Category: Real Estate Photo Editing

Interior photos are beautiful but also can be very challenging to shoot and edit. However, they make up the majority of the photos in a given property listing since buyers are interested in what’s inside a home.

 

Aside from putting the work in shooting the property, you also need to take the time to retouch and post-process your images before you hand them over to the clients. Amazing photos take time and effort, especially if you are shooting interior photos.

Using Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom is a staple tool for many photographers, no matter what their niche is. This software allows organizing, viewing, and editing a large number of images. This is great for non-destructive editing that still keeps the data of the original image.

Lightroom will allow you to batch edit and adjust the lighting and colors on your images. This is a great quick tool to go over images for some minor or basic editing.

Aligning your verticals

One of the most basic, yet most necessary editing that needs to be done on all interior photos is aligning the verticals. This can be easily done on Lightroom.

1. Use transform tool under the develop tab and make the proper adjustments.
2. Make sure that the columns and the edges of the furniture are straight and aligned properly.

 

Adjusting the brightness

One of the usual issues when shooting interiors is dark images. There is an easy fix to this problem.

1. Open up the shadows in your image a little bit by dragging the shadows to the right. Adjust accordingly and make sure that you don’t highlight all your photo. A middle ground would be perfect.
2. If needed, you might want to bring down your highlight a little bit. This does not work for all interior images unless you see some hot spots or there are a lot of bright lights in your photo.
3. Hold down the Alt key on your PC or the option key on your Mac, and bring the whites bar to the right until you see specs of white on your photo. This will define the white on your image.
4. To show the blacks on your image, hold down the Alt key on your PC or the option key on your Mac. Bring the blacks bar to the right until you see some specs of black color on your image.

 

Correcting the white balance

Changing the white balance on interior photos can be a matter of personal taste. Often, the white balance in interiors can be off since you have several light sources. One of the easiest ways to correct the white balance is to use the eyedropper tool.

1. Click on the eyedropper tool on your Lightroom and find a neutral color. You can check the RGB percentages on the tool as you go over some areas of the photo. It would be best to pick white or a gray area.
2. Once you click on the right color, this will automatically correct the white balance on your image.
3. Adjust the temperature and the tint as to your liking. Increase the temperature a bit if the photo is too blue and bring the tint to the right.
4. Add some contrast and bring in some exposure to the photo. Just adjust the contrast and exposure bar as you seem fit.

 

Adjusting for the grain

Check the darkest areas of your image, like the floor or corners. Often these are the parts that have the most grain. To retouch for the grains, follow these steps:

1. Adjust the luminance under the noise reduction module. Drag the bar to 40 or until the green grain gets neutralized.
2. Adjust the amount of sharpening to around 90 to make the photo very sharp.

 

Doing some lens correction

Lightroom’s lens correction tool is a very handy module that corrects the different optical issues on most lenses. It’s a quick and powerful tool that can be used on photos.

1. Just go to the lens correction module and check enable profile corrections. This automatically adjusts your photos and can bring about such big difference in the after photo.
2. Go to the color tab under lens correction and check remove color aberration.

 

Dodging and burning

Adding some interesting lights on the image is possible through Lightroom. Doing some dodging and burning on the photo will add some extra light. This can be great for images with lighting fixtures as this creates more realistic lighting.

1. Take your brush tool and make sure that you adjust the exposure, feather, flow, and density. Keep these high in order to create effective streaks of light.
2. Drag the brush on the areas where the light beams from the fixtures are naturally hitting, like the floor or ceiling. Drag over these areas to brighten the area. This technique adds some shine on the light in the room.
3. You can create a new brush with every beam that you add to make the light beams different every time.

As a real estate photographer, there is a lot that goes on a day of photo shoot. Finding the right time of the day, good lighting, and good angle are all necessary to create great photos. In addition to that, the right gears are also important. However, most of the work goes beyond the shoot. Real estate photography editing and retouching take a lot of time to enhance real estate photography.

Retouching skills are necessary in order to beautify and create amazing photos that make potential buyers interested in the property.

