A thread for real estate, architectural, and interior design photography

I'd prefer somewhere between low, not shifted, and low, shifted down.

that's a tough shot, either way.

What I like about the higher position is that the view clears the counter top and the fourniture, you see more floor, more of the stove etc. There is more dirtortion and more wide-angle effect.

mikekelley wrote in post #11172483
I'd prefer somewhere between low, not shifted, and low, shifted down.

that's a tough shot, either way.

i'm messing with it right now and its definitely tough lol. in your edited version of my pic did you have to patch the top left hand corner in?

Yup - had to do some quick clone work. I would have been more precise had this been for a client, but it gets the point across

TGrundvig wrote in post #11172375
I never stand upright and point down, you will always get results like this. The camera must be level. The best way to view this is to look through the viewfinder and make sure the vertical lines (walls, doors, etc.) are parallel with the sides of the frame. Most of the time, I squat down or take a knee (if hand held) or I lower the tripod to about 4 or 5 feet from the ground. This way you get an even balance of floor and ceiling and keep the image level.

Thx for your experience. I'm going to try and see which works best but i need to get a tripod first! it was either the tripod or the tokie 11-16

djharmonix wrote in post #11172463
wow! nice success story!
It helps with the motivation, thank you!

Here's a test I did today. We were talking about the camera height position the other day.

I took four shots, 2 different camera height, then shifted and not shifted.
Those are simple raw conversion, not corrected for distortion or anything.

High camera position - Shifted down

So what do you prefer?

mikekelley wrote in post #11172570
Yup - had to do some quick clone work. I would have been more precise had this been for a client, but it gets the point across

haha for sure. I was just asking because i when I was trying to edit my version and i kept having that corner missing so I double checked urs to see if you did anything and I noticed you did a bit of cloning. I actually learned a lot in this exercise and was able to duplicate your version.

Awesome! Glad I could help

itsmejson wrote in post #11172610
Thx for your experience. I'm going to try and see which works best but i need to get a tripod first! it was either the tripod or the tokie 11-16

If it is bright enough you can get away with hand held for a lot of shots. At least, that's how it is here in CO. I have shot entire homes hand held because it was so bright. Just practice getting the vertical lines straight.

TGrundvig wrote in post #11173727
If it is bright enough you can get away with hand held for a lot of shots. At least, that's how it is here in CO. I have shot entire homes hand held because it was so bright. Just practice getting the vertical lines straight.

grt thanks for the advice

I want to offer a reality check... Like Mike, I'm actually a licensed real estate broker. I recently retired due to a medical issue, but for the last several years, a portion of my job in the corporate office of a major real estate firm was compiling market statistics and trends.

In my area I continue to see thousands of unsold homes, foreclosure rates increasing, and real estate professionals dropping out of the business. The agents who are still working are barely keeping their heads above water and are foregoing extra marketing expenses like professional photographers, opting instead to do it themselves.

In my own former employer, many of the top producers only use their own salaried marketing staff to shoot photos rather than hired photographers. Some are quite good and some are horrid. (I had the job of editing the horrid shoots)

Bottom line is, no matter what the talking heads on network news broadcasts say, the residential real estate market is still in a downward spiral, and far from hitting bottom. What do you see in your own region? How are you marketing your services? How are YOU adjusting to the extremely poor residential real estate market conditions?

Our area is turning around. I'm just getting into the business, but want to be certain that I have all the tools in the toolbox before I start promoting myself. I'm getting there, and am about ready. I have made a couple of calls, and offered introductory deals to get in the door. I think that a large percentage are taking snaps and calling it a listing. I hope to turn some of that around. I think the biggest issue is we want payment now for something the realtor may not even get sold. I'm not in a location with a lot of vacation rentals, so no go there. One way to go would be to be paid after the closing (sounds bad to me). I'm hoping not to have to do that. I am planning on selling as digital downloads, and let the ecommerce site collect the money for me - the risk? they don't like anything and don't buy - the advantage - you don't like anything, you don't pay. so for now, I'm either out up front, o.k., or out altogether. but this way the realtor can gracefully walk away. I hope the market turns around quickly, but don't imagine it will.

it's FAR from being that bad in Canada, and the market is actually pretty healthy in Montreal.

Scott, maybe a combo of those scenarios might work for you.

Say, two options:

a) money up front but at a lower cost.

b) no money up front, but a higher cost to be paid when closed, and maybe a clause that stipulates the fee in option "a" to be paid after a certain amount of time (3 mo or 6 mo) if the listing doesn't close.

That way, you get paid no matter what, and it gives the realtor the option that best suits what they think the market will do, and the property in particular.

Yes, I certainly would have a different price point if I was going to have to toss the dice with the realtor - however, it would add to the argument that a better set of photographs will help get people in the door, and being willing to wait would imply that I'm confident enough in my work to wait because I'm sure it will happen. The fun part would be tracking closings with all the realtors. I'm sure some would "forget" - and more than once.

Does anyone else wait until closing to be paid?

My customer pay me on the spot or after getting invoiced (when they receive the pictures).

Within 15 days or no more pictures for them.

ScottKCooper wrote in post #11174693
Yes, I certainly would have a different price point if I was going to have to toss the dice with the realtor ...

Just a reminder that the NAR is really touchy about the use of the word "realtor". It's not synonymous with real estate agent or broker, and in print, it has to be: REALTOR®.

ScottKCooper wrote in post #11174693
Does anyone else wait until closing to be paid?

In my area, photographers typically want payment on delivery. If under exclusive contract with a broker, common payment terms can be arranged. Waiting until closing for payment is an option I would never agree to. Deals fall through, contracts get canceled due to bad inspections, one buyer party loses his/her job, mortgage rates suddenly spike prior to closing, etc.