Real Estate Photography Masterclass

1. Course Introduction: Welcome to the Real Estate photography masterclass and In-Depth guide to the various elements of shooting Professional Real Estate photos. The course is divided into several modules that teach you how to select the right equipment, execute proper technique for various interior and exterior spaces at daylight and twilight, and also manage the workflow process required for real estate photography. The course begins with how to choose a digital SLR camera, wide-angle lens flash, and other important equipment. You will then learn an efficient technique for shooting real estate known as the HDR flash technique, as well as the recommended setup and camera settings for real estate photographers. The third module goes into detail on setting up compositions for interior and exterior spaces. In addition to tips and challenges, you will experience, 30 case studies are included to help you develop the skills and confidence to compose images of bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and different types of living rooms, lifestyle facilities, and various property exteriors. The course concludes with an overview of an ideal workflow process to assist you in running your business smoothly and efficiently. Thanks for enrolling in this course, and I hope you enjoy it. 2. Equipment for Real Estate Photography: This module provides detailed information about the necessary equipment required for real estate photography, so that you can feel confident in your ability to select the correct camera, body, lens, and other equipment necessary for shooting real estate. The most trusted and well-known brands of digital SLR and mirrorless cameras are Nikon and Canon. The ladder is renowned for its durability and speed. And nikon is praised for its user-friendly design and affordability. Other major camera brands, such as pin tacks, Sony and Samsung are also great cameras, but their range of camera bodies is limited compared to Nikon and Canon. You do not need the best camera on the market to shoot great real estate images. A low to midrange DSLR will be perfect if you have the correct lens and apply good technique, expect to pay between four hundred and one hundred ten hundred US dollars for a low to mid-range camera body and between 350 to one hundred one hundred dollars for a quality wide-angle lens. The most significant difference between a low-end midrange DSLR is the sensor where an image is recorded and transferred to the camera's memory card via the processor. Entry-level or low range cameras will have an APS-C sensor, also known as a crop sensor. And a mid to high range camera, will have a full frame sensor. The full-frame sensor is equivalent in size to 35-millimeter film. And the smaller sensor is a cropped version of this at 1.5 to 1.6 times, a full-frame sensor will produce less noise at a higher ISO setting, ISO greater than 800. However, in real estate photography, you don't need to shoot at high ISOs when using a tripod, you can use longer shutter speeds with a low ISO setting, ISO of less than 400 to retain image quality. Other differences between the upper and lower range cameras are maximum shutter speed, touch screen technology, build quality, WiFi connectivity, et cetera. If you have a limited budget, it is better to save money on the camera body and invest more into the quality of the wide-angle lens you purchase for the camera. If you have never used a digital SLR camera, I would recommend visiting your local camera store and asking if you can try different models from a variety of brands. Remember that your camera and lens will be the most important piece of equipment for your business. So make sure you do your research and try plenty of cameras before you invest in one wide-angle lens. Choosing the correct lens is crucial to capturing quality Real Estate images. Unfortunately, most lenses that come with your DSLR will not be sufficient for shooting real estate. These lenses are still great for lifestyle and creative work. However, you will still need a good quality wide-angle lens for your real estate shoots. If you plan to use a full-frame camera, the minimum focal length required is 15 to 17 millimeters. And if you plan to use a small frame cropped sensor, the minimum focal length required is ten to 12 millimeters. You won't be shooting at the lenses shortest focal length all the time. But it's good to have those extra few millimeters in case you need it for tricky shots such as in small bathrooms. Most interior shots will be taken at a focal length of between 18 to 22 millimeters on a full frame or 14 to 18 millimeters on a crop sensor. Flash. A good-quality Flash is the second most important piece of equipment after the wide-angle lens. Using the technique explained in this course, you will be firing your flash at least three times for each composition. Therefore, you need a flash that has a good life span and uses interchangeable batteries. So you can carry fresh batteries in your bag. You will need a manual flash slash speed light that produces consistent power throughout each shoot and also has fast recycle times. So you don't need to wait more than a couple of seconds between each bracketed exposure fired. Cannon, Android Icon both produced great speed lights for their cameras. However, there are other decent speed lights available for different camera brands expect to pay between two hundred and fifty and five hundred and fifty US dollars for a good quality speed light with sufficient recycling times and power. Gn rating. For real estate photography. 3. Tripod Selection: The main function of the tripod is to hold a camera steadily in the same position so that you can take the time to compose the image and shoot several bracketed shots of the same composition without any camera movement in between or during the shots. Especially when using longer exposures. There are several things to consider when selecting a tripod to use for real estate photography, including size, load capacity, head type, leg locks, feet type, and material. When shooting interiors, you will require the camera to be at the height of approximately 1.1 meters to 1.3 meters most of the time, depending on the room and ceiling height, exterior shots will demand a greater height with the tripod fully extended. Most three legs section tripods will allow a height of up to 1.8 meters with the center column down and foreleg section tripods allow a height of two meters. The load capacity of a tripod is the weight that it can safely hold without risk of breaking. Calculate the combined weight of your camera body lens and speed light to ensure that the total combined weight is less than the load capacity of the tripod you plan to buy. The two main types of tripod heads are the ball head and pan tilt head. The three-way pan tilt tripod head is great because it gives you more control over the setup of your composition and enables you to adjust the pan, tilt Andrew rotation individually. Leg locks should be sturdy and easy to maintain. As over time they will become loose and you will need to be able to tighten these easily. Faulty or poor quality leg locks will make shooting interiors more difficult or impossible. The two most common types of lego blocks are the twist lock and lever lock. However, the lever lock is recommended as these are easy to adjust and are more durable. The ideal tripod feet for shooting interiors are rubber balls or square caps as these offer a stable platform. Spikes tripod feet are unnecessary for real estate and interior photography as they are designed for shooting outdoors. Medium-size to tripods are typically made from aluminum or carbon fiber materials. Aluminum tripods offer great value for money as they are durable and light enough for real estate work. A good-quality aluminum tripod with a tripod head included, will cost between one hundred and fifty and three hundred US dollars, but should last you for several years if you look after it. Carbon fiber tripods look impressive, are durable, incredibly lightweight, but can get quite expensive. Avoid using travel tripod as these are usually not tall enough and are generally too unsteady for real estate photography. 4. Other Equipment: Memory card. Fortunately for photographers over the years, memory cards are getting cheaper while providing more and more available storage space. The most important characteristics of the memory card are the type, size, and speed. The most common type of memory card is the SDI, which includes the SDXC and SD THC. However, some cameras use older types of memory cards, such as the compact flash, CFI, multimedia card, MMC, and XD picture card. Real Estate photography usually demands thousands of raw files in a full day of shooting several homes. Therefore, you should have at least two memory cards with a sufficient amount of storage space. Instead of one expensive memory card with 256 gigabytes of space, it's a good idea to have two cards with at least a 128 gigabytes of space, so that you can keep one spare card in your camera bag at all times. Having an additional card with you can be handy when your main memory card corrupts or you accidentally forget to put it back into your camera after transferring photos on your computer at home. Memory card read speed refers to how fast the image files transfer from the card to your computer. The right speed, also known as card speed, refers to how fast the data transfers from the camera to the memory card when shooting. Super fast read and write speeds are essential for certain types of photography, IE sports into action photography, but are not overly important for real estate photographers. You should also remember to format your