Here are some tips for using Photoshop to enhance real estate photography:

Using Hue and Saturation

Hue and Saturation is a great Photoshop tool to correct colors. It has different options that you can play around with. One of the typical color errors in real estate photography has to do with adjusting the greens. Capturing the vibrant exteriors, like the grass and trees can be challenging for newbies. To accentuate the greenery follow these steps:

1. Open your image in Photoshop and select Image menu. Choose Adjustments and click on Hue and Saturation.
2. Select Yellow from the drop-down menu on the dialog window.
3. You can adjust the Hue to +15, drag down the Saturation to -5, and the Lightness to -5.
4. Select Green from the drop-down menu and make the same adjustments to Hue, Saturation, and Lightness.
5. Click OK.

With this technique, the changes are usually subtle. However, you’ll notice more vibrancy in the grass and make it stand out more in the photo.

Adjusting the brightness

When shooting exteriors of properties, getting a balanced light can be a challenge especially if you’re working with direct sunlight. There will be dark and shaded areas and brighter areas. Editing the photo in Photoshop might be the best solution for this issue.

1. Go to the Image menu. Then, choose Adjustments and Click on Levels.
2. Drag the center bar to the right in order to tone down the super bright areas.
3. Click OK.

This will add more contrast to the image. This tones down a lot of the brightness in the photo.

Darkening the grass color

If you see the grass a bit brighter than it should be, do a little retouching.

1. Go to the Toolbar and right click on Burn tool.
2. Select the right size of your brush. Go for a larger brush if you’re working on a larger area and a smaller brush for some details. Drag over your brush to the grass. This darkens some of the grass and leaves.
3. Stop only when you get the contrast that you want.

Straightening the home or property

Having straight lines on your image is important to make the property look its best. Often when the camera is not angled correctly, you might have slanting lines. To correct this, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Rectangular Marquee tool from the Toolbar.
2. Select the entire image.
3. Click on the Edit menu and choose Transform.
4. Click the Skew option from the drop-down menu.
5. Drag the corner of the photo to the left, if the house or property is leaning to the right. You might also need to pull the right corner a bit to balance it out. Make sure that you do not pull too far as this goes way past realistic. Make sure that the edges are aligned and are straight.
6. Once you’re done click on the check button.

This technique also works in straightening up the edges for interior shots.

Evening out the lighting in the interior

For interior shots, there might be instances when either half of the photo is darker than the other half. Lighting up every corner of the interior can be a challenge.

1. Go to the Dodge tool and choose the right size of the brush to work with.
2. Drag the Dodge tool over the darker areas to add a bit of brightness.
3. Go to the Filter menu, choose Sharpen, and click on Unsharpen Mask.
4. Raise the amount in order to get clearer details. Click OK.

There are strong opinions in the photography community about the usefulness of HDR vs Flash photography. Before we get into that debate lets take some time to define HDR. An HDR image is commonly made by taking three photos of the same scene, each at different shutter speeds. The result is a bright, medium, and dark photo, based on the amount of light that got through the lens. A software process then combines all the photos to bring details to the shadows and highlights both. High dynamic range processing includes any photo in which you are extending the luminance values beyond what the camera initially captured. The great Ansel Adam’s used the Zone System to extend the dynamic range of his photos. You are also extending the dynamic range of your photos by pushing up shadow detail and bringing down highlight detail through luminosity masking, exposure blending, curves, levels, or pumping sliders in camera raw.

by Diana Eftaiha

HDR, or “High Dynamic Range” photography receives a lot of negativity on the internet, particularly from photographers who prefer the use of traditional flash or ambient lighting techniques. So why does “HDR” elicit so much disapproval? There’s a lot of hate because HDR photos sometimes don’t look realistic but when trying to capture the perfect sunset over an ocean it would be impossible to get the detail in the foreground, while also bringing out the colors of the sky without the use of HDR. Good HDR is about finding a proper balance and requires some forethought and patience to avoid the over-saturated or washed out and flat looking photo that induces cringes from your fellow photographers. The goal is that when you look at an HDR photo you can see exactly what you would see were you to be standing there looking at the subject with your own two eyes. HDR is a process, not a genre. It’s another tool in your bag of tricks that you can use to create art and sell images. Instead of writing off high dynamic range techniques, take photos knowing that you can use HDR as a tool when it’s appropriate for the subject. There are some subjects that naturally lend themselves to HDR, and others that don’t. If you are shooting anything that has texture and depth (especially metal), then HDR can look great.

