Real Estate Photography

I was hoping to speak with some experienced real estate photographers on here about doing this sort of photography as a side business. I am a student and I am available for 4 days out of each week so I feel like I could do this sort of thing on the side and still get my school study time and work completed successfully.

I am not sure where to start because I have never actually charged for photography.

I am pretty proficient with photoshop and I have a good range of lenses 11-16mm, 24mm, 50mm, 18-55mm, 70-200mm and I am using a regular crop sensor T3i and a sturdy tripod with a heavy 26lb capacity ballhead.

I have done BPO's for my mother in law who is a real eastate agent in the past but nothing beyond that.

So now I am wondering how to approach potential clients without being invasive, how much to charge since I am definitely an amateur, rules for landscape/architechtur​al photography, how to plan a shoot based on the direction the home faces and where the sun is in the sky at the time of the shoot, and if I need to make a protfolio or website to do this. I am also not sure how much money this could bring in. I am hoping to keep stuff under the table and make a couple hundred bucks but if this starts paying out big I suppose I will have to LLC myself and start book keeping for tax reasons.

Any advice form some local members would be fantastic. Thanks

Wes,

I don't think anyone is going to help you get paid "under the table". If everyone else has to pay their taxes, you do too. Registering for a business is very easy and inexpensive anyways.

Besides that, you will need to at the very least be able to shoot realistic HDR (low end). If you bring the flashes out and your work is really great, then you will be able to charge more.

You are basically asking how to make money through photography. There is no magic answer to getting clients. Try a few things and see what works for you.

I hope this doesn't come across as glib, but my business advice for you would be to not even be thinking of charging for your work until you're actually really really good. How good are you ? Have you shared your work here and received critique ?

Hmm, some interesting points so far. I could manage some good HDR via infuse in an environment with strong highlight/shadow contrast. I understand that there is no magic way to sell photography but if anyone has approached a real estate agency would they mind explaining their preferred method, or did the real estate agency come to you?

Chris, I have not submitted very much for critique but I am glad you mentioned that because I have won a position in the auburn arboretum photography contest for 2 years in a row now, I suppose that would be a good reference. Submission for critique is a good idea, I would have to start taking my shots more seriously as I usually tend to have fun. At what point in time do you know that you are really really good?

calypsob wrote in post #16450246
Chris, I have not submitted very much for critique but I am glad you mentioned that because I have won a position in the auburn arboretum photography contest for 2 years in a row now, I suppose that would be a good reference.

Not really relevant unless the images that you submitted were architectural or similar to the RE shots that you want to get into.

There is a massive difference in shooting RE and landscapes, sport or automotive, portraits, weddings etc...

Take some RE photos and let us have a look - people will definately give you their opinions.

Architectural work demands TS lenses and full frame cameras. A geared head would be preferrable as well, as ball heads do tend to travel even if slightly.

Getting work under the radar? I'm not really sure whether to feel angry or chuckle. For grins, well, any serious business is going to require an invoice for their own tax purposes. If you can't provide them with one they'll hire someone who can, someone who carries insurance, and someone who does tell them he's a established professional, not an amateur. Clients do not appreciate being told by the photographer that he's 'definitely an amateur': it does not make them feel confident. OTOH, if that's what you are, saying otherwise is lying.

What gets under my skin is that in spite of the above, someone might actually bite the bullet and hire an amateur and pay him peanuts, taking work away from established professionals that are committed to the trade full time. Not that most professionals would want to work with such a client, but it still cheapens a mite a profession whose practitioners already have a bit of a hard time justifying their rates and effort to clients that become less and less appreciative of good photography as more and more devices for image making are being made available to the masses.

Alveric;16450446]Archi​tectural work demands TS lenses and full frame cameras. A geared head would be preferrable as well, as ball heads do tend to travel even if slightly.

Yea I don't plan on doing stitched panoramic pieces, simple BPO shots that get compressed for web viewing are fine. I'm not trying to get an entry in Dwell Magazine..yet

Getting work under the radar? I'm not really sure whether to feel angry or chuckle. For grins, well, any serious business is going to require an invoice for their own tax purposes. If you can't provide them with one they'll hire someone who can, someone who carries insurance, and someone who does tell them he's a established professional, not an amateur. Clients do not appreciate being told by the photographer that he's 'definitely an amateur': it does not make them feel confident. OTOH, if that's what you are, saying otherwise is lying.
Good call, I anticipated this. In regards to amateurism, you have to start somewhere hence the discount.

What gets under my skin is that in spite of the above, someone might actually bite the bullet and hire an amateur and pay him peanuts, taking work away from established professionals that are committed to the trade full time. Not that most professionals would want to work with such a client, but it still cheapens a mite a profession whose practitioners already have a bit of a hard time justifying their rates and effort to clients that become less and less appreciative of good photography as more and more devices for image making are being made available to the masses.