memory card at the start of each day to avoid running out of space or needing to delete files one by one. If you've already shot a few houses that day and can't format the entire card. Filters. The two filters you should have for this type of photography are the UV filter and polarizing filter. The UV filter is an important addition to your kid as it protects your lens from scratches, dirt and dust. And it also helps in eliminating Hayes and UV light from your images. The polarizing filter is great for improving your exterior images by increasing the contrast of Skies and removing glare and reflections in water and glass. Equipment bag. Using a discrete camera bag is ideal when shooting an apartment complexes where the on-site management company has lost its management rights to the apartment. These managers are usually frustrated and can attempt to stop you from shooting the complex, even though you have permission from the property owner and the agent. Therefore, I have found that it is best to use a discrete looking camera bag so that you appear to look like a tenant from within the building. If you have spare lenses, camera bodies, and other equipment, you can leave this in a second camera bag and your vehicle. If you are leaving your second equipment bags in your car and sure you have the appropriate insurance to protect your goods from theft. Spare equipment. Additional equipment should include SD cards, charged batteries for camera and flash. And depending on your budget and extra camera, body and lens, you should also carry a lens pin in your bag to safely clean your lenses on the go. 5. How to Photograph Real Estate: This module focuses on the recommended settings and shooting process for real estate and how photographers develop their personal style over the course of their careers. You will gain a solid understanding about how to shoot using the HDR flash method and how to capture a series of bracketed images to cover the dynamic range of an image. There are various shooting methods that work for photographing real estate, including shooting with natural light, multiple strobe lights, a single speed light, HDR, high dynamic range techniques. And combinations of these, the technique and methods that professional photographers use depends on where they learned how to shoot, how their mentors worked. Whether they were required to shoot a certain way for a company or client, they were working for. The gear they have available, the volume of shoots they complete in a day, and also personal preferences. You should also respect every photographer's technique and process as photography is still an art. And if the client is happy and getting results from your photographs, then you should feel confident in your method of shooting. As Real Estate photography is quite different from other types of photography. The scary thing for many beginners is not being sure about how to properly shoot the images that they see on real estate websites and interior design magazines. My method of shooting has evolved over the past decade from the feedback received through my editors and clients, changes in technology, increases in workload and the need to train my staff with a process that can be quickly learned and replicated with consistently high quality results. I have experimented with many different techniques and processes. However, the technique that I have found to be the best is the multiple exposure with flash technique, also known as HDR flash. If you have never used manual settings on a DSLR camera, I would recommend spending time experimenting with different ISO settings, apertures and shutter speeds to gain an understanding of how these effects of the exposure and depth of field and the images. If you are running a real estate photography business, you're editing should be performed by an in-house team or outsourced to a reliable freelancers that understands how to process images captured using the multiple exposures. 6. The HDR-Flash Method: As mentioned in the previous lecture, the HDR flash method is an effective method of shooting real estate as it is fast, relatively simple, and produces consistently good results. Using multiple lights to capture a single exposure that properly exposes the interior and the windows within the room takes time to set up and does not practical for real estate shoots, especially when you are photographing several properties per day. The HDR high dynamic range technique on its own, can produce sub-optimal results causing colors within the room to look cloudy or murky, white walls to look unnatural. Combining these two techniques provides you with the best of both worlds. The HDR flash technique is the process of taking enough bracketed photos, one f-stop apart to cover the dynamic range between the lightest and darkest part of the room, while also firing the flash or speed light for each exposure. Bracketing is the process of capturing a series of underexposed, overexposed individual brackets, with each bracket being one-stop apart. The number of brackets will depend on the light levels inside the room and outside the windows. One F-stop or stop is the term for doubling and exposure. If you are increasing exposure or having an exposure, if you are decreasing exposure. For example, overexposing an image by one f-stop from an optimal exposure of 1 eighth second would mean increasing the shutter speed to 1 fourth second. You can adjust for one stop by changing aperture, shutter speed, ISO, or exposure compensation. However, for this technique, it is best to only adjust the shutter speed. Bracketed exposures are adjusted using the shutter speed with the ISO and aperture remaining constant throughout the process. The camera mounted speed light is fired into the ceiling to bounce light throughout the room to make colors appear natural and four white walls to look crisp. In most well-lit rooms, shooting five brackets, including one, optimal exposure to underexposed overexposed brackets is generally enough to capture the dynamic range of the room. You're underexposed brackets should be dark enough to show the details of the view outside the window. If it's a poorly lit room and it has a small window, the dynamic range between the interior and exterior is going to be much greater. The HDR flash shooting technique can be broken down into several steps. One, set up your camera on the tripod and compose the image using the viewfinder or live view on the LCD screen to ensure your aperture is set between F8 to F11. Your ISO was between two hundred and four hundred and two or flash is switched on and set to TTL. Three, adjust your shutter speed until you reach optimal exposure, usually a vertical line or a 0. And to fire the first exposure for underexpose your image by one-stop, by adjusting your shutter speed. Ie, if your optimal exposure is 1 fourth of a second, then you should change it to 1 eighth of a second. Five, repeat step four until the view and the windows or the brightest subject in the image looks correctly exposed. Ie you can see the blue sky and trees outside the window. Each one of these images is one bracket and a series of bracketed exposures you need to capture to cover the dynamic range of the image. Six, set the shutter speed back to optimal exposure and then increase the shutter speed to overexposed the image by one-stop. Ie, if your optimal exposure is 1 fourth of a second, then you would change it to 1.5 of a second. Seven, repeat step six until you have at least two to four bracketed exposures that are overexposed and the shadows around the furniture and darkest subject matter are barely visible. It's important to note that your flash will only be able to fire effectively when you're shooting at 1 200th of a second or slower. Therefore, in very bright rooms or enclosed outdoor areas, you may need to adjust the exposure compensation or ISO, if you need to underexpose your image with a shutter speed faster than 1 200th of a second. Remember that capturing the bracketed images is only part of the process as it's your editors job to take the images you've captured and complete them and post-production, it's your responsibility to capture the correct number of bracketed shots with great compositions. And it's your editors job to take these files and create the final image you will deliver to the client. 