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Archive 2020 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips

  
 
Ming-Tzu
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


So he pretty much crouched down into room corners and shot wide angle aiming diagonally across to the other corner of the room?

Gunzorro wrote:
I've shot a lot of commercial real estate (and some upper-end residential) using 4x5, and later digital FF with 17 and 24 TSE lenses.

Your plan sounds good, and there has been a lot of good advice here.

We just listed our California home and put on the market. I was pretty impressed by the images from the realtor's photographer, who came in and shot the house in about 30 minutes. He used a Canon 5D3 and 16-35/2.8L II lens, shot from about 3' above the floor, shooting a lot into diagonal corners (showing mostly two walls). I was surprised how
...Show more



Jun 12, 2020 at 03:25 PM
supermario343
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


I have shot real estate for a few years now and worked with many agents. Currently using the z7ii with 14-24z lens. One thing to really keep in mind is lighting. Be careful of shadows from light sources as well as it will protrude onto your ceilings/walls. Drone shots are almost a must now a days as many of the agents demand them for their listings. PM me if you have any other questions, have fun with it, and good luck!


Aug 31, 2021 at 10:14 AM
Peter Figen
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


AmbientMike wrote:
Like I said, $24k for both agents. Both sides. That's still a pretty good chunk of change to help generate, even at only 5%, for only $40. Or whatever the going rate is for real estate photography. Seems ridiculous.

The relative I help found a 4% agent. Had to change the locks out at one place, thought I'd see if she was showing it, so I didn't give her a key. Never heard from her. But I think a lot of the under 6% disappeared after things got a lot tougher after the 2008 debacle.


What I found in the last four years and selling all of my father's properties after he died in 2017 is that you kind of get what you pay for. My brother, who was co-trustee on two of the three trusts thought all the brokers were trying to screw us with their normal commissions but what he failed to realize was that, even though I had hired a long time friend (and broker) as the listing broker, and he agreed to do the entire portfolio of properties for two percent, if you didn't offer the purchasing brokers their normal price they simply would not bother to show the property as they deemed it not worth their while.

In many markets that's the reality of the situation and perhaps in others there's more flexibility, but what I do know is that once the buyer's broker is offered the normal commission, their participation rate goes way up and it becomes much easier to move the property. And maybe because we were selling about 10 million dollars of property, and I had hired my long time friend who is not enormously greedy, and whose profits mostly get funneled into his non-profit supporting the California Condor (www.rangeofthecondor.org) there was still enough incentive in it for him to go above and beyond what any normal broker would do to get things sold.



Aug 31, 2021 at 11:25 AM
AmbientMike
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips




Peter Figen wrote:
What I found in the last four years and selling all of my father's properties after he died in 2017 is that you kind of get what you pay for. My brother, who was co-trustee on two of the three trusts thought all the brokers were trying to screw us with their normal commissions but what he failed to realize was that, even though I had hired a long time friend (and broker) as the listing broker, and he agreed to do the entire portfolio of properties for two percent, if you didn't offer the purchasing brokers their normal
...Show more

Wow. Your friend sounds amazing!!! Only 2% and it's going to support condors? Unbelievable. Definitely not my experience with real estate agents. I'm not saying FSBO is easy but a lot of agents don't seem to do much even at full 6% and a nice for sale sign is under $20. 2% and they'll actually do something is amazing




Aug 31, 2021 at 12:08 PM
Peter Figen
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


AmbientMike wrote:
Wow. Your friend sounds amazing!!! Only 2% and it's going to support condors? Unbelievable. Definitely not my experience with real estate agents. I'm not saying FSBO is easy but a lot of agents don't seem to do much even at full 6% and a nice for sale sign is under $20. 2% and they'll actually do something is amazing



Well, when it's 6%, that's generally split equally between the buying and selling broker but not always, so when my buddy Don takes 2%, the buying broker is still getting 3% so the total is 5%. You're never going to find a combined commission of 2% unless the selling price is astronomical. And in the case if my dad's house, because of my brothers total inflexibility (and his veto vote) I worked behind the scenes to get both sides to give about ten grand or so to, in effect, raise the offer, something that was in all the paperwork but also something that I knew my brother would never read, so that's how we got the sale of that house through in the end.

