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

annietex wrote in post #13833807
... For this house I did my best to "Polish the Turd". This guy had just painted practically the whole house, installed new flooring, and replaced part of his backyard fence. ...

Based on your description of the house, those shots present a good first impression to a buyer. And that could be critical in selling a house that has some rough edges. I'll leave the technical critique up to someone who knows what they're talking about - they look good to me.

In most areas, brokers have a weekly "caravan" which consists of a list of mid-week mid-morning open houses so that brokers can familiarize themselves with the new inventory. A good business goal would be to schedule a shooting each week. You could hang out at the open house, meeting brokers while preparing for the photo shoot. The sessions could be complimentary or (my preference) get a handshake agreement that if your photos are used, the broker will pay you $300 through escrow when the sale closes. (If a brokers screws you on that arrangement, no big deal. You were thinking of doing it for free anyway.) Within a month of attending open houses, you'll know every broker in town.

cacawcacaw wrote in post #13836718
Based on your description of the house, those shots present a good first impression to a buyer. And that could be critical in selling a house that has some rough edges. I'll leave the technical critique up to someone who knows what they're talking about - they look good to me.

In most areas, brokers have a weekly "caravan" which consists of a list of mid-week mid-morning open houses so that brokers can familiarize themselves with the new inventory. A good business goal would be to schedule a shooting each week. You could hang out at the open house, meeting brokers while preparing for the photo shoot. The sessions could be complimentary or (my preference) get a handshake agreement that if your photos are used, the broker will pay you $300 through escrow when the sale closes. (If a brokers screws you on that arrangement, no big deal. You were thinking of doing it for free anyway.) Within a month of attending open houses, you'll know every broker in town.

Thanks, I appreciate your comments on the photos. I'm still learning, but I guess I'm doing something right if this house looks good.

I'll have to ask about the broker caravan. I know they're the ones to talk to get hired. My agent friend had mentioned shooting models too. Do any of you guys do that?

Thanks again for all of your input!

[QUOTE=SuperHuman21;13​835892]

GadgetRick wrote in post #13835687
They say only 15% of listings (nationwide) have professional photos. That means that 85% either have no photos or (probably) have the typical horrible shots.QUOTE]

Really? That's quite a helpful piece of information. What's the source? I want to branch out into side-gigs with RE on the weekends if possible later this year and as you know, information is power.

Probably from this blog post from last year that Redfin put up:

http://blog.redfin.com …ollars_true_or_​false.html

[QUOTE=SuperHuman21;13​835892]

GadgetRick wrote in post #13835687
They say only 15% of listings (nationwide) have professional photos. That means that 85% either have no photos or (probably) have the typical horrible shots.QUOTE]

Really? That's quite a helpful piece of information. What's the source? I want to branch out into side-gigs with RE on the weekends if possible later this year and as you know, information is power.

It was in a Wall Street Journal article. I can't seem to find the article at the moment. I originally found it while researching on the Photography Real Estate site.

A step farther is that less than 50% of homes listed for $1 million or more have professional photos.

[QUOTE=Cascadian;13838​754]

SuperHuman21 wrote in post #13835892
Probably from this blog post from last year that Redfin put up:

http://blog.redfin.com …ollars_true_or_​false.html

I haven't seen that blog but it looks interesting.

Thanks for the blog link. I posted it on my Facebook page.

As I was reading the Redfin article, the thought came to mind that most real estate agents are still going to be inclined to photograph their own listings.

By offering classes in Basic Real Estate Photography (either through the extension program at a community college or by teaming up with a firm that offers licensing education credits for agents) you could make some money teaching, and get audiences for an instructional sales pitch that shows both the value of professional photographs and how hard it is to produce good photos.

Another corporate architecture gig:

lighting was two einsteins CL bounced off a wall about 20 feet left. A little stronger lighting than usual, but the architect emphasized that he wanted to really show the curve of the ceiling.

Tough vantage point: cubicles to my left and the wall to my right, really limited comp.

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cacawcacaw wrote in post #13844157
As I was reading the Redfin article, the thought came to mind that most real estate agents are still going to be inclined to photograph their own listings.

By offering classes in Basic Real Estate Photography (either through the extension program at a community college or by teaming up with a firm that offers licensing education credits for agents) you could make some money teaching, and get audiences for an instructional sales pitch that shows both the value of professional photographs and how hard it is to produce good photos.

That's not a bad idea.

Caution: these were taken by a real estate agent (me). Time for me to post for some CC. Tell me how to improve. This is a typical 2-story home in our area. No flash, all except front image are enfused images using LR/Enfuse. Still learning the OCF thing.

[QUOTE=GadgetRick;1384​0588]

SuperHuman21 wrote in post #13835892
It was in a Wall Street Journal article. I can't seem to find the article at the moment. I originally found it while researching on the Photography Real Estate site.

A step farther is that less than 50% of homes listed for $1 million or more have professional photos.

[QUOTE=Cascadian;13838​754]

SuperHuman21 wrote in post #13835892
Probably from this blog post from last year that Redfin put up:

http://blog.redfin.com …ollars_true_or_​false.html

Nice. Thanks guys! That's some good info.

GDH wrote in post #13844570
Caution: these were taken by a real estate agent (me).

*Awkward looks around the room*

My biggest suggestion would be to not shoot a house dead-on if there's a tree blocking the view.

Thanks SH21, I would have loved to cut that tree down. Unfortunately, seller might have noticed.

GDH wrote in post #13844570
Caution: these were taken by a real estate agent (me). Time for me to post for some CC. Tell me how to improve. This is a typical 2-story home in our area. No flash, all except front image are enfused images using LR/Enfuse. Still learning the OCF thing.

I think these look really good. I know all to well about the trees right in the front yard....I hate those things. I had one today with two trees in the front so I had to move down the street so that I could still get the home and only have just one tree in the front of it. However, when the leaves are all gone, I don't think it is as much of an issue. That tree is not near as bad in your shot as it would have been in the Summer.

I like the angles you shot from in your interior shots, good straight lines, good balance of highlights and shadows, I think you did a really good job.

GDH wrote in post #13844827
Thanks SH21, I would have loved to cut that tree down. Unfortunately, seller might have noticed.

TGrundvig wrote in post #13844851
I think these look really good. I know all to well about the trees right in the front yard....I hate those things. I had one today with two trees in the front so I had to move down the street so that I could still get the home and only have just one tree in the front of it. However, when the leaves are all gone, I don't think it is as much of an issue. That tree is not near as bad in your shot as it would have been in the Summer.

I like the angles you shot from in your interior shots, good straight lines, good balance of highlights and shadows, I think you did a really good job.

^What he said!

Good job Mike. Did the architect like it ?

mikekelley wrote in post #13844301
Another corporate architecture gig:

lighting was two einsteins CL bounced off a wall about 20 feet left. A little stronger lighting than usual, but the architect emphasized that he wanted to really show the curve of the ceiling.

Tough vantage point: cubicles to my left and the wall to my right, really limited comp.

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Director's Guild of America detail by mike kelley / mpkelley.com, on Flickr