People think Drones are the “End All” for Real Estate Photography (REP) Let’s not forget that the FAA is trying everything it can do to nail down drone owners and their toys while others in the government are trying to find ways to regulate and tax the use of the technology. Many Real Estate concerns are using Drone Videos to get their aerial views done and it does show some impressive pictures as well as video presentations to prospective clients.
However, don’t get all bent out of shape because you cannot fly a drone over a choice bit of property, as you would like. But, there’s nothing that says you can’t fly a drone inside the property and even inside the house, you are planning on showing. This idea lends itself to travelogue documentaries about a particular property and makes your sales presentation come off like a Hollywood production. This style of media filming has made itself in various flicks of recent years. But, only on a small scale, for Hollywood they are still looking for Blockbusters. You as a Realtor are looking to make a miniseries about the house you are trying to showcase. However, there are, even with a drone there are still some other things you can add to get better real estate pics and you should be looking at using them as well.
Let’s take a look at some of them that are not only applicable to interior drone picture taking but also apply to conventional film and digital picture taking as well. When you are done, you’ll have some tricks to add to your repertoire of Realtor skills that might just kick you up a notch or two on the Real Estate leader board and increase your home and property sales. Let’s look at Wide-angle lenses first as they can make you or break you when it comes to Real Estate Photography. (REP) Wide-angle lens gives youUsing a balance of close-ups and wide-angle shots, you can give a better impression of a room to entice a prospect to decide to step in the door, look around which gives you a better chance to use your banter, and sales pitch to good effect. But don’t go overboard, as too wide an angle lenslets distortion into the game and this can do just exactly the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish. A wide-angle lens of between 10 & 40mm depending on your make and model of camera drone and another camera if you are combining both drone and DSLR cameras to get the job done. Get some good quality Image processing software Now that you have the photographs from whichever source, you next need to clean things up do a little color correction that is needed, as well as cropping out unwanted elements.
Most people turn to Adobe, as it is the most recognized image and document software on the market. Two of their packages come to mind. The first is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and the second is Adobe Photoshop CC. Using them in conjunction is a great way to set things up for pre as well a post processing of your chosen images. If the price of Adobe is outside of your office budget, you can get similar results and everything is free for downloading. First on the list is GIMP. Think of as a poor man’s Adobe. It has almost the same features and of course, the prices is right. Next on the list is Scribus is a leading Open Source Desktop publishing package. So not only can it set up your listings for. You can integrate with the other things you need to put out a quality brochure that can show off your properties. Follow those two up with Inkscape that lets you put the finishing touches on any brochure or listing that you’ve created with GIMP and Scribus. This package lets you become an artist and add flourishes to both picture and writing. The 4th piece we’d like to mention of the free software on the web is SwatchBooker and as the name implies it that it works with swatches of color. This enables you to perfect your drone/camera pictures to enhance them even more and make your flying photography utterly irresistible. You’ll have to load Python 2.5 if you are running it on a windows machine. But, it works well with the above pieces of software and helps you get pro quality photos in a fraction of the cost. Here are the links you’ll need to get everything we’ve talked about.? http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html? http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html? https://www.gimp.org/?https://www.scribus.net/
? https://inkscape.org/en/about/features/
? http://www.selapa.net/swatchbooker/
A tip that most Real Estate Photographers forget…Have a plan! Sometimes a Realtor gets so excited they forget something so basic that photographers in other niches know from day one.
? Know in advance what the scope of the photo shoot that you are going to cover. A 30-minute photo spread can turn into an all day nightmare with an unprepared or picky homeowner
? Have this in writing
? Also have release forms for use of the photos of the property
? Get it all signed by the owner in advance
? Bring two cameras or a backup drone. (if possible) Murphy’s Law is prevalent in REP as in anything else
? Ditto for the flash
? Also make sure your tripod is in the car for still work before you leave for the client’s home
? Have a check off sheet for the photographs you plan on taking. This ensures you don’t have to come back again to get what you missed
? Batteries for cameras, flash attachments, and your drone(s)
? A charger would be good to have along as well
? Check the weather forecast as well.
Weather has a major effect on the photos you’ll get Make a check off sheet of this list and add anything else you may want to add. Post this where you can see and use it prior to you stepping out the door. Looking good, as a Realtor is a cardinal rule. Being prepared and looking professional are two more that are often overlooked. Final thoughts Getting a property to sell is the goal of every Realtor. Photographs can tell a prospective buyer what they need to get them interested in a particular parcel of land and the house or building. Flying a drone inside and around the property is away to create a virtual tour and make the property more alive and give the feeling of being there. Using the drone in conjunction with DSLR camera stills can further enhance your sales package of brochures and listings for the properties you are trying to sell. Today we’ve offered up a number of tip & tricks that’ll help you get the most out of your drone/camera work. It included the software that can process your images and enhance them to using check-off sheets to make sure you have all the bases covered. A wide-angle lens is a key ingredient and is often overlooked by those who use Cell Phone cameras or with a camera using the standard 50mm that comes when you buy it. Treat your listing and photography like a professional photo shoot and you will get better results and your sales will increase and you will prosper.
