How to Find a Real Estate Photographer Near Me

What should your real estate photographer shoot?

Listings that have more pictures sell faster than listings without pictures, but which pictures will really draw the most attention to your property? Below we’ve listed the most important rooms and their features that your photographer should capture.

Interior

• Kitchen: Most important room to get good shots in. The best features to show off are new appliances, standalone islands, refurbished cabinets, and large walk-in pantries.
• Bedrooms: Should reflect inviting and cozy spaces. Since many bedrooms can be similar, photographers should highlight any different or special characteristics. Some of these could include large walk-in closets, hardwood flooring, and large windows.
• Living room: Where homeowners tend to spend the most time, so pictures should reflect a comfortable and pleasant atmosphere. Unless the furniture is going to be sold with the house, pictures should focus on the whole room itself. Additional features that should be focused on are fireplaces, high ceilings, exposed wood beams, and other unique traits.
• Bathrooms: Can be some of the best shots if done right. Since most bathrooms have the same contents, it’s important to show off unique features, like custom walk-in showers, clawfoot bathtubs, and granite countertops with double sinks.
• Dining room: Often a staple for homes with families, so getting a couple of nice shots can excite potential buyers. Since most of the things that make a dining room what it is are furniture, pictures should try to draw attention to features of the room itself, like hardwood floors or exposed wood beams.
• Basement: Can draw a lot of attention if it’s finished. Real estate photographers should try to make basements look as bright and inviting as possible since they’re often dark and stuffy. Any unique traits that are in the basement should be highlighted as well to pique potential buyers’ interests.

Exterior

• Aerial shots: They show the size of the whole house as well as the lot it’s on. They’re especially popular for properties with a lot of land or on the water.
• Front yard: The first thing that people see when they come to the property, so pictures need to make a great impression. Shots should focus on the landscaping and front exterior of the home. Minor eyesores like garbage or yard debris should be edited out.
• Backyard: A wonderful space almost all buyers are looking for, so impressive pictures will attract a lot of attention. Every backyard is different, but some characteristics for the photographer to target are fences, in-ground swimming pools, well-maintained landscaping, and scenic views. Similar to the front yard, minor flaws that will be fixed should be edited out, such as dead plants, holes in the ground, or cluttered junk.
• Garage: May not be a visually attractive room, but it serves a lot of purposes and should be included in photos. Aside from being a place to park your vehicles, spacious and clean garages make for good storage spaces, workshops, and gyms.
• Patios, porches, or terraces: Pictures of these should show off the size of the construct, the outside views, and any other special elements.

To see some perfect examples of what rooms and features should be captured, take a look through our gallery of professional real estate pictures.

Pre-shoot preparation: what NOT to include

Now that you know which house features should be included in your real estate photos, we’ll go over the things that shouldn’t be in photos.

• Beyond people and pets, many items should be removed or edited out before photos hit listing websites. The property should always be cleaned and staged before the photographer arrives.

• Clutter and personal items (like family photos and knick-knacks) should be hidden. Buyers can visualize themselves in a new home much more easily when personal distractions are removed.

Reviewing your photographer’s edits

Once you’ve gotten your edited shots back, it’s crucial to review them before uploading. Ensure the pictures meet your expectations, look good and uniform, and don’t have excessive photoshopping.

• Be wary of excessive photoshopping that conceals significant flaws not easily fixed by the seller. Such edits can be misleading to potential buyers. Only minor, fixable imperfections should be retouched.

• Virtuance Note: Our real estate photographers utilize HDReal®, a fantastic AI-powered image processing software that automatically perfects every picture, significantly reducing the need for extensive manual editing.

Uploading photos of your real estate listings

Once your pictures are done and have been reviewed, you’ll be ready to post them. This may seem like a simple task, but it can actually be more complicated than you realize because of copyright laws. To get a better understanding of how copyright laws work with photographs for your MLS, check out the National Association of Realtors’ policy here.