Photo by Alberto Restifo on Unsplash

Flash photography refers to the technique in which a flashbulb or electronic flash is used to provide momentary illumination of a dark or insufficiently lit subject. Flash photography has been around for more than a hundred years. It started with a dangerous and manually controlled technology that used a powder that was lit by either fire or electrical current. Why use flash when you are already shooting brackets? Well, the ability to control contrast and brightness will almost always produce better photography. Contrast refers to the difference in brightness between the darkest and lightest portions of the photo. The distribution of the light source is the primary determinant of the overall contrast. Even though artificial light sources offer you more control over photo shoots, it is associated with the burdens of needing more gear, and time to set it all up. Depending on the photo you have in mind, you may need multiple artificial light sources to balance your image out. Also, with flash photography, if the dynamic range of a scene is greater than one to be captured with only one shot, you have the choice to sacrifice either the highlights or the shadows of a photograph.

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

Taking multiple exposures, with one good flash shot can make things a lot easier in post-production.

Photo by Phixer 

As evidenced by the image above, the strengths of these two techniques complement each other well and therefore the results possible after post-production are exceptional.

As a real estate business or a photographer, outsourcing can be your best friend. This is the reality in a highly competitive real estate industry where every minute is of the essence. You have to make the most of your time and do the most important tasks first. You have to put a monetary value on your time so you know if it’s worth spending hours on time-consuming tasks such as photo editing.

If you are considering outsourcing your real estate photos, there are certain steps that you need to follow in order to find a company that delivers your needs.

1. Identify your goals. First, you need to figure out what you want to accomplish with your photos. Are you going to use these for sales? Will these go in your portfolio? Are these for a broker? These questions will help you in assessing how your edited real estate photos should look. In addition to that, you need to know the output that your client needs.

2. Know the scope of work. Once you know your goals, you have to identify the work that needs to be done. You can be specific about what changes you want to be done or instead give more general direction on the feel and look of the images after the post-processing. This will allow you to relay to your photo editor the specifics of how you want the images to be and so they have a clear vision of what they need to work on.

3. Work with your budget. Find out how much you are able to spend on your photo editing. This can help in finding a company who can do the work while still keeping within your spending limits. It is best to figure out the usual rates for this type of work, especially if you have no idea how much it costs. Ask peers and get quotes from different professional photo editing companies. This helps you in setting the right budget without skimping on the quality.

4. Ask for their portfolio and a possible sample. Once you have a budget, ask for quotes and for the post-production company’s portfolio first. This is essential before you make your choice. This will help you in narrowing down your options so that you may find one that has the best output for the price that you’re able to afford. You also need to ask if they could do a sample retouching. Send them two or three of your images so you can see the quality of their work. Make sure that you specify the changes and the look that you want and at the right time.

5. Narrow down your choices for a photo editing company. Research and look for the best photo editing companies that specialize in real estate. You can also ask for recommendations from peers. However, keep your list to a minimum if possible in order to prevent choice fatigue. With the portfolios in hand, you will be able to decipher which companies can help you retouch your images in order to achieve your goals. Check their policies and their turnaround time. Next, make sure that you pick your top five companies.

6.Choose the best one for your needs. From your list, pick one that fits your budget and needs. Make sure that they provide you with quality work and fast turnaround time so you can meet client deadlines. Look into their policies and set a working timeline for your images. Go for a company with great support so you are able to communicate with them in case of any urgent requirements.

