Real estate photography has many challenges presented for any photographer. The photos they will capture can ultimately make or break the sale of someone’s home. When photos make the home look stunning it will attract multiple buyers, but if real estate photography challenges get in the way it can cause the photos to not look so stunning decreasing the chance of attracting potential buyers.
In this article we will discuss the challenges that real estate photographers face and how they can overcome them to improve their real estate photography skills.
Dynamic Range
Overcoming dynamic range in the interior of homes can be a challenge for real estate photographers. This is where the room will look much darker than the windows in the room. If you expose the image of the area you’re photographing then the window will look like a bright featureless shape and it will be difficult to decipher that it is a window without seeing the features. On the other hand, if you expose a photo of the window, then the whole room will become much darker and will be difficult to see clearly.
You could set up lights in the room to solve this problem. However, that can be time consuming and can also get pricey so the best solution is to take bracketed exposures. You take a few images of the room and merge them together in post-processing. Using bracketed exposure you will be able to get the full dynamic range of the room by transforming the exposure value of the photos taken. Once you blend these photos together you will get one beautiful image of the space.
Messy Properties
A messy home will not help sell the property if the images look disorganized. These are not the highlight photos you want to be taking for your clients who are trying to sell a home. A lot of people can develop cluttered homes over time especially if they have family and children. So how do you overcome photographing in a cluttered home if you’re trying to take the best images?
It is best to just be honest with the owners and explain to them that in order to get the best images with the best lighting a decluttered and organized home would look best for the photos to sell their home. Even the seller’s Realtor might have had a discussion with them about being organized and tidy to stage the property by the time the real estate photographer gets there. If the Realtor hasn’t talked to the sellers about organizing and staging the property then just be honest with the sellers and explain that having a tidy, organized home will look best in the pictures and get their house sold faster.
Taking Photos in Tight Spaces
Throughout your real estate photography career you’re bound to run into some rooms that have tight spaces and smaller areas. How are you going to photograph the area to highlight everything in the room as much as possible?
One easy solution is placing your tripod in the doorway so you have more available room to take a better picture. Some real estate photographers might prefer to use a wide angle lens, but this can also distort the images which is a downside to this solution. However, in post-processing you can always fix these distorted images. Another creative idea is to take several images of the room all around and create them into a panoramic view, but you could also have the same issue of distorted lines. You can always fix this during your post-processing session also.
Not Being Prepared for the Photo Shoot
All real estate photographers should always make sure they are well prepared to take the absolute best photos for their clients. If you are able to view the property beforehand to see what equipment would be best to have for the property and also so you can plan out what you will be photographing. If you’re not able to view the property beforehand, work with your past knowledge that you have photographing other properties and think about what you will need for each home. If you do have the option to view the house in person though before the photo shoot, it would be very beneficial so you have a better idea of what you will be expecting so you can plan ahead and be as prepared as possible to take the best photos.
There are many challenges that come with being a real estate photographer. Not every challenge is insurmountable and there are multiple solutions to many challenges being a real estate photographer. Take these tips from these challenges and use them for all your real estate photography projects to be successful.
