Who doesn’t enjoy taking photos? From selfies to scenery, food to family gatherings, photos are a vital part of everyday life in this era of camera phones and social media. However, when it comes to real estate or property, how much emphasis do you, as a real estate agent, place on having good photographs for your listings?
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Even though property listings may not need that many words to get the message across, photographs are a very important aspect that can determine whether a potential buyer will be attracted to know more about the property, or simply lose interest and walk away.
As part of Estate123.com‘s ongoing efforts to provide the best online property listing services, as well as help our members improve their professional career, a real estate photography talk and demonstration session was recently held at Hangout123 on Saturday, 9 April 2016. The Estate123 Real Estate Photography Talk, which carried the tagline ‘Attract buyers and shorten listing duration through great photos‘, had invited photographer Adam Tui to share his photography experience, along with some useful tips and techniques for taking good real estate photographs.
Adam started the talk with a short introduction of himself, followed by the basics of photography, which are:
- Composition
- Lighting
- Equipment
- Follow your heart
Basically, composition is how you frame your shots in order to tell a story or focus on a certain object or feature. A 70:30 ratio (also referred to as the ‘rule of thirds’ in photography) is ideal in order to produce a balanced photo. Equipment is subjective, as some people can take good photos using just a smartphone, while others prefer a more professional approach using a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera. He also pointed out that it was important to follow your heart (or rather, style) when it comes to taking good photos – if you like it, there will be others who will like it too.
“There are no average photos, only good or bad ones.”
Next, he focused on the topic at hand, which was real estate photography. There are 5 tips for taking good real estate photos, including:
- Use a tripod – helps to steady the camera and allows you to move around objects/furniture in order to stage a good shot
- Use a wide angle lens – able to shoot a bigger, spacious view of the room or property
- Take low shots – makes objects look bigger/taller; when paired with good composition, can lead the viewer around the entire space
- Shoot straight on – alignment is important in straight on shots, and can be used in tight or narrow spaces
- Natural light is best – natural light is the best lighting for photos; avoid direct sunlight (overexposure) or LED light (harsh and unnatural)
Besides the 5 main points mentioned above, Adam also shared with the agents some useful tips for taking real estate photos on-site using their smartphone camera:
- Low shots (hip height)
- Use a clip-on wide angle lens
- Move around to find a good angle
- Take as many shots as possible
- Refer to sample real estate photographs online (e.g. Flickr, architecture firms’ Facebook albums)
- Use photo editing apps to post-process photos (e.g. brighten, crop, etc)
- Shoot from every edge/corner to get the best possible angle
After that, it was time for the agents to put into practice what they’ve learnt during the talk! Using Hangout123 as the ‘model’, everybody put their newfound skills to the test, with assistance and feedback from the speaker. It was definitely a good experience, as the agents had fun trying out the different tips and seeing how it could be used to help them take better real estate photos for their property listings.
The hands-on photography session took about 20 minutes, then it was time to wrap up the event with a group photo. It was truly an informative and engaging session, and we hope the agents will be able to put the skills to good use and attract more potential clients to their listings. 😉
See more photos from the event on our Facebook page, and stay tuned for more event announcements from Estate123.com! Sign up as a member now, and get access to some of the best property listing features in Malaysia, as well as exclusive invites to our events, workshops and activities. 😀