Don spend literally hundreds of hours at my dad's house while we were getting it ready to sell, on top while a new roof ($90K) was being put on, underneath, bringing in his painters and cleaning crews and more importantly for me, personally helping me clear everything out the week before the new owner's took possession. His three person painting crew plus Don and myself spent ten hours a day for five days getting everything out and into an overpriced storage unit. Of course we paid the painters for their time - and I gave one of them a $5000 dinner table, but all Don charged me for was a rental truck and some incidental expenses, while there was not a single second of help on that account from my brother. And yet, he still bitched about everything, especially the table.

The Range of the Condor has now purchased several hundred acres in the Big Sur area of California as a start in preserving Condor habitat and is currently lobbying congress to expand the current protected area to include most of Los Padres Nat'l Forest all the way to southern Ca. and then back up the southern Sierra range. I believe Don showed me a check from a donor from Carmel for a cool half a million dollars in support of the effort. So far, all I've been able to do is help out on re-doing audio for some fundraising videos that were made. Kinda like Photoshop for audio and just as satisfying. Can we say Izotope RX-8? Yep.




Aug 31, 2021 at 12:26 PM
AmbientMike
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips



Peter Figen wrote:
Well, when it's 6%, that's generally split equally between the buying and selling broker but not always, so when my buddy Don takes 2%, the buying broker is still getting 3% so the total is 5%. You're never going to find a combined commission of 2% unless the selling price is astronomical. And in the case if my dad's house, because of my brothers total inflexibility (and his veto vote) I worked behind the scenes to get both sides to give about ten grand or so to, in effect, raise the offer, something that was in all the paperwork
...Show more

Wow. Your friend sounds truly amazing. Hundreds of hours of work! I hope that the condors can have their range expandedand and preserved. One of the most endangered birds.

A non profit we've been involved in for years had a piece of property that had been donated. They got an offer but the property several hundred miles away and nobody really knew if the property had much value. I tried calling real estate agents in the area, had a hard time getting them to call me back even. Granted not the best piece of property, and not much if any commission, but it was for a non-profit, and no commission for me either.

That's correct, I guess I'm rusty he gets 2% & the other gets 3% for 5% total. Also one of the better local agents may have been involved with her daughters fiancee trying to scam us out of a house more or less



Aug 31, 2021 at 12:43 PM
Peter Figen
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


AmbientMike wrote:
Wow. Your friend sounds truly amazing. Hundreds of hours of work! I hope that the condors can have their range expandedand and preserved. One of the most endangered birds.

A non profit we've been involved in for years had a piece of property that had been donated. They got an offer but the property several hundred miles away and nobody really knew if the property had much value. I tried calling real estate agents in the area, had a hard time getting them to call me back even. Granted not the best piece of property, and not much if any
...Show more

Mike - Don and I have been close friends since the late 70's and if I have a friend who is well qualified for the job I'd rather they get some benefit but only if they're well qualified. Don was a commercial photographer who I worked for way back then before he got his broker's license and took over a real estate office about twenty years ago. He's always been about forging relationships and it's never really been about the money and we knew we'd have an uphill battle dealing with my brother, so we devised different ways of circumventing the problem, and one of them, when selling an apartment complex in Salinas was to partner with the largest commercial broker in Monterey as a pre-emptive strike against my brother's unfounded argument that Don didn't know how to sell a commercial property. Don still did all the work but that solved dealing with my brother, so on that one Don only got 1 percent - still a nice payday, all in all. He's storing (and playing) my mother's old 1905 Steinway Vertigrand in his back bedroom while we figure out what to do with it and when I'm in Monterey, I always bring a couple of guitars and we jam for a few hours for one or two nights. The last time Gee brought an accordion and we had an impromptu trio going on.

So, yes, this is an extraordinary situation that doesn't happen every day, but who's to say it can't happen more often. It IS possible.




