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    Property photography

    I would like to see a magazine article on property photography, or has there been one already?

    I'm thinking here about photographers that take photos for estate agencies (to sell a house) or for owners of holiday rental properties (to rent more weeks). It's a highly commercial subject, and something I hope one day to be able to get into professionally, so I'd really love to hear some expert views.

    Also, are there any others on this forum who do this kind of photography? A forum group dedicated to it would be great!

    Thanks,
    Anna

    #2
    Re: Property photography

    Thanks for the suggestion. There are probably not many readers looking to do this commercially, but quite a few who might like advice on photographing the rooms in their own house. I'll add the idea to our list of possible articles for future issues.
    Robert
    robert@eos-magazine.com

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      #3
      Re: Property photography

      Great idea Anna. I do renovation work of some unusual buildings (as a carpentry contractor) and would love some direction on how to improve my promotional images. I look forward to seeing what comes of it,

      Cheers,

      Garry
      Garry Macdonald on Flickr
      Garry Macdonald on Facebook

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        #4
        Re: Property photography

        I do a bit of that.....

        http://www.ppics.co.uk
        Scuff

        Canon EOS 1Dx
        16-35, 24-105, 70-200 f2.8Lis, 70-300 f4-5.6Lis, 300 f2.8Lis, 17 TS-E, 24 TS-E II, 90 TS-E
        Speedlight 600ex-RT (2x), ST-E3 RT.


        My flickr page

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          #5
          Re: Property photography

          Originally posted by Scuff View Post
          I do a bit of that.....
          Fingures and pies, Scuff! Is there anything you don't do!! Nice site by the way,

          Garry
          Garry Macdonald on Flickr
          Garry Macdonald on Facebook

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            #6
            Re: Property photography

            Some advice I was given by someone who does this for a living (€1million + properties) when I had to do some for a friend who wanted to sell their house.

            1: Shoot at least 3 shots and HDR them
            2: Hold the camera at chest height to take the photos (eyeline about 4 feet from the floor)
            3: Shoot with your widest angle lens and correct the verticals
            4: Use off camera flash where necessary
            5: Make sure all wardrobe doors are shut
            6: Put toilet seats down

            I am sure there were a couple more but that is all I can remember for now. I got some good results that my friends and I were happy with,
            --
            Colin
            http://fotos-espana.com
            http://macameraclub.com
            http://turnspain.com

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              #7
              Re: Property photography

              I have done a bit of this in the past.

              At one end you have estate agents who visit the property, gather all the details for the write-up and whilst they are there, take a few snaps on a low end digital camera, or more likely these days ......... a smart phone. At the other end is the professional photographer, who uses all of their skill to present the property at its most attractive, to stand out and above all the local properties to provide the best marketing opportunity for the client.

              Exterior: Just a matter of going along with a decent camera and taking a few shots - well, there is a bit more to it than that.

              Meet the client at the property and obtain the brief of what they want.
              After viewing the property, offer some alternatives, over and above what the client suggested.
              Work out where the light will be at different time of the day for each aspect of the property.
              Return during good weather for a number of visits during the day, to shoot each aspect of the building to best advantage.
              That's 2 possibly 5 visits. If the property has good outdoor lighting and a lit pool area, that 5th visit during sunset, or dusk, is to cover that.
              You may need to import/hire plants to add impact to some shots.

              Interior: Having expended all that effort and energy on the outside, the inside should be easy. Flick up the built-in flash, 2 shots of each room and the jobs done. Well, if you thought the outside was a bit taxing, the interior is even more so.

              Have someone that knows what they are doing 'Dress' the room, provide an extra 'Props' and hide what doesn't need to be in shot.
              You will need a tripod and remote release. The camera to be set at half the height of the room, to minimise wide angle distortion.
              The more of a wide angle you use, the more you should keep it parallel, not pointing up or down.
              A couple of wide angles are good, tilt and shift lenses are better.
              A full frame body will help minimise any wide angle distortion and provide higher resolution.
              Studio flash with large diffusers are ideal, off camera speedlights will do at a pinch.
              In large rooms, flash falls off quickly, so bounced flash off the ceiling and units hidden behind furniture may be needed.
              You will need to balance the exposure for different lighting - ambient, room lighting and flash.
              You will need to have a custom white balance to make the above work - I err on the side of keeping the room lighting 'Warm".
              Where windows are fully in-shot, you will need to balance the exposure to retain the external scene.
              Where some rooms are small, en-suite bathrooms, you may need to take multiple shots and stitch them later.
              Take detail shots of items, or small areas in the home. Magazines like that to fill their page space where necessary.

              Estate agents at one end, pro's at the other and you and me somewhere in between. Much depends on the value and prestige of the property, the clients budget and how much time there is to to the job. Here are a couple of examples pulled at random from the last job I did:




              Colin

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                #8
                Re: Property photography

                Thanks all for the great tips. Amazing photos Colin C! Hope to see an article on this subject in an issue of the magazine soon...

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                  #9
                  Re: Property photography

                  Seems like a good idea.
                  [ Canon 1DX ] [ 70-200 f2.8 L is II ] [ 300 f4 L is usm ] [ 50 mm f1.8 II ] [ 24-105 f4 L is ] [ Speedlite 430 ] [Yongnuo 568 ex II flash ] [ Yongnuo flash triggers ] [ Cokin P filters] [ Giottos Silk Road GYTL8384 carbon tripod ] [ Photoshop CS5 ] ... Wish list Canon EF 500 mm f/4 L IS USM.

                  Some nice gear, but not much idea ... https://www.flickr.com/photos/123175589@N03/

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