Real estate photography is a great way to showcase properties and attract potential buyers. However, there are some common mistakes that photographers make when taking real estate photos. In this article, we'll discuss the six most common mistakes that real estate photographers make and how to avoid them. The first mistake is forgetting to balance the color of the light.
When it comes to lenses, some people think that “the wider the better”. While a wide-angle lens is needed for most ads, you'll want to avoid using a lens that's too wide. Any object larger than 10 mm in a camera with a cropped sensor or 16 mm in a full-sensor camera begins to fall under the classification of fisheye lenses. These ultra-wide lenses have much more distortion and end up making it difficult to really see clearly.
This degree of distortion also makes it incredibly difficult to straighten lines and correct lens distortion when editing. Your images will end up looking like amateur snapshots instead of professional photos. I usually film real estate projects between 16 and 20 mm (with a camera with a full sensor), and 16 mm are only used in small spaces out of necessity. As with all recommendations, you'll want to experiment a bit on your own and find the ideal process for you. Doing some research to see what is the best job in your area will also give you insight into customer expectations and the things you do that you don't want to emulate. The key is simply to know what you're getting into with each job.
There are many jobs that can be done quite well with just a 24-70 mm or 24-105 mm lens, if the interiors are spacious and the desired images are simple compositions. One mistake a real estate photographer can make when taking their first jobs is simply having the wrong objective. One way to ensure that you don't spend more time than necessary is to have a general list of photos planned for all your real estate photography tasks. Therefore, beautiful and attractive real estate photographs go a long way in encouraging your potential customers to make the final decision. It's very easy for us to get caught up in every photo, but real estate clients don't usually look for artistic works.
It may be the real estate agent or the company that gets into trouble, but you could still find yourself dragged into a huge fiasco that wastes your time as a photographer. Even if your retouching work with Photoshop is minimal, another cardinal sin of real estate photography is processing your images in such an exaggerated way that the tones and colors themselves are not only unnatural, but also unattractive. One of the fastest ways to improve your level of real estate photography is to make sure that all your lines are square. With simple editing, such as noise reduction, white balance, contrast, exposure, lens correction, color adjustments, resizing, and cropping and removing the background, your real estate photographs can give your presentation a professional look. In almost every real estate photo, your goal is to focus everything, so in most cases you'll have to stop the lens. The best thing you can do for your aspirations as a real estate photographer is to charge a fair price as soon as you're qualified. In real estate photography, the delivery time required for each job may vary, but it's not uncommon for the client to expect, and even require, the images as soon as possible.
To create professional real estate photos, remember to keep these common mistakes in mind. If you start working with a real estate agent on a regular basis, they will eventually pass the information on to the landlord without you having to remind them.
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