Improve Your Listing's Photos with HDR

They say that a photograph is worth a thousand words.  Rarely is one of those words "Wow!"  Sadly, when it comes to amatuer photographers taking snapshots of the listings thay are claiming to represent, the photographs are terrible.  A good photograph will get buyers to the property.  The more buyers, the better chance at an offer, obviously.

I can't hold the camera steady for you, nor can I make sure you're standing in the most advantageous spot, but I hope that this tech tip can help you at least do justice to the properties and views you photograph.

I have been fooling around with HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography for a few months now, and it has unleashed the muse in me.  Now, I always travel with my digital camera and tripod.  HDR is basically the blending of photographs taken with varying ranges of exposure.  Some of the images are taken with high exposure, bringing out the light in a photograph, and other images are taken with low exposure, bringing out the details that are usually washed out in high light.  Taking two or more photographs of the exact same setting at different exposures is basically all there is to it.*

The idea of using HDR to enhance listing images actually came from my mother, the president of American Heritage Realty.  After she saw the effect in some of the pictures I had 'created' and others on Flickr, she immediately saw HDR as a solution to a nagging challenge: trying to show just how nice a view is from the perspective of inside the house.  Her office sells a lot of waterfront and waterview property, and that view is the selling point.  Anyone can step outside the house and take the photo, but without the real sense of the view, say from the sun-room or living room, it's not giving the buyer the best representation of the property.  With HDR you can get the best of both, the interior of the room and the view from that room, all in one photograph.

Here is an example - I know the view isn't jaw dropping, but the effect is obvious.

The photo on the left is of a very small, powder blue breakfast nook, taken without flash and on an 'auto' setting.

The photo on the right is an example of HDR after blending 3 images of different exposure.  Using a tripod makes it possible to snap multiple shots of the same frame.

*To learn more about how to create HDR images, feel free to contact me and I would be happy to schedule some time with you.

 

Comments

[Iamanoak]

Way cool,

I just had a friend that showed me the advantage of using Photoshop to edit my pics. His method entails adding more color, putting a stronger focal point on the house and various other tricks to enhance the image without actually changing the integrity of the photo. I would like to learn more about HDR images.

[Iamanoak]

It just goes to show you that a picture speaks a 1000 words.... :)

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[j.u]

HDR for real estate photos is a definite way to go. I frequently spend a lot of time cleaning up overexposed window shots. When the photographers remember to take multiple photos for these types of scenes, I'm able to turn out much higher quality photos for my clients.

Would love to see some of your HDR tips!

[Keith Jeppson]

WOW! What a change. I hadn't even considered HDR tricks. I certainly want to add this to my tomatowiki training schedule?. do I schedule it with you or Molly?

[Doug Trudeau]

Jim - Thanks for the training in HDR. It has made a huge difference in my listing pictures.

[Julia]

Thank you for the post, Jim. Can't wait to try this out. What sort of camera would you need to produce these results? Here's another HDR posted on my blog:
http://fsbo.fizber.com/2008/04/02/high-dynamic-range-technique/

[Jim Cronin]

Any camera that allows you to mess with the exposure.
The best option, however, is one that lets you do Bracketing.
Bracketing has the camera take 3 (or more) pics in one instant that all have different exposures.
This makes it easier to get shots wrapped up without having to constantly change the settings between snaps.

[Fred Light]

I have been using HDR for my real estate photography for a few months, and I think the results are pretty amazing. My clients love it, and their sellers love it as well. Check it out: http://www.nashuavideotours.com/virtualtours/sample/harvard/branded.html

[Jim Cronin]

Beautiful!

[Rajeev Sajja]

Jim,

Are there vendors that provide HDR services to broker websites where we send them the regular photos with the multiple exposures and they send us HDR pics back?

Thanks
Rajeev

[Jim Cronin]

Rajeev,

The hard part if taking the multiple exposures and resizing them all to be ready for process to HDR. The program I use for the HDR effect is Photomatix Pro and it is soooo easy, and fun. No need to pay anyone to do the HDR part. Photomatix Pro runs $99 last I checked and it couldn't be simpler to use: upload the multiple images, convert to HDR, tweak the settings until the picture looks great. That easy.

This is also a long way of saying, "I have no idea of any service that you can send the pics to" :)