7. Camera Settings: When shooting interiors, you will be using the same ISO and aperture setting, but adjusting the exposure for each of the bracketed images by adjusting the shutter speed. The following few lecture slides are a summary of the elements that make up the exposure triangle, ISO, aperture and shutter speed, and other camera settings necessary for the HDR flash technique in real estate photography. The ISO is the abbreviation for international organization of standardization and is the term used for the cameras sensors sensitivity. A high ISO, ISO greater than 800 will allow you to collect more light information in low-light conditions. However, it can't produce a grainy effect in the details of the image, also known as noise. A high ISO is useful if you are hand holding the camera, as you will notice, camera shake or blur in your images when using a shutter speed slower than 130th of a second. Fortunately, the HDR flash technique requires you to use a tripod and therefore you can use a lower ISO setting, 200 to 400 to retain image quality. The recommended ISO setting for real estate photography is between two hundred and four hundred, as the required shutter speeds will be slightly faster and therefore use less battery, which has been official when photographing several homes in one day. The aperture controls how much light enters your camera lens and affects the images depth of field, which is the distance between the closest and farthest objects that are sharply focused within the image. Depth of field can also be affected by your lenses focal length and cameras sensor size. As wide angle lenses and larger sensor sizes have a slightly deeper depth of field than telephoto lenses and crop sensors. A low aperture value, such as f2 0.8, will produce a shallow depth of field and can be useful for creating compositions when you want the background and foreground of an image to appear blurred or out-of-focus. Real estate agents will occasionally asked for these types of images and they can be good to include in your portfolio to highlight your skill set. A high aperture value, such as F22, will create a deep depth of field and is great for outdoor landscape photographs and can produce sharp interior images. However, a high aperture will require shutter speeds up to 30 seconds long for some overexposed brackets of interiors, which is not efficient and we'll waste your camera battery. In real estate photography. The recommended aperture setting is between FAA to end F11, as it is high enough to produce a deep depth of field to keep the entire interior looking sharp and in focus, but not so high that you need to use very slow shutter speeds to compensate for a lack of light entering the lens and reaching the sensor. The shutter speed dictates how long your cameras shutter stays open, allowing the sensor to be exposed to the light traveling down the camera lens. Compared to the other elements of the exposure triangle, aperture, and ISO, the shutter speed setting provides greater flexibility due to the large range of values available. With most DSLR cameras offering a maximum shutter speed of one hundred four thousandth of a second and a minimum shutter speed of 30 seconds before entering bulb mode for exposure is longer than 30 seconds. The shutter speed is also the most important setting in the HDR flash technique, as it is the only setting in the exposure triangle that has changed between each bracketed exposure. The range of shutter speeds, settings that you use for your images will depend on the dynamic range of the room, which is basically the difference in light intensity. The darkest part of the composition, IE furniture shadows and the brightest IE window. Dslr cameras have a plethora of other settings, such as inbuilt retouching features, custom settings and camera setup options. Image quality would be set to raw format. So that's our image editor has much greater control over the range in post-production. Shooting in raw format allows your editor to change white balance, exposure, contrast, and make other adjustments without losing image quality in post-production. The autofocus options vary between camera brands. However, the autofocus mode designed for stationary subjects will be your best option. Some cameras struggled to auto-focus in live view mode, so you may need to press the live view button to turn it off before pressing the shutter release button. After you have set up the composition, if you're photographing a room with no lights or very dull lighting, you may find that the cameras struggles to focus. Therefore, you may need to manually focus in this situation. White balance should be set to auto and can be adjusted in post-processing. But remember to set your image quality settings to ROM. Camera metering options typically includes center weighted metering, spot metering and matrix metering on Nikon or evaluative metering on canon. Matrix or evaluative metering is recommended for real estate photography as it helps produce consistent results when using the HDR flash technique. To assist with the quality of the bracketed shots using the HDR flash technique. Remember to turn off the vibration reduction feature on your lens. As this feature can make it very difficult for your editor to blend the images and the post-production process. Turn off any inbuilt shadow reduction features such as active DIY lighting for Nikon or auto lighting optimizer ALL 04 canon. If you use the auto bracketing feature in your camera and ensure that it is set to positive or negative one EV, which is equivalent to one f-stop. All other settings can be set up to suit your personal preferences or key, but the cameras default settings. When shooting interiors, your camera height should be approximately 1.1 meters off the ground. For most shots. However, you will need to adjust slightly for certain rooms, such as the kitchen or bathrooms, where a camera height of approximately 1.4 meters, sufficient to raise the camera above the benchtop and kitchen or bathroom sink. If the room you were photographing has uniquely high ceilings, you can also raise your camera on the tripod to capture more of the ceiling and convey this feature to the viewer. Most exterior shots require the tripod to be fully extended for maximum height. To effectively bounce light off the ceiling of, of your camera, you will need to set your speed light to TTL through the lens or use manual mode. If you prefer to use manual mode, you will have full control over the power. And it is recommended to set the power to one to one and then adjust the power accordingly. You need enough power to bounce light off the ceiling, fill the room to reduce shadows, and make the dark and light colors within the room up here, more natural. Adjustments will need to be made for different room sizes and ceiling heights. Ttl mode produces the right amount of power in the majority of interiors and saves time as you don't need to continuously make adjustments to the power of the flash for each room. 8. Photographing Bedrooms: This module provides information and examples on how to photograph different interior rooms with me. Studies for each room type to provide guidance on composition and technique. At the end of this module, you should have the skills and confidence to compose images of a variety of rooms, including bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and different types of living rooms and exteriors. Bedrooms are one of the simplest rooms to photograph inside a home as they present very few challenges compared two bathrooms, kitchens and living rooms. Bedrooms are typically captured using one of three compositions. However, it depends on the size of the room and position of the windows. You should try to have three walls visible in each composition. And avoid cutting off Windows or the doorways to int sweets or walk in robes. Important elements of a bedroom include personality, lighting, color scheme, decor, and positioning of the bed and other furniture. Potential buyers and renters want to gain an understanding of the room layout, its true size, and envision how well their furnishings will relate to the space. Setup and positioning. Twofold walls should be included in most compositions. And the third wall is only partially shown as a border to give the viewer an idea of the size of the room. If the bedroom has a covered in sweet or walk in robe, you should try to include the entrances to these features in the shot to highlight them for the viewer. If the home has several rooms, not all cupboards needed to be visible in each bedroom photo, and you can afford to include more creative angles. Camera height should be approximately 1.1 to 1.3 meters from the ground. And you should be shooting your flash directly into the ceiling above you. During each bracketed exposure. It allows the light to bounce off the ceiling or walls and eliminates many of the shadows around the furniture, making the colors within the frame look crisp and natural. The average bedroom requires three to five bracketed exposures to complete the dynamic range of the image. However, this depends on the size of the room and the size and brightness of the windows. You need to check the darkest and lightest exposures in your set of bracketed shots to ensure you have collected a wide enough set of exposures. Challenges and tips. Windows can be tricky as the reflection of your flash can sometimes be seen in the glass depending on the Window's position. You can solve this issue by also collecting a series of bracketed shots without firing the flash. This allows your editor to retain the details of the subjects that are blown out by the flash and the window when editing the image. The following examples should help in gaining an understanding of the recommended compositions and settings when photographing bedrooms. Example one. In this bedroom photo, the camera was set up on the opposite wall to the window, positioned slightly to the left side with the bed running parallel to the top and bottom of the window. Setting up slightly to the left side of the room revealed more of the study desk without having to turn the camera to the right and losing the symmetry of the image. A focal length of 17 millimeters was used to crop the image at the edge of the pillows and artwork and show a hint of the cupboard on the right. Without the cupboard taking up too much of the frame. The telescope at the rear of the room was positioned to face upwards towards the open sky at an angle close to the green metal facade outside the patio door. Five bracketed exposures capture the dynamic range of the bedroom between the foreground and the view outside the window in the background. The optimal exposure was captured at F11, had 125th, and then to underexposed brackets were captured at 150th, 1 100th. Then to overexposed brackets were captured at 1 sixth, 113th. Example to for this image, the camera was set up just inside the door frame with the bed positioned in the center of the frame with all three walls on display to give a good indication of the bedrooms true size, as the room has a lot of natural light from the large windows. Five bracketed exposures were used to capture the dynamic range of the image from an optimal exposure of f 11 at 150th to underexposed brackets were captured at 1 100th, one hundred, two hundred two underexposed brackets at one thirteenths and 125th. Example three. The unique layout of the bedroom was captured shooting diagonally across the room and lining up the edge of the chest of drawers to the right-hand side of frame with the opposite corner of the room in the center of the frame, showing the full length of the feature wall on the left side highlights the prestige wallpaper and bed head. The center column of the tripod was raised by 20 centimeters to compensate for the high ceiling and floor to ceiling glass wall racing the camera height. The extra height also shows the viewer that the room features and air conditioning units and a ceiling fan, which would have been missed at the usual camera height of 1.1 meters. Five bracketed exposures were captured to cover the dynamic range between the windows and the interior era of the bedroom. 