Property Photography
We are equipped to capture the essence of your property in images:
exterior photography, from simple elevations to twilight to aerial perspectives, and interior photos, from tone-mapped series to virtual tours to careful lighting and capture of special architectural treatments, and interior designs.
With extensive architectural experience using a view camera, we can translate the principles that make great photos on film to the digital world. For real estate work, our experience allows us to maintain high quality while working quickly to control costs. As an RPAS pilot licensed for Advanced Operations, aerial photography, if appropriate, is available as a part of our regular exterior shoot.
Real Estate Photography
Rates are given for photography time only. Please make sure the property is ready for photography by using our Property Staging Checklist. The photographer will arrive as scheduled and must get to their next location on time. The photographer will not help with last-minute staging. If the property is not ready, you will be charged for the cancellation, and we will have to re-schedule the shoot.
Please note that any time arrangements which must be made for photography of tenanted spaces are the responsibility of the landlord. Please do NOT ask us to contact your tenant on your behalf!
iGuide Virtual Tours
We are iGuide operators, able to create a virtual tour of your property complete with a floor plan so you can relate the photos to the layout.
The choice to use iGuide was easy; despite temporary ‘wow’ factors, every other 3D tour system has a steep learning curve for buyers and is constrained in its hosting capacity. Navigating an iGuide tour is intuitive, and most users have no problem understanding it right at their first experience.
The tour is closely integrated with the floor plans, allowing a buyer to quickly view any room simply by choosing the pano using the active links on the floor plan. The accuracy of the measurements, established using the integrated LIDAR technology, exceeds MLS standards.
By default, Regular virtual tours are done, showing details like counters, appliances etc. These floor plans incorporate advanced measurement capabilities for room planning and can be incorporated with services like floorplanner.com. Economy floor plans are only done if specifically requested. Economy floor plans are suitable for open spaces, like commercial leased spaces which will be renovated with purpose-built leasehold improvements.
Tours are hosted by iGuide on their servers, but stand-alone tours can be used on your web server, as well as run locally on your device (computer, tablet, phone). You are not obligated to subscribe to their service to use their tours.
To sum up, we advocate iGuide because it is a cut above the rest. It is portable, accurate, and intuitive, and its presentation is professional.
Still Photography
The techniques used for Real Estate allow for rapid and efficient photography. This translates into lower costs for the work, as well as minimal disruption of the client’s schedule. Multiple exposures are taken at each setup and later combined using either tone mapping or exposure blending to achieve the final image. Occasionally, supplemental illumination is necessary to balance out the lighting.
Exterior Photos
Exterior photography attempts to accomplish three things:
In an ideal external series, each photo will, to some extent, accomplish two of these.
Although the photographer might not have a choice as to the time of day for the photography, elevations are best done with the light coming from a low angle (morning and evening), or under the soft light of an overcast day. Twilight can introduce some interesting effects, but the lights should be on throughout the property, and some supplemental lighting will be required.
Recently, aerial photography has made significant inroads into real estate photography. Much of it is overdone, but the novelty is beginning to wear off. RPAS (drone, UAV) operations now require compliance with Canadian airspace regulations, and licensing is necessary for pilots. A drone gives the advantage of an elevated perspective, not achievable with a camera on a tripod. Problems present when the drone is flown so high that the boundary of the property is lost in the image. Altitude only works if something like a farm is being shown with obvious boundaries.
Regardless of the camera used, photos must always be corrected for white balance, lens aberrations must be removed and perspective distortions should be corrected.
Generally, anything that helps make a good landscape photograph will enhance the impact of an exterior shot in a real estate series.
The exterior, like the interior, of a property for sale should be kept in immaculate condition. Particularly for photography, staging is very important.
Interior Photos
With the mixture of light sources inherent in interior real estate photography, we generally try to set a balance between the warm (yellowish) cast of incandescent light sources and the cold (bluish) cast of daylight coming through the windows to give an overall best feel to the room.
(It is possible to give a consistent white balance over the entire room by using studio flashes and modifiers, but interior photography of this type would be priced as a Commercial Assignment and might involve a half day to a day per shot.)
Photographing an empty property is nearly pointless. A series of photographs of empty rooms just reinforces the sense of void! Perhaps a shot of the kitchen, laundry room, and bathrooms might impart information, but a staged property is much more welcoming. If the property is still occupied, tidying it up using the staging checklist will make it much more presentable for photography. If the property is vacant, moving some items in to present it better is recommended.
No matter the value of the property or the aesthetic of the staging, the principles of photography remain unchanged. The dynamic range must be compressed to avoid undesirably dark areas within the room image while avoiding blown highlights outside the windows. Mixed light sources will create differing color casts in various areas of the image. As much as possible, these color casts must be balanced with each other to produce an overall pleasing image. Of course, lens and perspective distortions must be corrected in the final image.
Reproduction Rights
All Real Estate photography is done under the published Terms and Conditions and is made available with Commercial Use rights as outlined in the standard invoice.