Selling your real estate can easily become a daunting task. With so many competitors on the market, you may be wondering how to make your listing stand above the rest.
One of the most important parts of selling your property is the ability to provide beautiful lighting in your images. In this article, we will examine the top ways to take your real estate photography to the next level by using the right lighting, equipment, settings, composition, and post production techniques.
Keep in mind that these lighting setups can vary just as much as different properties. So try to mix and match what works best for you depending on the spaces.
Real Estate Lighting
The first thing you want to examine when shooting interiors is your light. Take a look at the room. Where are the windows located? Is there any natural light? What happens if you open the curtains or close them? Many real estate lighting specialists will play around with different lighting settings in each room before deciding on the perfect shot.
Also, think about the time of day you are shooting. The lighting changes throughout the day and the best real estate photographers have found that shooting at sunset is the best time to match the lighting from the outdoors to your indoor lighting. You may also find it’s better to turn off all the lights in your room and open the curtains fully to let all that beautiful sunset light pour in for dramatic and natural effect.
Equipment
When shooting real estate photography it’s best to use a full frame camera whenever possible. When it comes to lenses you will want a wide angle lens, but make sure it’s not so wide that it begins to distort the image. Many real estate photographers use the 14-24mm lens or similar, it’s important not to go too wide on your lenses because potential buyers are upset when the photo makes the rooms look larger than they actually are in real life.
You will also want to invest in a really solid and secure tripod. A tripod is vital to holding your camera steady to avoid any motion blur in your real estate images. You will not want to skip out on buying a tripod. It is very important.
Lastly, in most lighting situations two speed lights will work great for illuminating your rooms. You can set them to manual and they are easy to transport because they are small and lightweight. Normally they will sync up with your on camera flash. So that when you push your shutter button they will flash at the same time. They can be handheld or mounted on a tripod. You will want to set them up in different parts of the room to illuminate corners that seem dark and too far from natural light.
They are also handy for making the light even from outside to inside. Using a flash is the best way to expose the views from outside your window as well. Potential buyers love seeing the views from the real estate they may invest in. Showing them the window views is the best way to get them to pay a visit.
Composition and Props
Before setting up your camera in each real estate setting, think about the buyer’s wants and needs. Generally, a buyer will want to know some of the answers to the following questions: how big are the rooms, is there a fireplace, where are the windows located, and what is the general layout?
To provide the answers to these questions, try to always have at least two walls in each photo, so the buyer can see more of the space and lighting situations. Also, set the tripod lower, about to the height of your waist to show how wide the room is from floor to ceiling, making sure to include fireplaces and windows.
If you are taking photos of real estate for vacation rentals, it’s always nice to include some props as well. Depending on local cuisine or what your city is famous for, you can include local wines and foods set up on a table or comfy living room situation. Renters and buyers like to imagine themselves in the space and what could happen there. Give them some ideas with nice props to add charm to any room.
Lastly, remember to move around to different corners of the room so you can shoot the space from multiple perspectives, this is especially important for larger rooms.
Camera Settings
The first step to shooting real estate photography is to set your camera to RAW. When shooting in RAW you will have much more versatility in adjusting the lighting in post production using Photoshop or Lightroom.
Generally, most rooms will have many different light sources from natural light from the windows to interior light bulbs of different colors. If it’s possible you can, turn off all the interior lights first and only use the light from your flash setups so you don’t have to compete with so many light sources. If this doesn’t provide enough light for you, you can set your camera’s white balance to “auto” while leaving the interior lights on and adjusting the color in photoshop after.
If possible, you should set your camera to manual as well, and aim to have the aperture around f/8. The higher that f number the more the room will be in focus which is essential for good real estate photography.
Try to keep your ISO around 400, and set your camera up on your tripod. Once your camera is steadied on the tripod you can lower your shutter speed as low as needed to provide enough light in every photo. Don’t forget to turn on your speed lights and set them so they can bounce off a ceiling or wall to illuminate the room.
Make sure to set your camera’s focal point to something that will draw the viewer’s eye into the room. A fireplace, table, or bowl of fruit are all good choices.
Be patient and try to move your speed lights to different positions in the room, while playing with your shutter to see what works best. The lower your shutter speed, the more light your camera will let into the photo. Keep in mind you can make additional changes in post production after.
Post Production
Now that you have shot all your images in RAW, you will have an easier time editing them to perfection. I use Lightroom to edit my images. After you import all your images into your Library Module, you can pick and choose the best ones while comparing them side by side.
After narrowing them down to the best of the best, you can switch to your Develop Module to crop and adjust any minor errors and then move into light balance to add or take away color in the images to provide the most realistic and flattering lighting.
Don’t forget to make minor exposure adjustments as well, by dragging the exposure bar up and down until you have your preferred amount of light in each image.
If you prefer to go the easier route in editing you can also try these real estate Lightroom presets to set your lighting in one click.
You will find that by combining these techniques you will create beautiful lighting for your real estate images. Don’t forget to keep in mind that the best aperture for real estate photography is around f/8 to f/11 to keep all of your images fully focused while allowing enough light to enter your camera sensor. Also, we recommend you invest in a couple speedlight flashes for the best real estate lighting. These flashes are affordable, lightweight, and work with most camera bodies.
Lastly, If you are looking for more real estate photography inspiration, then have a listen to Great Big Photography World Podcast episode 21 with Alberto Cosi. He has over 30 years of experience in the industry and takes razor sharp photos of interiors and exteriors. Listen as he describes his techniques and best practices in the interview with Taya Iv.
