Real Estate Photography...Dumbing myself down to their level

[michaelnotar]

Ive been in business for 3 years now, started by shooting homes for realtors. I am also a graduate from Brooks Institute, I have shot over 200 listings in the last 3 years. While it made up alot of my income my first year, it is not my focus. My best realtor client who hires me the most, actually coined the phrase you need to dumb yourself down and not overthink it. i was shooting on a 1dsmark II with 16-35/2.8 on raw and doing massive color corrections, sometimes making tan walls white when i started.

well shooting so much i have learned alot, but i cannot think like a realtor. please help me do so but without the lobotomy  i am convinced that they do not need a professional photographer but just a camera operator, an uncle bob or MWAC or a highschooler, just the smallest step above what they can do themselves.

i am currently shooting a home, most of them being $700k-1.4M, on a 1d3 Sraw files, 2.5MP (i never have needed more even for 8x10 prints, they are always pleased with the quality), with a 12-24mm lens and 580 flash (balancing for as dark as a window exposure as possible for lake views or otherwise balancing it for a natural look), editing them (just for best angle and tests) and providing them on cd of 25-35 images optimized for exposure, contrast and color balance in both full res and 400x600 for $290. this is up slightly from about a year ago when it was $260 for 20 shots after the request for more photos, its quite a value these days.  i have about 2 hours of my time total in shooting/processing a home, plus car mileage/wear-tear and computer/cameras to maintain.

i am curious to know your rate and package and the details of how you shoot for your price. i hope to hear back and learn how to do this the fastest and most efficiently so they can get what they really want- it for peanuts... but still have it be worth my time. i will probably keep my current package but might consider an economy package from your replies of how to do it even quicker.

as i type this, i get $100/hr for commercial work, in a small town, where the stupiest excuse for a photog charges $85 and the top too expensive studio is $135, i am right in the middle and honestly produce just as good as work s the big guys. how about shooting jpgs for realtors...do you? what do they think of the quality...perhaps i can shoot the home in like an hour + a lil of computer work, just resize them for internet and be in and out in 1.5 hours and charge like $200.

thank you much for your help.

[Rob C]

Ive been in business for 3 years now, started by shooting homes for realtors. I am also a graduate from Brooks Institute, I have shot over 200 listings in the last 3 years. While it made up alot of my income my first year, it is not my focus. My best realtor client who hires me the most, actually coined the phrase you need to dumb yourself down and not overthink it. i was shooting on a 1dsmark II with 16-35/2.8 on raw and doing massive color corrections, sometimes making tan walls white when i started.

well shooting so much i have learned alot, but i cannot think like a realtor. please help me do so but without the lobotomy  i am convinced that they do not need a professional photographer but just a camera operator, an uncle bob or MWAC or a highschooler, just the smallest step above what they can do themselves.

i am currently shooting a home, most of them being $700k-1.4M, on a 1d3 Sraw files, 2.5MP (i never have needed more even for 8x10 prints, they are always pleased with the quality), with a 12-24mm lens and 580 flash (balancing for as dark as a window exposure as possible for lake views or otherwise balancing it for a natural look), editing them (just for best angle and tests) and providing them on cd of 25-35 images optimized for exposure, contrast and color balance in both full res and 400x600 for $290. this is up slightly from about a year ago when it was $260 for 20 shots after the request for more photos, its quite a value these days.  i have about 2 hours of my time total in shooting/processing a home, plus car mileage/wear-tear and computer/cameras to maintain.

i am curious to know your rate and package and the details of how you shoot for your price. i hope to hear back and learn how to do this the fastest and most efficiently so they can get what they really want- it for peanuts... but still have it be worth my time. i will probably keep my current package but might consider an economy package from your replies of how to do it even quicker.

as i type this, i get $100/hr for commercial work, in a small town, where the stupiest excuse for a photog charges $85 and the top too expensive studio is $135, i am right in the middle and honestly produce just as good as work s the big guys. how about shooting jpgs for realtors...do you? what do they think of the quality...perhaps i can shoot the home in like an hour + a lil of computer work, just resize them for internet and be in and out in 1.5 hours and charge like $200.

thank you much for your help.

