Buyers and sellers notice the difference between amateur pictures taken by an estate agent and those taken in a professional manner. Be sure to make use of outstanding quality photographs to sign more mandates and attract more buyers with this wow-factor.
High quality images that are taken by professional photographers are offered as standard to Meridian Realty iAgents. Be sure to make the best first impression possible.
This article was compiled with the help of one of our respected and much-loved photographers, Daniel Botha who has been part of our team for the last 5 years. “Property photography is a niche of its own and all the Meridian Realty photographers receive specific training on how to shoot and edit photographs to optimally showcase new listings online.”
Here are 8 tips on how to take professional photographs of your new listing:
- Choose the right time of day
Take the photographs of the inside of a property during midday. Why? Because there is a lower chance of direct sunlight shining in through the windows than early mornings or later in the afternoon.
Take the photographs of the outside of a property during blue hour which is 20 minutes after sunset. The blue hour refers to the phase of twilight when the sun is so far below the horizon that the light’s blue wavelengths dominate. Trust me, you will see the difference!
- Be mindful of the importance of Home Staging
Have an open conversation with your seller(s) on the importance of home staging done before you arrive to take photographs. Simple tips like decluttering, cleaning (and packing away) all dishes in the kitchen with no handtowels hanging around, closed toilet seats, opening curtains, neatly made beds etcetera are crucial to make sure that the focus stays on the area of room itself and not the details that’s out of place.
- Overexpose when shooting towards a window
Use this feature on your camera to make sure that your photographs come out bright and airy rather than dark and gloomy. This is especially handy when there is a lot of light exposure flowing in from large windows.
- Make use of a Wide-Angle Lens
Wide-Angle prime lenses provide camera’s with an expansive view allowing more to be captured in a single frame/image. Fixed wide lenses also offer improved low light performance, image quality, and depth of field control when compared to their zoom equivalents.
Using a wide-angle lens will help the viewer to get an idea of the scope of a room as well as the flow in the living areas of a property.
- Use a smaller aperture to capture more detail
As aperture changes in size, it alters the overall amount of light that reaches your camera sensor and therefore the brightness of your image. A large aperture (a wide opening) will pass a lot of light, resulting in a brighter photograph.
A lens typically has a set of marked “f-stops” that the f-number can be set to. A lower f-number denotes a greater aperture opening which allows more light to reach the film or image sensor.
A small aperture does just the opposite, making a photo darker to offer a better depth of field.
- Choose a low ISO setting and use a Tripod
A low ISO works well together with a small aperture. It is important to use a tripod if you want to maintain a low ISO and keep your photos noise free. Using a tripod allows you to use a longer shutter speed to get that precious light to your sensor, rather than having a more sensitive ISO setting.
Your ISO setting is a key ingredient of your exposure, so it’s displayed prominently on all cameras.
- Be aware of the optimal Cropping Size for photographs
Many agents are not aware of this one simple fact that can increase your ranking on websites such as Property24 and Private Property. Each property website has an ideal format for the cropping ratio and number of photographs to upload which will dramatically influence your ranking online.
For example, Private Property prefers at least 12 photographs with a crop ratio of 16 x 9 and 1920 x 1080 pixels.
- Hire a Professional Photographer
Or better yet, become a Meridian Realty iAgent where we offer an unlimited amount of professional photographs on ALL your listings by one of our full-time photographers.
A testimonial from one of our iAgents in Cape Town, Charles Phillips: “The quality of the photographs is in fact so good, one of my clients was based in Hong Kong, and I sold their apartment in Green Point in Cape Town. They couldn’t believe the photographs that were taken of their apartment. They said the pictures were so good they made the flat look better than it was.”
Visit our iAgent website for more information and feel free to make contact at 079 386 4743 or [email protected]
Whatever your need – we have you covered!