Everyone today has a camera in their mobile device, or an inexpensive consumer point and shoot.
Somehow that makes everyone a professional photographer! That's like saying everyone that wears running shoes can run a triathlon. Everyone with a wallet, must be busting at the seams with money? Everyone who cooks is a professional chef?
It's an epidemic. Which has had enormous negative impact on the profession of photography. The excellence, the service, and devotion to the art has been diluted by the influx, NO, the tsunami of unskilled, less than devoted, true to the art, well meaning people.
Some solely interested in saving a buck, others more interested in making a buck.
As a photographer, I will in all honesty have to share a thought. One that goes through my mind whenever agents, builders, homeowners, and business owners insist on cutting corners, by choosing to save a few bucks and do their own shoot.
What’s that thought? Have they concluded they will achieve the same results just using their iPhone, or personal camera, as a pro photographer! NOT. You can so notice. Tell me, you can't tell?
There are online businesses, promoting themselves as PROFESSIONAL REAL ESTATE PHOTOGRAPHERS, who have ranked in the top 3 on GOOGLE in their area, whose images, I pray someone did not have the misfortune of paying hard earned money for! HERE'S PROOF.
I'm not saying, one must be solely in the business of photography to qualify as a pro photographer. But I am saying, taking stellar images as a service for being hired, should be an aptitude of being an expert.
ESSENTIALS TO A BASIC PRO REAL ESTATE SHOOT
LUXVT'S made an excellent point with this respect, which I highlighted in my previous post related to this topic, HERE.
“Invest in professional photography. My theory is do what you’re good at (marketing, listing, selling, designing houses) and hire professionals to do what they do best (like photography),” says agent Nichole Fecteau of Bean Group. Professional photographers aren’t free like iPhone photos, but they’re worth the investment. They will use a pro DSLR cameras which captures light properly and details that phone cameras cannot. A professional photographer will know the right, perspective, angles, and time of day when light is best to take photos. They also have the capabilities to do post production editing and using programs like Photoshop.”
WHAT SETS APART A PROFESSIONAL PHOTO SHOOT?
1. STAGED PHOTOGRAPHY
Recall how earlier in my previous post, I mentioned emotion is in the purchase decision. A poorly furnished, cluttered, unkept home is BAD for business. A person showing-up in the mirror of a photographed bathroom is typical and screams unprofessional. Potential buyers or visitors to an establishment should be able to envision themselves living in the home, or dining onsite. In luxury home markets, it is common knowledge that an empty house will never sell for the same amount as one that is staged. A pro photographer has in mind the image to capture. They typically notice things that are in the way, out of place, congesting the view, etc. If a unwanted article makes its way into a wanted image, in post production it is thoughtfully removed.
2. PERSPECTIVE AND ANGLES
Pro photographers with a culture for excellence, strive to capture the right angles that amplify a property's most desirable features. This is done by mastering the art of combining perspective and light. Watching that furniture does not overwhelm a frame, and that parts of things, sections of doors, and furnishings do not suspend dangling off the edge of the frame. We shoot with a tripod for sharpness, shoot wide and shoot tight images. Because they all have different uses. Views of the space from various levels are composed. We use both available light and added light to certain areas to ensure that each room is inviting, appealing and visible in its truest form.
3. BEAUTIFUL, PROPERLY RENDERED LIGHT & COLORS!
The photographer will analyze the home’s light exposure, experiment with interior and exterior lights, and take sample photos. This session provides the photographer an understanding of tools needed for the compositions desired. Skipping this step typically results in poor quality and improper toned images. Regardless of how much post editing is involved, one can never make a blurry image sharp, and a severely darkened image, light. Without crossing over into the creation of FICTIONAL SPACE.
4. PROPERTY ASSESSMENT
Photo shoots are set for the optimal times the property will be cast in the most favorable light. NOT the middle of the day, but in the early hours of the morning or twilight hours of the day. Stellar photos are all about preparation, which includes setup. Days before the shoot, the photographer scouts the property looking at every angle, exploring its features, and composing the frames in their mind. Making special notes to include the areas the customer desires to call attention to.
5. COMPOSITION
Just as with a canvas painting, a photograph must be composed, the main elements of the setting are defined. They dictate how best to fill the space, where to create horizontal and vertical lines, and where to direct the focus. Buildings and architecture will often be rendered in a series of images in such a way that the viewer is led through the various structural elements. Particularly aspects of the space that escapes the eye. These areas of importance may not be readily visible in videography.
6. BEYOND THE CAMERA WITH POST PRODUCTION
Post-production is the final artistic stage. This phase involves choosing the finest photos, and enhancing them. Determining which are most appropriate for online listings, for print media, website banners, etc. The editing process typically includes removing things that distract from the overall image, tweaking resolution, calibrating color, and more.
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