Back to Basic Series – 8 Elements of Luxury Real Estate Photography

Photography has always been the most important element of marketing a home. We took the unusual step years ago of doing our own photography. It lets us control the consistency, handle the editing, have more internal agent, client and IT synergy with our photography, take as many photos as we want, distribute those photos anywhere, stay ahead with equipment and most importantly take the photos at the right time of the day, not just at the convenience of the photographer.  Our lead photographer was interviewed for a publication about luxury real estate photography and this will go more in depth about the subject.

1. The money shot.

Drones are the best thing to happen to selling homes.  We used to have an airplane pilot or helicopter go up to take a shot. Now we have 3 types of drones. Even drones that can video the inside of your home.  The drone aerial is typically the money shot we use because an aerial can tell 1,000 words. Sometimes we use the front, back or a night shot but it’s less the norm these days.  A front shot for example does not say it’s on an acre or has a lake view. Buyers today have ¼ of a second when scrolling through photos. That went up some when inventory lessened but with more inventory available, this fundamental is back.  If the first shot doesn’t tell a story, the consumer is not moving on to the second shot.

2. The front shot

Light is the key to understanding this.  You need to have the light behind you and blue skies in front of you. A home with a backyard that has a sunset view for example, must have the photos taken during the early portion of the days. Light will be on the house, and it will look best.  Shadows make a house look dull.  Homeowners can get frustrated, and they just want the photo up, but you can’t just throw a bad photo up. It gets populated and you have to live with it.

3. Night Photography

We do night outside real sunset or night shots on all our homes.  It makes a world of difference. You don’t exactly know what pictures a consumer is going to respond to.

4. How are pictures framed

I’ve interviewed hundreds of photographers. Some photographers are wonderful with great portfolios, but they can’t frame a room. Their photography looks more like a shot selling a sofa than selling the family room with a sofa in it.

5. Editing

We internally edit and photoshop our own pictures.  Color realistic enhancement, sky enhancement, greener grass, pressure cleaning, removing debris all can be done in staging.  We never move permanent objects like power lines.

6. Staging

This must be thought out and done in advance.  Whatever is in the house is going to end up in the picture.  We give a whole checklist of what be done in staging.

7. Storytelling

Each house has its own story to tell. The photography has to work in social media, brochures, digital, and match up with words.  Getting a feel and flow of the house is key.

8. Equipment

You either have it or you don’t. We also have our own Matterport equipment and include that for every listing. Listings with Matterport get double the amount of hits. It’s time consuming and expensive but well worth it and betters the odds in a lot of out-of-state transactions. We must have invested a 100,000 between top camera and video equipment. I’ll let our photographer go more into this as I just write the checks….! Read more.

Jeff Lichtenstein is owner and broker of Echo Fine Properties, a luxury real estate brokerage selling real estate in Jupiter  and homes in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has 20 years of real estate experience, has closed over 1,000 transactions, and manages over 70 agents in a non-traditional model of real estate that mimics a traditional business model.  Some publications he has been quoted in.

Feel free to ask him a question directly at [email protected] including a complimentary real valuation of your home.