Aug 31, 2021 at 01:44 PM
Shaun Nyc
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


HDR kinda sucks, learn the flambient method. Rich Baum or Nathon cool. Actually just send your friend to Rich's youtube channel


Sep 01, 2021 at 08:10 AM
Gunzorro
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p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


Ming-Tzu wrote:
So he pretty much crouched down into room corners and shot wide angle aiming diagonally across to the other corner of the room?



Pretty much, but there were a lot of other angles too. Having owned and shot a lot with the 16-35 II zoom, I was impressed with the shots he got in such a short time. Even considering we were selling the house at the height of Covid, it sold pretty quickly, and the photos surely helped. Money well spent!



Oct 31, 2021 at 08:32 AM
RobySul
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p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


I think you've got great equipment to start and practice your photography skills. I don't know much about the real estate photography business, but I think you should take care of lightning and shadows. Besides that, I think you should choose the best position. It's not always a corner or something else, imo. You should have the best view of the house, hide its disadvantages. My friend moved into a new apartment recently, and it looked more beautiful in the photos than irl. Soon I wanna move too, hope I won't have the same situation. By the way, do you know how to make my moving easier? Does furniture lift help a lot? I didn't use it, and it was incredibly hard to move at the last time...

Edited on Mar 20, 2022 at 05:03 PM · View previous versions



Mar 17, 2022 at 05:52 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.2 #11 · p.2 #11 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


Peter Figen wrote:
"6% seems pretty standard. $24,000 total for both agents on a $400k home or property. "

Six percent has been the considered norm but it's often negotiated down to five percent or less in higher dollar properties and that commission is split between the buying and the selling retailer, so not $24K per but half that on that deal and perhaps less.


The "$400,000" got my attention, as a person living in the San Francisco Bay Area where some people spend that much on...

... a car. ;-)



Mar 17, 2022 at 10:37 PM
Ming-Tzu
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p.2 #12 · p.2 #12 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


Several years later and this "favor" for my friend is finally happening tomorrow haha. Just to clarify, I don't plan on making this a business (unless it goes really well). But still want to make sure I do this right because no point in doing it if it's not taken seriously.

From what I've been told, the apartment is located on the second floor of a three-story building. I'm trying to plan out the day in my head.

- My plan right now is to arrive early in the morning (to avoid foot/car traffic) and take a nice shot of the outside of the building with my 5d4 and TSE17 on a tripod. I had prior thoughts to use ND filters so that I can sort of blur out any cars/people that might be walking by (to get a clean shot of the exterior of the building), but just realized that the TSE17 doesn't fit my filter holder. So will just take the picture as-is. My other alternative is to use the TSE24 for the exterior shot and see if I have the properly sized filter holder, but not sure if that sort of shot is worth the effort.

- After that, I'll have a few hours before my friend arrives to let me into the apartment, so will spend some time walking around the neighborhood and take some pictures that a prospective tenant might be interested in (e.g. local park, farmer's market, etc.).

- Once I get into the apartment, I'm trying to visualize my setup. I've never really used MF-only lenses before so told my friend to let me know what she needs and then leave me alone, so I can take my time without any pressure haha. Right now, I am thinking of setting up the camera with 17TSE on a tripod primarily in the corner of rooms with enough room for me to stand behind the setup. A large aperture (F11? F16?) @ ISO 100, and adjust SS from there on a 2-second timer. With lights off to start off and see how it looks.

- Turn on Live View and zoom in on a foreground element to make sure in focus, and then do the same for a background element. Is that the proper way to make sure everything is in focus when using MF lenses?

- Once I get everything in focus, and the settings right, I'll just start snapping away. Composition-wise, I'll make sure to highlight what my friend wants in the picture, and know that I might have to do some stacking in PS if I have images with super high contrast (e.g. windows letting the bright sun come in with a relatively darker room, etc.).

- Question about using the TSE17 for this type of photography. I'll set up the camera on the tripod around chest level. Should I expect to use the shift for every picture indoors to make sure all the verticals remain that way? Just trying to think of every possible thing I might need to think about it.

Thanks for all the responses everybody! This will be the first time doing real estate pictures AND using a TSE lens, so it's gonna be boom or bust haha



Mar 30, 2022 at 03:43 PM
Lightsearcher
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p.2 #13 · p.2 #13 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


I photograph Real Estate very often and I think with the advice already given here and your set up you will be fine .
I own a 24mm T&S but my 14-24mm f2.8 is my favorite in this situations.

