The Complete Guide to Real Estate Photography
Do you want a career in real estate photography? Are you on the fence if real estate photography jobs are worth going into? Well, the answer to both questions is a resounding yes. There is both the element of fulfilment and reward in choosing a career in this field. However, it doesn’t come as fast as you would have imagined.
Table of Contents
First off, you must be able to secure the equipment to carry out the job. This entails investing in good equipment (but note, it doesn’t need to be the best). Real estate photography is expected to bring forth a set of images to your client that they can use for whatever purpose that would make their businesses flourish. Next is being able to shoot like a professional. There are rules to real estate photography that help spell out what a good image looks like. With this, it can then be said that professional real estate photography takes quite some time to practice and master and is not an overnight deal.
What is Real Estate Photography?
The name itself sheds light on what it does – taking photos of real estate. But real estate photography does not end here. It isn’t just taking a complete set of photos and getting out of the property. This requires careful craftsmanship that spans from the pre-shoot all the way to post processing.
Casing the Property Prior to the Session
It is the job of every real estate photography professional to go to the site and check it out before the actual day of the shoot. They must be able to find the best angles and areas where the result could boost the sales even faster. Looking at the property, the best facets could be what sells it better and thus must be assessed for usability of drone real estate photography or even twilight shots.
Day of the Shoot
On the day of the photoshoot, professional real estate photography must already be able to capture mesmerizing shots. They are able to find the best time of the day for light to come through and make the image highly visible and find the angles and heights that best showcase the details of the real estate.
Post-Processing as a Crucial Task
Real estate photography jobs also entail being able to enhance photos and remove imperfections brought about by the camera. The task is not limited to, but includes color correction, light and exposure distribution, distortion rectification, object removal, and sky replacement.
How Do I Get Started in Real Estate Photography?
As you’ve probably now decided you want a prosperous career in real estate photography, consider what might get you in the game so you can work your way up with the right habits and attitude. It won’t be an easy road that’s for sure, but if you are dead serious about pursuing this for a good number of years or even the rest of your life, then by all means do check out this short list.
Getting Your Gear Together
Equipment is the investment you would need to make in order to capture good images and edit them properly. Your first on the list is a full-frame mirror DSLR that will be your main weapon for this job. Second comes the necessary accessories that would aid the camera to do its work properly. Real estate photography accessories will include lenses, tripods, and carry bags. These alone will suffice in bringing you stability, depth, and even convenience.
Learning the Ropes
As in anything, stating out with baby steps is a good way to get the entire ball rolling. You don’t need to jump ahead to 3D real estate photography if you haven’t gone through the basics and have learned to use them in actuality. Start by reading blogs, joining forums, and maybe getting your hands dirty with shooting a lot of sample photos. This way, you can marry theory and practice and see for yourself what people mean by adjusting parameters on their camera.
Understanding the Business
The real estate business has its own behavior. Looking at trends and seasonality could get you to fathom what is needed from a real estate photography professional at certain times of the year. With this knowledge, you can get to make certain adjustments to your capacity and perhaps choose to outsource in order to gain better flexibility.
How Do Professionals Shoot Real Estate Photos?
Shooting real estate photos will have dos and don’ts and such rules exist for the betterment of every professional in the industry.
Guide to Shooting Exteriors
Taking photos of outside the property needs the proper lighting. Choosing the time of the day that provides the lightest is your best friend and you can even score some additional angles with the availability of natural light. Also consider the vertical lines of your shot. Do not ever stand close to the property and shoot diagonally. This will create a buckled view which might render post-processing a difficult time to straighten out so get it right the first time,
Getting the Best Interior Shots
For interiors, it is best to use natural light as well. Open curtains and let the light in but don’t forget to perform window pulls when needed to get rid of the glare. In this space, HDR or high dynamic range photos could also be of significant help. If the room is contrasted with dark shades with a lot of light coming from the window, take the opportunity to shoot bracketed shots. Lastly, get some good composition in the room. You may have heard of the rule of thirds and shooting from corners and the likes to make a shot look beautiful. These boost the look of your image by a thousandfold.
Is Real Estate Photography in Demand?
Yes, it is. With the constant movement of people around the country, real estate photography will never go out of the market. In fact, as the era of the pandemic starts to wane, we see people buying more property thus, increasing demand and trickling down to editing services and even as far back as photography services.
Final Thoughts
Knowing all of these can help you jumpstart a career in real estate photography. Not only would you find the learning curve go up in your end but also the fulfilment that could span the rest of your career. Bottom line is, take the first step and you would be surprised where this all brings you.
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