9. Photographing Kitchens: The kitchen triangle, comprising of the sinc, stove and refrigerator is the area that has the most activity within the kitchen, and therefore needs to be highlighted in the image is to show the ease of access and the layout of this space in each house, and other characteristics buyers and tenants look for in a kitchen or the countertop material and amount of space, storage and lighting, whether artificial or natural mode, the kitchens offer a variety of angles and either comprise a corner layout or have a galley style layout consisting of two parallel bench tops with a central cord or between them. Some layouts can be quite restrictive and tricky to work around if the design of the benchtop and placement of appliances doesn't work in your favor. Setup and positioning. Kitchen shots should include a photograph inside the kitchen showing the oven, stove, sink, and large appliances in more detail. It is best composed looking down between the two countertops. However, this depends on the design of the kitchen. Another shot is typically required to show the entire kitchen taken from the front side of the kitchen bench, either front on or at a diagonal angle to show the whole kitchen layout. When photographing kitchens, extend the middle poll on your tripod so that the camera is approximately 2230 centimeters higher than the kitchen bench. This allows the camera to clear the kitchen bench and show more of the sink and stove top while still showing the details of the stove dishwasher, et cetera. In addition to completing the required set of bracketed exposures with the flash bouncing off the ceiling. You may also need to perform an additional set of exposures without the flash. As some kitchens may have stainless steel and other reflective surfaces. Challenges and tips when preparing the kitchen shot ensure that the tap and spout are turned to a position where they are visible to the camera. Place any detergents, sponges, et cetera, into the sink where they won't be visible and also remove floor mats, excessive appliances and dish racks. Remember to ask the owner or tenant if you may move their belongings before doing so, it is best to remove fridge magnets and other excessive clutter in post-production as this can be too time-consuming to do on site. The following examples will help you to gain an understanding of the recommended compositions and settings when photographing kitchens. Example one. To capture this galley style kitchen. The camera was positioned in front of the kitchen bench to compose a symmetrical shot with the horizontal lines of the bench tops running parallel to the ceiling skirting. Five bracketed exposures were captured from an optimal exposure of FL1 at 125th, followed by two overexposed brackets at 1 sixth, 113th, and then to underexposed at 150th, 1 100th. The image clearly shows the kitchen triangle to the left hand side of the image and easy access down either side of the kitchen. Focal length of 24 millimeters was used to tightly cropped the bottom of the frame with the base of the kitchen bench and bar stools legs. Example two. In this kitchen image, the camera was set up in the corner of the kitchen facing outwards towards the outdoor entertaining area to highlight the flow between the interior and outdoor space. The center column was raised, so the camera was sitting at a height of approximately 1.4 meters to allow the viewer to see the outdoor dining setup over the benchtop in the center of the kitchen. In addition to the unique lights, the left side of the frame is cropped with the large folding doors as this is an important feature of the room. Although the stove top is not visible in this composition due to the layout, the sink and large fridge spaces included five bracketed exposures were captured in this image to bridge the gap between the dynamic range of the interior and exterior spaces. Example three. For this kitchen image, the camera was elevated on the tripod to 1.4 meters to clear the kitchen benchtop and clearly show the stove top and pantry on the far right-hand side, a focal length of 19 millimeters was used to tightly cropped the vertical edge of the cupboard on the left of the frame, and the dividing wall from the kitchen and dining space on the right-hand side. This angle highlights the glass window splash back that runs behind the stove top with views out to the garden. The kitchen triangle sits in the center of the image with access visible to the right-hand side of the image. Five bracketed exposures were used to capture the dynamic range of the image from an optimal exposure of 113th at EFF 13. 10. Photographing Living & Dining Rooms: All living spaces, whether rump us rooms, dining spaces, parents, retreats, media rooms, et cetera, should feel inviting and warn. You should portray this in your images in addition to highlighting the size, seating space and natural and artificial lighting, setup and positioning, living areas and dining rooms come in all shapes and sizes and offer a variety of composition options for real estate photographers. However, you should consider the purpose of the room, the position of Windows and furniture placement. For example, if you are photographing a large dining room with the scenic view, you should ensure the composition highlights the size of the room while maximizing the view through the adjacent windows. Place the dining table in the center of the image using the rule of thirds. And if the property is unfurnished, imagine where the table would be positioned and work with that visual as a guide to set up your composition. Challenges and tips. Different homes present different challenges when it comes to shooting the living rooms. Some homes have an open plan design where the dining area, living room, and kitchen are all in the one open space. Other homes have a partially open plan layout or all living, dining and kitchen spaces are separated. If the living areas are open plan and it is possible to include different zones, kitchen living and dining rooms in one shot. This is a great way to highlight the open plan design of the home. It is also beneficial to capture each zone separately, IE, kitchen, living room, dining, et cetera. If the patio, balcony and al fresco area doors are within these compositions, they usually look best when open to show the functionality of the room. Remember to capture enough bracketed exposures to cover the dynamic range of the room. For example, a media room with no windows requires only three bracketed exposures, while a large open, plain living room requires several bracketed exposures. The following examples will help in understanding the recommended compositions and settings used when photographing various living areas within a home. Example one. For this image, the camera was positioned on the edge of the sofa, shooting through the living room to expose the patio and extended views over the houses in the distance, a 20 millimeter focal length was used to tightly cropped the plant on the left-hand side and the sofa cushions on the right of the image. And five bracketed exposures were captured without Flash to cover the dynamic range of the interior and exterior. The five bracketed exposures are made up of an optimal exposure of 1 15th underexposed at 130th, 160th, and then overexposed, that's 1 third, 1 sixth. A higher ISO is used for this image as it was taken towards the end of a twilight shoot. Example two. In this image, the composition was set up to highlight that the living room area as part of a large open plan space comprising the kitchen. And to also show connection between the interior living space and outdoor entertaining area. The 18 millimeter focal length was used to tightly cropped the sofa cushions on the left edge of the image. Seven bracketed exposures were captured to cover the dynamic range between the far left corner of the interior darkest area to the sky on the right corner of the image, brightest area. An optimal exposure with a shutter speed of 1 15th was captured and followed by three brackets of 1.51 fourth, 1 eighth to overexposed the image. And then three brackets of 130th, 160th, 220th to underexpose the image. Example three. This lounge room image was composed as a more creative shot that utilizes a shallower depth of field F4 to gently blurred the green leaves and pillows in the foreground and keeps the living area sharp in focus. The low angle helps the viewer experienced a comfort they would feel sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace. A focal length of 32 millimeters was used. Zoom in past the bulk of the sofa set to tightly cropped