Flambient technique and blend it in Lightroom/PS

https://marcelobarrera.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3000603578-6.jpg

https://marcelobarrera.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3010744113-6.jpg

https://marcelobarrera.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3000603577-6.jpg

https://marcelobarrera.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3125834670-6.jpg

https://marcelobarrera.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3459526649-5.jpg

https://marcelobarrera.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3457721525-6.jpg




Mar 30, 2022 at 04:07 PM
Ming-Tzu
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p.2 #14 · p.2 #14 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


Incredible photos! Reading about the flambient technique. My initial thought was to not use on-camera flash and adjust settings where the interior is properly exposed. So maybe use bounce flash off the ceiling is better? Hmmm need to think it through.


Mar 30, 2022 at 04:27 PM
Shaun Nyc
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p.2 #15 · p.2 #15 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


Ming-Tzu wrote:
Incredible photos! Reading about the flambient technique. My initial thought was to not use on-camera flash and adjust settings where the interior is properly exposed. So maybe use bounce flash off the ceiling is better? Hmmm need to think it through.


If you're going to use flam instead of bracketing exposures for hdr, you'll need to get this method down at home. You cant do it the first time on a job lol. Yes light will be off camera usually 18" from ceilings. I would usually handhold speed light unless room requires two speedlights. There are a few manual settings youll need to understand as far as desired iso (320) shutter speeds etc, its all manual shooting. Sometimes one flash shot & one ambient can get it done but many times a dedicated window pull can really improve windows in sun lit rooms. These photos will be imported into PS as layers from LR and the idea is to paint (mask) ambient layer back onto the flash layer. This is an older basic single speedlight video from Nathan cool.




Mar 31, 2022 at 07:31 AM
Danpbphoto
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p.2 #16 · p.2 #16 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


Ming-Tzu wrote:
Thanks for the advice everybody! I have RRS gear panos (nodal rail, etc) but don't feel like spending that much time and effort for this. I'll probably just try to keep it basic. 17tse and 24tse, which I already have, with the 5d4 on a tripod. F11. Exposure bracketing if needed.


Lovin the 18-300 M-T!! Thanks for being obliging!

And YES to a TS-E use!
Dan



Edited on Mar 31, 2022 at 10:04 AM · View previous versions



Mar 31, 2022 at 09:51 AM
Danpbphoto
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p.2 #17 · p.2 #17 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


Lightsearcher wrote:
I photograph Real Estate very often and I think with the advice already given here and your set up you will be fine .
I own a 24mm T&S but my 14-24mm f2.8 is my favorite in this situations.

Flambient technique and blend it in Lightroom/PS


Marcelo, this is just beautiful photography! So well done! I am sure your clients are more than satisfied with your work!

Dan




Mar 31, 2022 at 09:53 AM
Ming-Tzu
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p.2 #18 · p.2 #18 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


Here the pictures I put together for this property:

https://postimg.cc/gallery/hPGyzZs

Canon 5D4 with the TSE-17. Framing and composition approved by the landlord/friend. I think she wanted to highlight the spaciousness of the rooms, along with that brick wall in the back BR. Also wanted to accentuate the street view from the front BR but gloomy day so tough to show (personally).

Overall, I thought it was pretty difficult as far as figuring out what aspects of each room to highlight (without my friend there). I guess that only comes with experience and what the client eventually wants. Most of the shots were definitely not waist-level, more like on a tripod without the legs extended so fairly close to the ground. Not sure if that's how it's normally done or not.

Thanks for all the tips everybody! Using the TSE was actually pretty fun!



Apr 25, 2022 at 01:42 AM
mulder32
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p.2 #19 · p.2 #19 · Beginner Real Estate Photography Tips


I shoot RE for a living and actually have a Youtube channel pretty much dedicated to it. Lots of business topics but I do have some shooting and editing stuff as well. I do not do HDR but use flash and ambient mixed together.

https://www.youtube.com/c/focalpointphotographyllc



Sep 23, 2022 at 08:08 AM
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