The only way forward, if you intend to stay in the business, is to increase the amount of shoots. Leave your brains and vanity in the car, just as tourists leave theirs in the airport, and think of the money. You are lucky that they are even employing a photographer - most here do it themselves because, as you describe it, what´s the difference?

Look on it also as an apprenticeship; hope that college taught you all you need to know about PS, and buy yourself the widest TS you can find.

Rob C

[32BT]

i am convinced that they do not need a professional photographer but just a camera operator, an uncle bob or MWAC or a highschooler, just the smallest step above what they can do themselves.

Maybe that is the answer: hire any of those with a little added sense (in general and of photography in particular), maybe as an internship or something similar. You supply the lens and computerpower, possibly a camera (but i suppose you preferably want someone who already has invested in a relatively decent camera but hasn't had a chance to invest in lenses/other equipment/business).

Would it also be feasible to add some choice? Like adding panoramic images. So that you can offer a wider range of pricing where more expensive houses allow a more expensive proposition. Maybe even adjust your pricing to the price of the house on offer? (LOL, not sure whether that is a good idea these days).

[Peter McLennan]

Most agents use simple point and shoot cameras and have limited ability to show the property to its best advantage. I'm selling a house currently and the agent was very impressed with a two-image exterior stitch I made.  He knew nothing of stitching and he immediately revised his marketing materials to use it and several other images I'd made of the house and garden.  

I'd say that this is a relatively untapped market, one that is relatively stress-free (as opposed to, say weddings   ) and easy to shoot.  Exceed expectations and succeed, I'd say.

[Derry]

if you look at what the average Realtor is offering these days in home photos it should help guide your path,, I view every Sunday home section and the homes they break out with multiple interior photos,, many are just a tad above snapshots with OOF items and under lit areas,, often I have wonder who did the photography, type of camera and time spent shooting,, yes it shows the interior of the home and imagine that is all they are after to obtain someones interest to come and look,, unless your shooting for Architectural Digest why put the effort in for a news type print photo,, if they have something spectacular and request such then put the work in,,

sounds like your fairly close to the realtor so why not do a couple double shoots,, one at your normal level and one dumb down (hate that phrase) and see what your friends advice is, he is the one buying,,

Derry

[bill t.]

I know a guy who shoots 360 degree VR shots in a house, 2 or 3 setups per house with the camera in just-the-right positions.  Uses HDR primarily to avoid having to light, which also adds a certain quality to the images that includes a balance between exteriors and interiors.  I helped him set up his HDR/stitching workflow which is mostly just batch processing leading to only 2 or 3 images to tweak (slightly) in Photoshop.

He charges a per job fee, which I think approximates the amounts mentioned above.  But total time per job is typically not much more than 1 hour, and that includes time on location and PP.  He works (or worked) mostly for new-house developers, so he would pick up several houses in one day.  On occasion he makes prints cropped out of the VR's (sometimes with flatter perspective mapping) but VR shots presented on a screen or sent in emails or online have caught on with a significant number of local real estate agents.  Have to admit this has sometimes sounded tempting...up to recently.

But I also have a real estate agent neighbor who is starting to do this stuff himself.  Times change.

[jjj]

Most agents use simple point and shoot cameras and have limited ability to show the property to its best advantage.

When my girlfriend sold her house a couple of years back, the estate agent came round with some sort of P+S [according to GF] and produced some really great and very flattering images. I would have struggled to do much better with my DSLR. I assumed shots were done by a pro photographer - until I was informed otherwise.

David Hobby [Strobist.com] put his house on market a while back and wrote about how he shot the images to help sell the property.

[Hansen Photo]

I don't shoot this kind of photography but found this nicely done tutorial on HDR shooting for real estate a while ago. http://www.danachatz.com/video/

Hope it helps,  

Ken

[Geoff Wittig]

Nice work if you can get it.
My wife's sister is an appraiser, and she shoots her own photos for listings with your basic point 'n' shoot camera. The quality is pretty dismal, but it's all she needs for listing thumbnails. Obviously if you can educate your clientele as to the value of high quality images to move their properties you'll be able to charge more. On the other hand, good enough is good enough. You don't come out ahead if you spend twice the effort and charge 15% more.