the image with the pillows in the bottom left-hand corner. Only three bracketed exposures were used as the dynamic range of the room was limited with no windows. The three bracketed exposures were collected using an optimal exposure with a shutter speed of 180th and underexposed image at 160th and over-exposed image at 140th. 11. Photographing Bathrooms: Buyers and renters want to be able to see the level of privacy, safety, lighting, storage space, comfort, shower size, and vanity space. The bathroom has to offer them. Bathrooms and in Sweets can be the most difficult rooms to shoot within a home as they present many challenges, such as reflections and glass, shower frames and mirrors. The average sized full bathroom is approximately 1.5 by 2.4 meters in dimension. So being relatively tight spaces, you will need to use your wide-angle lens to its full capacity. Setup and positioning. Due to their small size, bathrooms are typically photographed from within the doorway. However, for very large bathrooms, it may be possible or necessary to shoot from inside the bathroom. When composing the image, tried to avoid cutting off bathtubs and sinks and ensure the shower frame does not obstruct the tap where and sink. If the bathroom offers plenty of artificial lighting and is not mixed with natural light from the window. You can capture three to five bracketed exposures without using the flash. It eliminates the risk of the flash reflecting and tiles, shower glass and two mirrors. Challenges and tips. Some bathroom layouts may make it impossible to include the bath, shower, sink, and toilet in the same frame. In this case, it is best to capture the one or two features that look best in the frame. I0, sinc and toilet or a combination of sync, shower and bath. In some cases, you may want to focus on certain elements of the bathroom, such as the sink into bathtub. Some agents prefer not to show the toilet and bathroom photos. Removed towels from the bathrooms as they can often be too distracting, especially if they are bright colors or do not match the bathroom. Depending on the position of the mirror and other glass within the bathroom. In sweet, you may be required to use the timer or a remote shutter release on the camera to give you time to move away from behind the camera so that you don't appear in any reflections or mirrors. If the bathroom vanity and sink are higher than the cameras height on the tripod, you should raise the camera height by approximately 20 centimeters so that you have some elevation over the sink and it does not take up too much of the composition. The following examples should help you to gain an understanding of the recommended compositions and settings used when photographing bathrooms and to en suites. Example one. For this image, the camera was set up inside the doorway and the photo was composed to include the double bass and as the feature in the center of the frame and part of the shower and toilet on the sides. The two walls on either side of double basin hides part of the shower. However, the viewer can still see that there is more length to the shower. The left side of the image was cropped by the edge of the tiles and towel rack. Five bracketed exposures were captured without Flash to avoid light reflections on the mirror and shower tiles. These bracketed exposures were made up of an optimal exposure using a shutter speed of 113th to overexposed brackets and two underexposed. Example two. For this photo of a modern bathroom, that camera was set up in the center of the bathroom against the wall and the image was composed so the horizontal and vertical lines were level and running parallel to each other. The features of the bathroom where evenly balanced with the double bass and on the right-hand side, and the large floor to ceiling glass window and the shower on the left-hand side. The top edge of the toilet seat is visible to indicate its position within the bathroom without distracting the viewer from the more important features. Six bracketed exposures were captured without flash from an optimal exposure of 1 third second, to cover the dynamic range between the window and the interior. Example three. This laundry was photographed from the doorway across to the opposite corner, which is centered in the frame. The washing machine and cupboard, which are the same height, crop the left and right edge of the frame, which adds the balanced vertical symmetry of the image. Three bracketed exposures to stops apart were captured without Flash as the room was well lit by natural light and the interior was predominately white, which helps bounce natural and artificial light evenly throughout the room. The three bracketed exposures made up an optimal exposure at a shutter speed of 16 and over-exposed exposure of 1.61 and an underexposed exposure of 125th. 12. Photographing House Exteriors: This module provides information on how to photograph different houses, apartment buildings, and complexes, along with various challenges and tips associated with different building types. At the end of this module, you should have the skills and confidence to compose images of different Holmes apartment buildings, views, pools, and lifestyle facilities. Potential buyers and renters generally look for the street appeal of the front facade, privacy levels, presentation of the gardens and landscape maintenance level of the yards or courtyard space. Other important features for some people include ease of access for vehicles and whether the property includes a pool, shed or other lifestyle amenities. Exterior images are generally easier to capture than Interior images as there are less technical elements to consider and the dynamic range of the image is usually quite narrow. The exterior image must still be captured at the best possible angle, as it is normally used by the real estate agent as the hero shot. And therefore, the first photograph a potential buyer or renters sees online. Setup and positioning. Using the tripod fully extended for maximum height. You should position the camera where the composition shows the entire house if possible, but also shows any important features if required. Iaea secure fence, landscaping or carport. A total of three brackets without using flash is usually enough to capture the dynamic range of an exterior image unless there are very strong shadows present that high details in the exterior facade. The backyard or courtyard of a home may also contain a pool, deck, patio, or other features. They need to be included in the composition from the rear of the yard depending on the layout and position of the sun. Challenges and tips. Remember to remove any bins, toys, vehicles, and other unnecessary objects, either on-site or in post-production. The following examples highlight the recommended compositions and settings used when photographing the front and rear exteriors of a house, villa, and town home. Example one. The composition was set up to evenly distribute the house, sky and foreground between the image using an elevated camera height to place the house component in the center of the image. The house was kept level and the space between the edge of the image and the end of the house is evenly waited on each side of the house using a focal length of 19 millimeters. For bracketed exposures were used to cover the dynamic range between the sky and the porch at the front of the house. The optimal exposure was captured at F11 at 1 500th of a second, followed by one underexposed bracketed at 110000 to bring back the details in the bright roof. Then to overexposed brackets at 125th, 1, 250th. It's important to note that in this image, artificial grass was added by the editor in post-production. Example two. The three-storey terrorists home was photographed by holding the tripod overhead with the center column fully extended. So the camera was level with the first floor. Taking the camera to this height evenly distributes the ground floor, first floor and second floor vertically across the image. The composition was also setup to center the front facade of the home close to the center of the image. The camera was set to self timer before raising the tripod and camera above my head. And one exposure was captured at 140th. This shutter speed of one hundred six fortieth of a second was used as it under exposed to the image by one-stop from its optimal exposure 120th of a second, so that no details were lost in the brightest part of the image. Example three. The composition was set up to show the size of the backyard and the privacy provided by surrounding greenery. The tripod was fully extended to approximately 1.8 meters and positioned in the center of the rear of the backyard with the house in the center of the frame. Five bracketed exposures were used to cover the dynamic range between the bright patches of sunlight filtering between the tree branches and the dark shadows around the home. These exposures comprised of two stops over an optimal exposure at a shutter speed of 180th to underexpose the image and two stops under two overexposed the image. 