Shutter Fox | Virtual Tours and Real Estate Photography

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Professional Real Estate Photography

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. 

Before After
Style

A major consideration in today’s professional real estate photography world, style,  is going to be one of the easiest ways to identify whether you get the product you are looking for our not. Clients of ours tend to fall into categories for how they want their photos to look.  Part of our standard of service is to match that style and deliver. Whether you are a designer looking for editorial style photos that offer the viewer a dreamy perspective, or a commercial realtor that intends on showing potential clients a well planned and lit realistic interior photo, we’ve got you covered. 

Lines, light, and color

Lastly, some of the major indicators of a professionally shot photo are these three items. Look for vertical lines that run parallel to the photo’s edge known as “keystoning”. This is a major factor in the brain’s ability to identify if a photo looks real of “off”. Colors should be true to the scene and offer consistency across different light sources. Light should be even and seem natural as well. Too many times we see photos that are heavily processed to allow much more light than we normally view making a photo look fake. 

Many more techniques and details are involved in the creation of professional photos, but these items encapsulate the bulk of what you’ll need to look for to know that you made a smart purchase decision. 

We are always here to help you get amazing photos and videos of your spaces and hope this article can be of some use to you in the future. Contact us any time you would like to setup a shoot!