Professional Real Estate Photography

HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography involves shooting multiple photos with different exposures (a process called bracketing).

HDR in real estate photography is a technique used for both exterior and interior shots which turns photographs into vivid and clear images. While most of our competitors only shoot three shot brackets HDR, Snap2Close shoots 5 to 10 shot brackets. These extra brackets create more light variances which means we can produce higher quality photos.

The sample below shows ten different time exposures of the same shot which brings out different dark and light segments in each time exposure. One exposure may have the best exposure of a window, while another may minimize the darkness of a shadow. Our software then combines all of the best exposures and that results in a superior photo!

 

A Brief Background of HDR Photography

Professional HDR real estate photography was virtually born with the advent of the Internet and the creation of real estate websites such as Realtor.com, Zillow.com and Trulia.com in 1995. The introduction of digital SLR cameras with interchangeable lenses, in 2000, led to real estate photography slowly taking root for higher priced homes.

Today, professional real estate photography is a necessity for all listings. Homebuyers will quickly skip over listings photographed by a cell phone or a point and shoot camera. These cameras are not all that bad, but they don't match the quality of professional photos taken with a full frame (large image sensor) DSLR camera.

These DSLR cameras can shoot multiple exposures of the same photo and then convert the shots into a single, well-lit, and visually attractive picture. A professional real estate photographer uses the right cameras and lenses, knows the best angles when shooting photos and employs professional quality software editing tools to deliver superior quality photos.

These 10 brackets are then processed through a very unique and proprietary software program which selects optimal pixels for use or blending that produce an evenly lit and balanced photographic image.

How to choose the right real estate photographer?

Real estate photographers can be broken down into three basic categories: A, B and C level photographers.

"A" Professional Level Photographers are experienced, highly trained, and own professional level, expensive ($2,600-$6,000) full frame/sensor cameras such as the Canon 5D Mark IV series, as well as special lenses used for real estate photography. Full-frame camera sensors capture greater image detail resulting in higher quality real estate photos. Photographers in this class shoot interiors almost exclusively at 24 mm, which is a standard set by Architectural Digest decades ago.

"B" Prosumer Level Photographers use less expensive prosumer level cameras with cropped sensors ($900-$1300) that simply cannot capture enough visual information to equal a full sensor (frame) professional camera, and they typically use inexpensive kit lenses that come with the camera. The quality of these photos is decent but lacking in clarity and photos are often distorted or stretched. Homebuyers are often disappointed after seeing stretched photos when they visit the listing.

"C" Amateur Level Photographers are usually hired by companies that perform a variety of real estate services such as putting up sign posts, hanging lockboxes, as well as doing photography. Many of these companies hire unskilled people, give them an inexpensive consumer level cropped sensor camera ($400 to $800) with a kit lens, and one or two days of training. If you browse through Realtor.com, Zillow or other real estate websites you can easily spot them by the poor angles used, the quality of the images, and whether the walls are truly straight and not slanting in or out. Class C images are often stretched and have very poor clarity.

Why choose an "A" Professional Level Photographer: Your task as a Realtor is to market your client's home to the very best of your ability. Anything less is doing a disservice to your client. Even if your listing is a small condo, it most often represents your client's single biggest financial asset. It deserves the best professional photography captured with full-frame professional cameras!

Below is a split screen viewer showing the difference between a Full Frame camera captured image in comparison to cropped-sensor Class B prosumer cameras and Class C consumer cameras.

To learn more about full frame cameras you may want to read this short article on Adobe's website.

The challenge for the Realtor is finding the right real estate photographer to help sell your listings faster and for more money.

Most successful Realtors use only A Level professional real estate photographers. Some of these photographers also shoot weddings, events, portraits, etc,. However, the true specialists focus only on architectural and real estate photography. Snap2Close is proud to hire professional photographers that focus solely on real estate photography

Why choose Snap2Close Real Estate Photography

Snap2Close is the leading and most innovative "A" Level real estate photography company in Arizona. We cover the entire Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, Dallas/Fort Worth and Nashville metropolicant areas with a team of professional photographers dedicated to quality real estate photography. We provide you not only with the highest quality real estate photos, but we also offer real estate videos, floor plans, interactive floor plans, drone photos and videos, and virtual staging for photos and videos.

In addition, you will find Snap2Close prices to be extremely competitive. If you read our Google reviews, you will find only five star reviews with frequent comments about the quality of our photography, the professionalism of our photographers and our commitment to customer service.