13. Photographing Apartment Exteriors: The hero image used by an agent for an apartment building is usually the front of the building, unless the complex has a well-presented and modern swimming pool or lobby. The same principles that apply to houses, also apply to apartment buildings, where you can use the tripod to fully extend and capture between 35 bracketed exposures, setup, and positioning. Depending on the height of the building, you may need to position yourself quite far back to capture the entire building in the frame. It is important that the entire building is in the frame ended. There is enough space around the building for your editor to correct for lens distortion created by the lens being slightly tilted for the shot. Especially taller buildings, most modern apartment buildings or unit complexes will post an array of lifestyle facilities such as pool, rooftop terrorists, barbecue areas, gymnasium, sauna, residents lounge and media room. Challenges and tips. Some of the challenges associated with shooting these types of building exteriors are having no control over the residents. Balcony clutter, large garbage bins or cars parked in the street or exposed on-site car parks. It is recommended that your photo editor removes the digits on the car number plates, removes bins and any other residents belongings that are visible on their balconies. If the sun is hidden directly behind the building, the front facade of the building will be quite stark, and this guy will be exceptionally bright. In these situations, you are required to capture up to seven or even nine bracketed exposures to cover the greater dynamic range between the building facade and the sky behind the building. You can avoid this problem with careful scheduling. However, sometimes it can't be avoided on busy days. Study the following examples to gain an understanding of the recommended compositions and settings used when photographing the exteriors of apartment buildings. Example one. This hotel was photographed from across the street from the building at the high side of a gentle hill with the tripod fully extended. The top and bottom edges of the building form converging lines that are parallel but appear to move closer together as the eye travels across the image from right to left. The composition includes the building signage, bus stop, and the restaurant cafe to highlight these features to the viewer. The building facade in the foreground, we're evenly lit by the Sun, so only five bracketed exposures were captured. However, three would have sufficed. Example two. Due to the extreme height of the building, the camera was set up a couple of 100 meters away from the building, down on the beach, which works well with the soft twilight colors settling into the horizon behind the building. The composition has the subject building filling the center of the image with the smaller apartment buildings on either side to highlight its sheer height and also to balance the image. The lens was still tilted back to capture the top of the building and the frame. And then the converging lines of the subject and the surrounding apartment buildings were straightened, didn't post-production. Five bracketed exposures were captured to cover the dynamic range between the building facade and the sun setting in the background. Example three. This image was composed to show the footpath leading to the entrance of the building and highlight the surrounding greenery and lifestyle The building has to offer. The left, right, and bottom edges of the image are cropped by the landscaping with part of the building being overlapped by the tree on the right. Three bracketed exposures were captured from an optimal exposure at F11 with a shutter speed of one hundred four hundred to cover the dynamic range between the foreground and the sky behind the building. 14. Photographing Patios & Balconies: Patios, also known as al fresco areas, and balconies or verandas, provide homes with useful outdoor dining and entertainment spaces to enjoy with friends and family. Views from these exterior spaces also add value to a property and your clients will want to highlight these features in their marketing campaign. When composing these images, you want to show the size of the space, as well as the outlook or view. Setup and positioning. The dynamic range within a patio OR balcony image depends on whether the space is enclosed by walls and a ceiling and also the size of the space. If there are no solid walls on either side or a ceiling, you can usually capture the dynamic range within three bracketed exposures. When the balcony or patio was enclosed, the space is darker than the outlook review. And therefore you will need to capture between 57 bracketed exposures to cover the wider dynamic range of the scene. You should raise the height of your cameras slightly so that it is positioned above the height of the railing and the outdoor furniture, IE, outdoor dining table. This will allow you to capture the outlook from the space better as it won't be obstructed by the railing. Challenges and tips. Photos of views from a balcony are essentially landscape photographs or cityscape seascape photos. Depending on the outlook, the dynamic range is typically narrow and you can photograph the views within three bracketed exposures. Depending on the view, you may need to zoom in slightly to crop out any unwanted object or highlight a distant city skyline. However, you should avoid using a focal length greater than 60 millimeters as it is not a true representation of the view. It can cause issues for your clients as they may receive complaints from potential buyers or tenants. The following examples have been provided to help you gain an understanding of the recommended compositions and settings used when photographing patios, balconies, and views from a property. Example one. The composition of this photograph was designed to create both vertical and horizontal symmetry between the connecting lines of the floorboards, ceiling edges and railings with the outdoor setting position in the center of the frame. The camera was elevated to a height of approximately 1.5 meters for clearance over the chair closest to the camera and expose more of the tabletop and distant views. Seven bracketed exposures were captured with flash to fill the ceiling and close the gap and dynamic range between the interior and sky. Example to the aim of this composition is to help the viewer feel what they could experience relaxing on the patio in an afternoon and joining a drink and watching the sunset over the mountains. The two chairs at an element of vertical symmetry and the small table is centered in the frame. The low position of the camera, approximately 1.1 meters, assists in keeping the housing in the foreground partially hidden by the railing bars and the view and distant buildings are the main focus above the railing. Seven bracketed exposures were captured without using a flash and the wine and glasses were added in post-production. Example three. This image depicting a view of Surfers Paradise in Queensland, Australia was captured from the balcony of an apartment to highlight the city and ocean views that it's new owners could enjoy. A focal length of 30 millimeters was used to bring the frame forward and make part of the balcony visible on the bottom right-hand corner to show to the viewer that it's a true representation of the view from the balcony. That proportion of cityscape and ocean is evenly distributed for balanced with the distant shoreline meeting the tips of the buildings in the center of the image. Five bracketed exposures were captured to cover the dynamic range between the ocean sky and the entertainment hub in the foreground of the image. 15. Photographing Lifestyle Facilities: Most modern apartment buildings and gated communities have Lifestyle amenities for residents and guests to enjoy. These may include a pool, tennis court, Jim rooftop garden and barbecue areas. Many houses boast a swimming pool in the backyard, which sometimes can be used as the hero shot by an agent. Your clients will always want to include these features as they are strong selling points and they add value to the property. Setup and positioning. Interior lifestyle facilities such as media rooms, residents, lounges, sourness, and gymnasiums require you to apply between 37 bracketed exposures depending on the strength of natural light in the room. Sourness and media rooms usually have no windows. So you can photograph these with three bracketed exposures with the flash turned off to help retain the atmosphere of the room. Exterior lifestyle facilities such as pool's, barbecue areas, tennis courts and rooftop pools have a limited dynamic range. Therefore, collecting three bracketed exposures will suffice. Challenges and tips. If people are using the facilities at the time of the shooting, kindly asked them if they wish to be included in the photographs or if they don't mind moving to the side for a minute. These facilities are always fun to shoot and you can use your creative license for these compositions. The following examples will help you gain an understanding of the compositions and settings for pools and lifestyle facilities. Example one. The composition for this rooftop pool photo was designed to show the deck and sitting space on the left, the wet edge pool in the foreground and the views city skyline and the distance. Lowering the height of the camera would have hidden the neighboring houses and put more of an emphasis on the city skyline. However, the trees at a nice touch of greenery to the image. The right edge of the image is cropped by the wooden deck for consistency with the pool deck on the left edge of the image. Three bracketed exposures were captured to capture the limited dynamic range between the sky, building facades, and foreground with an optimal exposure of 1 500th. Example two. The composition within this image of a sauna was designed to show the ample seating space, large glass panel window, and the quality of the modern electric stove in the bottom right-hand corner, several bracketed exposures without Flash were used to cover the dynamic range between the window and the lighting under the seating to correctly exposed these areas. Leaving the rest of the song, I'm remaining slightly underexposed. Example three. For this image of an apartment building entrance lobby, the camera was set up in the entrance at a height of 1.6 meters to highlight the detail and the lighting along the walls and ceiling. The receptionist desk is positioned on the left side of the frame, and the lounge settings are positioned in the right with a clear view of the Walkway down through the center of the frame to the lifts in the background. Six bracketed exposures were captured from an optimal exposure of 1.5 at F11 to cover the dynamic range between the lounge setting foreground and the light fixtures throughout the image. 