I am holding a class for my co-Realtors at our office at Century 21 Exclamation Realty in Rogers, AR tomorrow. This will be my first ever "teaching experience"... at least it is on a subject I enjoy and feel I know something about! So here is part 1 of my class... Let me know if you have any suggestions or comments! The 2nd part will be on editing photos. I will write another Blog about that...
Nicky's Quick Tips on Preparing Homes for photos & taking good photos...
• De-clutter entire home... this means take off all items on refrigerator, remove boxes, anything that does not look "pretty" needs to go! Make sure beds are made and nothing else (like clothing (especially dirty clothes) are on bed or in basket next to bed... - we have seen it all on mls! If needed - have sellers have the home professionally cleaned & staged. (If you need a cleaner or stager, I know a few and I would be happy to give you their numbers.) This is important. I don't list a home until it is in show-ready condition.
• Turn on ALL lights in home. I see photos all the time (even by the TOP Realtors that they didn't turn 1 light on in the home). I even recommend lighting candles for a nice ambient lighting effect (especially in bathrooms). I will usually go around and turn on all lights before I even start shooting photos.
• On photo day have the seller buy fruit & flowers. Have fresh flowers displayed throughout home (at least in kitchen). This isn't an absolute must do but I think it adds to the photos. I do it. If they do not want to purchase them - I will buy fresh flowers for my own home and bring them for the photo shoot. & fresh Apples, Lemons, Pears, Onions, etc. - any of these actually look nice in the kitchen in a clear bowl or even a pretty bowl. I usually use whatever the seller has.
Ready...Set...Action...
• Types of camera. You do not need a fancy camera... The camera I use I purchased at Sam's Club for around $199 and it is perfect for all of my photography needs. It does have a wide angle lens. I love and recommend for real estate photos to have a wide angle lens. The camera I use is a Panasonic Lumix (DMC-TZ4) it has a 10X Zoom. I love it. There are other "point and click" cameras on the market that have a wide angle lens built in that you don't need a large fancy expensive camera... although one wouldn't hurt anything if you have one.
• Taking the photos... When taking exterior photos, I suggest taking from one side of the home if there is a garage in the front (not a side loading or on the back) I take from the opposite side of the house so that the garage is "the less seen thing" in the photo. I almost always get down on my knees and take the photo from a lower angle "looking up at the home" - this makes the home look larger and you get more of the home in the photo. Be sure to be far enough away from the house to get the entire house in the photo (for the main photo anyway). I see main photos where they have left of the 3rd car garage... seriously... Try to take photos on "good days" - my favorite time to take exterior photos is when there are big puffy clouds with really blue skies... If you can't wait- you can edit the photo to make the skies look bluer in Picasa. To change clouds you need to learn the program Photoshop - it is not as easy... I am still learning this myself. I recommend taking multiple shots of the front so that you can choose the best one or two later on... For interior photos, I take about 5 of each room to ensure I like at least one of them. I usually end up taking 100 or so photos of 1 home to make sure I get a good shot or two of each room. You do not have to take this many - this is just what I do but I enjoy taking photos a little too much so I get a little out of hand at time! For Living Rooms - I try to take this from a different room or in the corner so that you can get all of the room in the photo instead of just a fireplace or a couch, etc. unless you are specifically trying to show off a fireplace - then it's ok... Same with kitchens, dining rooms, etc. I also take photos from either on my knees (sometimes I will actually lay on the ground to get the right angle I am looking for) or stand on a chair and take from a higher up angle looking down. Bedrooms tend to be the most difficult this is really where a wide angle lens comes in handy. I take from as low to the ground as possible and in a corner or even in a hall and crop out what I don't want later on... Again... PRACTICE...PRACTICE...PRACTICE...
