving the photos ended up not using them because “there was just something off”? Unfortunately this experience is not uncommon and can turn you off from having professional photos taken in the future- which ultimately impacts the speediness of sales.
That phrase “there was just something off” refers to the result of a photographer not understanding the major principals of architectural photography, and how the human eye interprets lines, colors, and light within a space. What we’re getting at is, a great portrait or landscape photographer does not necessarily equate to a great real estate photographer. The distinction is in the training and experience.
Characteristics of a strong real estate photographer include:
Equipment:
The right equipment to shoot a variety of sites can be extensive. Look for high end cameras, flashes, light baffles, etc. Our inventories include top of the line drones and 360 cameras as well.
Experience:
Training is necessary for architectural photography but like so many other things, cannot replace real world experience. Each shoot will create variables that require
Consistency:
A great photographer can lean on their knowledge, equipment, and experience to generate an excellent product time and time again.
Limitations and preparation
It’s important to keep in mind that photography is a replicative product. Although we can beautify light and colors, if a room looks cluttered, dirty, or otherwise unappealing, it will still look that way in the final product. We offer our clients a pre-shoot checklist to ensure the best chance of high quality photos. On occasion our photographers may ask to turn on/off lights or slightly move a piece of furniture in order to get the best shot.
Post-processing
Your photographer should use a suite of processing tools (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc) to enhance images for the better. This doesn’t mean it’s always necessary, however it is the industry standard for professional real estate photography. Shutterfox uses adobe products to make each image look beautiful and believable to the human eye. Be careful of overly processed photos- this can be a strong contributing factor to the “something just looks off” scenario. Our goal is to immerse each viewer into the room, and make them feel as if they were standing there. Too much processing can actually draw the viewer away. Our Flashtone™ system was designed with this exact theory in mind.
Here’s an example of a clean post-processing job that keeps the viewer interested and not distracted.