16. Photographing at Twilight: This module will provide an overview of the three different twilight phases and which are best suited to shooting interiors and exteriors, as well as providing tips through various case studies. At the end of this module, you should be able to produce stunning twilight images by combining the composition skills learned in the previous modules with the tips and twilight shooting techniques from this module, twilight photography can turn the most basic looking home into a spectacular and welcoming abode. Once the warm colors of the sunset transition to the night sky, you can capture the home and the limited light available has the sunsets and the center of the Sun is approximately six degrees below the horizon. This is called the civil twilight phase and is officially the start of the Twilight window when the horizon is flooded with the warm red colors of the sun. The twilight phase lasts approximately 15 minutes. However, this phase can appear much shorter depending on the amount of cloud cover over the horizon. During this phase, you should aim to shoot your interior images and to make your way outside to capture the exterior images in the next twilight phase. Once the center of the sun reaches approximately 12 degrees below the horizon. This is called the nautical twilight phase, and can last up to 30 minutes. During this phase, the warm red sunlight disappears and is met by a very dark blue light as the horizon transitions to the darkness of the night sky. The astronomical twilight phase is the final phase of twilight when the center of the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon. When this phase is reached, the sunsets for 60 to 90 minutes. And this is the perfect time to capture views of city lights, set up and positioning. Interiors are photographed using the same composition techniques as daytime photo shoots. However, to retain the ambiance of the available lighting, the flash is not used. This enhances the colorful soft glow. And this guy, after the sun has set and also allows the artificial light to saturate the room. The interior lights should be used to light the room and the camera shutter speeds will be much slower than daytime interior chutes. As the dynamic range in Twilight shots is not as wide as during the daytime, you normally only need to capture three to five bracketed exposures. Exterior images should be photographed in the nautical twilight phase after you have photograph to the interior of the home. If the property has city views, you should leave the view shots until the end of the nautical phase or the start of the astronomical phase when the city lights stand out from the background. As a guide to when you should start your exterior shots, set your shutter speed to two seconds and your aperture to f 11. When the exposure level indicator shows that the composition through the viewfinder is optimally exposed. You can start capturing your series of bracketed exposures if you are a bit late to the exterior shots. And the exposure level indicator shows that the images underexposed at F11 at two seconds simply increase your ISO until the meter indicates that it is correctly exposed. Then starts your series of bracketed exposures, challenges and tips. One of the main challenges associated with shooting interiors at twilight. When the light outside the window is slightly darker than the interior, reflections from the interior lights will appear on the windows. As you near the end of the Twilight window, the reflection of the interior lights on the window glass will be even more noticeable. When you want to highlight the view outside the window. You can eliminate the reflection by capturing one set of multiple bracketed exposures with the lights on to capture the interior exposures. And then collect another exposure with the interiors light switched off to capture the window without reflections. Your editor will need to blend these exposures and post-production So the windows visible in the correctly exposed image of the room display no reflections. Example one. The living room was captured during the civil twilight phase to complement the pink and blue colors of the decor within the interior as they match the colors of the sky through the windows in the background. The composition was set up to highlight the lounge setting in the center of the frame. Access to the upper level of the home via the stairs and the deck through the sliding glass doors. Nine bracketed exposures were used to capture the dynamic range between the interior and the sky outside the windows. A focal length of 17 millimeters was used to tightly crop the bottom of the frame close to the edge of the rug on the bottom edge and the end of the sofa on the right-hand side. Example two. This bedroom image was captured during the civil twilight phase using five bracketed exposures to cover the dynamic range between the interior and the sky, exterior visible through the window blinds. The camera was set up just inside the doorway and the window blinds are level with the camera lens to maximize the views. The right side of the image is cropped against the edge of the bedside table. And the left side of the image is framed by the end of the cupboard and edge of the TV cabinet. Example three. This living room image was captured during the start of the nautical twilight phase to enhance the views from the large sliding doors in the background. The composition highlights the ex-post timber ceilings, air conditioning unit, expansive living room space, and tiled flooring. All features that will appeal to the buyer. Seven bracketed exposures were captured to cover the dynamic range between the sky and rolling hills in the background and the interior space and the foreground. A focal length of 19 millimeters was used to crop the image closer to the Windows, patio doors, without cutting off the TV cabinets and air conditioning units on the right-hand side. Example four. This pool image was captured towards the end of the nautical twilight phase to highlight the lighting of the rear facade of the home and the pool lighting. The composition places the pool in the foreground with the left and right sides evenly balanced for a sense of vertical symmetry, the converging lines of the top and bottom of the home slowly merge closer from left to right to bring the viewer's eye to the center of the image. Several bracketed exposures were captured to cover the dynamic range between the interior spaces, sky, and landscaping in the background. Example five, this exterior image of an apartment building was captured during the start of the nautical twilight phase, so that it was dark enough for many of the lights in the city skyline to be clearly visible. The composition uses the converging lines of the subjects apartment building to bring the viewers eyes to the center of the image or the city skyline indicates just how close this apartment is to the central business district. Five bracketed exposures were enough to capture the optimal exposures range between the building and the city skyline and the background. During post-production, a red boundary line was placed around the apartment for sale. Example six. For this rear facade image, the camera was positioned in the garden of the back corner of the yard at a height of approximately 1.8 meters to gain some clearance over the landscaping in the foreground. The camera was also tilted back slightly to avoid the top point of the roof being cut off at the top of the frame. And then the resulting converging vertical lines were straightened in post-production. The simple composition focuses on the impressive facade of the house, comprising dozens of evenly spaced vertical timber slats and floor to ceiling glass across both levels. The two diagonal lines of the roof meet at the corner point of the image and the surrounding trees and bushes complement the composition by cropping the edges and enhancing the natural landscape surrounding the home. Several bracketed exposures were captured to cover the dynamic range between the sky, building facade and the grass lawn in the foreground. A handheld spotlight was used to paint the lawn and house facade throughout the several exposures with artificial light for an enhanced glow effect. 