You have a good point but that is the great thing about the free market. People have the choice to pick and choose services based upon what they desire, in fact I'm going to capitalize on this principle directly. If your practitioners have a hard time justifying rates then they are probably too high already. If full time photographers are afraid I will take away their work then it looks like they better find a new job. That is how business works.

I just got back from the dudly hall architectural library and came up with some fantastic literature covering photography of architectural composition, lighting, and in depth technical studies. About 17 books in total, way more than I originally anticipated and I am excited none the less. I didn't anticipate getting this deep into the subject matter but this field truly is fascinating. Now if anyone on here is an actual real estate photographer please feel free to chime in on some advice. I will always take the humble role and call myself an amateur for the sake of gathering unknown details, I am new to real estate composition but not to photography. Everyone starts somewhere when it comes to doing business and I am certainly not backing down.

I shoot 3-5 real estate properties a month.

1) Real Estate Photos and Architectural photos are completely different. There will be no special lighting, TS lenses, or staging for real estate photos.
2) You will need a portfolio of solid photos of at least 5 homes including at least 1 $300K+ luxury property. Make a post card of your best images and mail it or drop it off to every real estate agent you can find.
3)There are better camera choices than the T3 and the Tokina, but it does come down to image quality and same day turn around.
4) You will need to live in an area with many $200K+ properties. Agents won't pay for pictures of sub $100 houses.
5) Standard Rates for my market are $150 for a $150-400K property and $250 for a $400K+.
6) You will need to be very time responsive to be successful and do shoots within 48 hours with photos delivered that same night.
7) A regular shoot will take about an hour for a clean house. Your biggest challenges will be messy houses and lawns and wasting time waiting for something to be cleaned or moved.
8) You will need an LLC, invoice system, solid transportation, and responsive communication.
9) Architectural and luxury property magazines are good inspiration. HDR images always look bad to me.

-Scott

Its not lucrative and you will need to work for top agents to stay busy.

^^^ Concise information from someone who's actually doing it. Good post.

calypsob wrote in post #16450562
Alveric;16450446] Now if anyone on here is an actual real estate photographer please feel free to chime in on some advice.

From someone who shoots RE almost daily, I agree with most of the points that Scott mentioned. The numbers that Scott mentioned are for his marketplace, but with a little work, it isn't hard to find those for your marketplace. Also look at your competition to see what quality that you will at least need to match as well as turn around time and what agents are willing to pay. Most of being successful in it is business knowledge, not photography knowledge.

sspellman wrote in post #16450820
I shoot 3-5 real estate properties a month.

1) Real Estate Photos and Architectural photos are completely different. There will be no special lighting, TS lenses, or staging for real estate photos.
2) You will need a portfolio of solid photos of at least 5 homes including at least 1 $300K+ luxury property. Make a post card of your best images and mail it or drop it off to every real estate agent you can find.
3)There are better camera choices than the T3 and the Tokina, but it does come down to image quality and same day turn around.
4) You will need to live in an area with many $200K+ properties. Agents won't pay for pictures of sub $100 houses.
5) Standard Rates for my market are $150 for a $150-400K property and $250 for a $400K+.
6) You will need to be very time responsive to be successful and do shoots within 48 hours with photos delivered that same night.
7) A regular shoot will take about an hour for a clean house. Your biggest challenges will be messy houses and lawns and wasting time waiting for something to be cleaned or moved.
8) You will need an LLC, invoice system, solid transportation, and responsive communication.
9) Architectural and luxury property magazines are good inspiration. HDR images always look bad to me.

-Scott

Its not lucrative and you will need to work for top agents to stay busy.

Scott,
thank you very much for your professional insight on everything! I think I am in a good location to begin building a portfolio, I suppose I will start out by shooting some homes of people that I already know, fortunately I know quite a few million dollar homes of which I could photograph, although they are not actually for sale. Scott if you don't mind me asking, how did you get into real estate photography and what did you use for resources? Thanks

adam8080 wrote in post #16450888
From someone who shoots RE almost daily, I agree with most of the points that Scott mentioned. The numbers that Scott mentioned are for his marketplace, but with a little work, it isn't hard to find those for your marketplace. Also look at your competition to see what quality that you will at least need to match as well as turn around time and what agents are willing to pay. Most of being successful in it is business knowledge, not photography knowledge.

Ok good call, I like your insight on investigating the quality of the competition. Fortunately my business knowledge is pretty good so getting an LLC setup and legitimizing myself on the market should not be much of a problem.

Just as a note, your 11-16 isn't ideal. It has green lens flare when shooting into light sources (which is inevitable with RE), and purple lens flare (especially in the shadows) in the center when shooting high contrast scenes.

Oh, and an LLC is probably overkill. You are shooting homes not people, and as a kid in college, you probably don't have many assets.

adam8080 wrote in post #16451144
Just as a note, your 11-16 isn't ideal. It has green lens flare when shooting into light sources (which is inevitable with RE), and purple lens flare (especially in the shadows) in the center when shooting high contrast scenes.

What lens(es) do you recommend?