17. Real Estate Photography Workflow: The workflow module comprises a breakdown of the workflow process from the time of booking to the delivery of the images and invoicing. You will have the ability to make your workflow process as streamlined and efficient as possible in addition to outsourcing your photo editing and utilizing real estate photography software, this module includes two downloadable templates, including a property shoot list and they home preparation guide, appointment booking. I highly recommend offering your clients a variety of ways to make bookings with your business, from email to phone, text, and via your website, it's essential to give your clients options and the ability to contact you easily. Adding a live calendar to your website allows clients to preview your availability and to book according via your scheduling software. If a client books well in advance, IE, two or more weeks ahead of time, it's best to contact them a couple of days before the booking time to reconfirm. Don't waste time traveling to a shoot only to have to reschedule because the house wasn't ready to be photographed. Being proactive and checking with the client ahead of time will always pay off. Client fulfillment. The steps taken at a photo shoot can be broken down into the following. One. If you are meeting the agent, owner or tenant on-site, ensure that you arrive on time, ideally five to ten minutes early if meeting the agent as they are usually early to before entering the home, ask the owner or tenant if they would like you to remove your shoes. Three, switch on all lights and open curtains, blinds to let in as much natural light as possible, but be sure to ask the owner or tenant for permission first for if required, remove large items of clutter, IE begins ironing boards, et cetera, to stage the room lightly, but be sure to ask for permission from the owner or tenant. Again. Five, if the room is heavily cluttered, only remove items that are blocking important features of the room. Ie the view out the window, items covering taps, handles, et cetera. You should discuss a digital de-cluttering fee with the agent before requesting your editor removed the items from the heavily cluttered room. Six, photograph each room from the best angle, referring to the composition case studies from the previous lectures from this course. Seven, after the shoot, ensure that the lights are switched off and the curtains and blinds are drawn. And sure. Any items that you have moved have been put back into the correct place. Upload and editing. Once the photo shoot is completed on site, the files should be uploaded and delivered to your photo editor on time to ensure a fast turnaround time for your client. The easiest way to upload to your editor is via Dropbox file transfer link or by using a real estate photography software such as image cloud. An online editing platforms such as property render.com. The editing team will then download the raw files and or other required files and complete the retouching process. Unless you have the resources to employ an in-house team of post-production staff. The most cost and time efficient method is to outsource your editing. You can edit the images and product yourself. However, your business growth will be limited due to the time you spend editing. And you will also need to master several skills in all areas of the services that you offer. It is much smarter to outsource to post-production to a professional team and spend your time on business development. Your editor should complete the following steps when editing your image files. Hdr bracketing within door window replacement, white balancing, brightness and contrast adjustment. Lens distortion removal, image sharpening, vertical and horizontal straightening. Remove minor blemishes. Outdoors guy replacement, law and enhancement. Tone adjustment. Tv screen replacement, dust, spot removal, flash reflection removal, removed the photographers reflection. Remove small bins. Editing your own images takes time and practice to perfect the process. Although this course is not focused on real estate photo editing. The following Photoshop tutorial explains the process of editing interior images using three raw files created using the HDR flash technique, created using the HDR flash technique. In this photo retouching tutorial, three bracketed exposures that were captured using the HDR flash technique are edited using Camera Raw and Photoshop software. The exposures were captured and an aperture of F11, an ISO of 60-40. And the flash was fired at using TTL metering for each exposure, the optimal exposure was captured at 150th of a second. The underexposed brackets at 1 200th of a second, and the over-exposed bracket at 130th of a second. To start the editing process, first opened the three raw files in the Camera Raw software. From here, we can adjust the lighting, colors and contrast for each of the bracketed exposures captured in the underexposed bracket, we've decreased exposure a little bit further to further define the building outlines in the distant residential towers and increased shadows. For the over-exposed bracket. The highlights have been reduced. Black colors decreased nth, the contrast slightly boosted. After these small adjustments, it's time to select all of the bracketed exposures to make the same adjustments to all three at once. This includes decreasing luminance and to making sure lens corrections have been applied, including the removal of chromatic aberration and enabling profile corrections. Remember that you need to be shooting and raw file format to be able to make any of these adjustments in the editing process. Next, the changes are applied and the images are opened in Photoshop. To start the blending process, the optimal bracketed exposure is copied and pasted into the over-exposed bracketed image and the name mask is created. The brush tool is used to restore the details and the sliding patio doors, ceiling and tiled floors in the areas that are excessively bright. Next, the image is flattened and the underexposed bracketed image is copied onto the over-exposed image. Both layers are selected and the Move tool at the top of the left side menu is clicked to end in the layers are auto aligned. From here the masks are created in the foreground color set to white. Then using the brush tool, restore the details outside the patio doors around the buildings and sky. For the sky replacement, a copy of the blue channel is created and the levels adjusted to make this guy stand out more against the rest of the image by making the sky why to end the remaining areas Black using the selection tool. The duplicate blue channel is removed. And the image flattened. The photo of the replacement sky is opened, selected, and paste it into the image. You can find a range of replacements guys on popular stock image websites or you can crop the sky out of an existing photo. The next step involves reducing the color pollution in the walls and ceilings caused by the color imbalance from the combined ambient light, natural light, and speed light. To do this, the ceilings and walls are selected using the color picker tool and then a feather radius of one pixel is selected. Color replacement settings are open to reduce the color saturation to create a crisp white wall and ceiling color to ensure the verticals are straight and the horizontal plane or the image is level. The entire image is selected. Then show Transform controls is selected and the horizontal and vertical lines of the image can be adjusted. Lynn spots are removed from the image using the patch tool. Lens spots occur when the camera's sensor is dirty or has dust on it. And the spots are usually visible on the white walls and ceiling in an image. For the final steps, the power cords and unwanted clutter is removed by using the clone stamp tool. Once the image retouching process is complete, the image can be saved in the desired file format to end resized for delivery to the client. If you have decided to outsource your photo editing. There are many freelance editors and companies that specialize in helping real estate photographers with their post-production. Outsourcing is cost-effective, provides opportunity for further services for your clients, such as day to dusk conversions and digital decluttering for messy properties. It also frees up your time to work on your business or spend more time with friends and family. All images in the case studies within this course were edited by property render.com, who use a two-step process to ensure consistently high quality photos. The online automated platform provides high quality professional image enhancement, virtual staging, floor plans, real estate video editing, day to dusk, conversions and many more services, quality control and delivery. The completed images should be checked by both the editor and yourself before being delivered to the client. You're editing team should prepare the completed files in two sizes, web and print, ready to be delivered to the client via a download link. You should aim to deliver the images to your client the next morning after the photo shoot. You should ensure your records are updated and invoices are delivered to the client on time. Accounting software such as QuickBooks or real estate photography software such as image cloud, gives you the ability to integrate popular accounting software to send and keep track of invoices. Additionally, accounting software offers the ability to view your business growth with various graphs and invoice related statistics. So you can see the status of your inbound and outbound invoices. Previous week's earnings, expenditures, overall profit status, and gross profit about incoming and outgoing amounts over a period of time. Implementing the tools and techniques from this course, in addition to the workflow process from this lecture, should enable you to run your real estate photography business smoothly and efficiently. 18. Conclusion of Course: You should now have a solid understanding on how to select the right equipment, execute the proper technique, and manage the workflow process required for real estate photography. Congratulations on completing the course, and we wish you all the best with your photography endeavors. Remember to work hard and have fun while building your business. Please visit House Photo media to learn more about the business of real estate photography. House Photo media.com. If you wish to contact the instructor, please send an email to info at House Photo media.com. That's info at AHA us. Paho TO ME DIA.com.