Being in the real estate industry is competitive. The industry itself is extremely competitive with brokers and homeowners trying to outdo each other. Making a sale is always of the essence. When you have tough competition, your focus should always be closing deals. This is especially true for real estate photographers. Managing your time is important. Aside from spending days on taking photos, you need to edit and create the right images for the client. When you have other things to worry about, you cannot afford to spend precious time on tasks that you can delegate. This is where professional real estate photo editors come in.

Outsourcing a part of your work to professionals will allow you to stay on top of your competitors, book clients faster, and produce output quicker.

If you are still on the fence, here are the reasons why you need to hire professional real estate photo editors for your business.

1. It saves you time.

When you hire professional real estate photo editors to do the work for you, you save a lot of time. Instead of spending days editing tons of photos for a project, you are able to delegate it to professionals. Even if it’s just simple editing, the time you save is doubled or tripled. With this time, you can focus on the essential parts of your business or even on your personal errands. This can be an essential investment in achieving the necessary work-life balance. Doing so buys you time. In addition to that, delegating to professional editors also mean a quicker turnaround time for your output. Photos can be delivered the next day or in a few days without delay even while working on other projects. This could mean happier clients and you can move quickly to the next project.

 

2. You can focus on the business.

Assigning the editing task to professionals buys you extra time. With this, you can focus on the more important things and do what you’re good at. You don’t have to spend your precious time going over your photos, especially when professional editors can do that for you. Focus on your business instead and on booking more clients and projects. You don’t have to worry about dividing your time into various tasks. This lets you focus on the essential parts of the business, especially in networking and connecting with potential clients.

 

3. This lessens your stress.

The extra time that you get will help in lessening the stress that you get when editing photos. Often, you work on images for hours to an end and the output doesn’t impress the clients. Once you let the professionals do the work for you, you save yourself from stressing out if the images are okay or not. You don’t have to re-do the photos if the clients don’t like it. Your editors will do all the work for you. So, you spend your time on more relaxing activities or on other parts of your business.

 

4. Photos are enhanced the way you want.

You don’t have to worry if the team can deliver the results that you want. Before handing the photos, you can specify your editing preferences and create a check-list of how you want the images to look like and how the client wants the images. Your professional real estate photo editors can use these settings and apply these to future batches. This creates a signature look and feel for all of your images.

 

5. You can get fresh suggestions.

Having fresh eyes work on your images will drastically change your output for the better.  Through professional photo editors, you can receive an unbiased perspective of your work. They can provide you with suggestions for improving your photos. This also improves the quality of your output while improving the turnaround time and efficiency of the work. These professional editors are experts in their field so they can use these techniques to make your photos even better. There are times when you may not be aware of these techniques.

 

6. It helps you generate more sales.

With the amount of time that you save and the quality of output that your professional editors produce, you can be assured of the influx of projects that you will get. You can spend more time on shooting projects and in dealing with clients instead of facing the computer editing your images. You can close bigger and better deals with this combination. This also means more income for your business.

These are just six among the many reasons why you should consider getting professional real estate photo editors for your business. Outsourcing the editing task of your business is a much-needed investment, especially if you’re looking into expanding. This will not only help you to book more clients but will also improve the bottom-line of your business.

As a newbie real estate photographer, there are more tasks that come after booking your first project. Once you’ve wrapped up your shoot, the real job is just starting. Your goal is to deliver the images as the client wants them. These photos should represent the real estate property accurately and make it appealing to prospective buyers.

In order to achieve this, you need to do post-production editing to improve your images. This will make your photos clearer and have better colors and lighting, depending on the scene. Unlike shooting portraits or events, editing for real estate is a different thing.

The needed software

Having the necessary software is essential to editing your real estate images properly. As a newbie photographer, you need to be familiar with both Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. These two are the most useful and the most common editing software for all types of photography. Especially for real estate photography, these two are a must.
Aside from these, the Enfuse plugin on the Lightroom is also important for HDR photography. If you’re shooting a lot of interior for your projects, then knowing how to HRD will be indispensable.

The step-by-step process

In editing your real estate photos, follow these steps:

1. Before working on your images, you need to import all of your photos to you desktop and to your Lightroom catalog.

2. Once you have imported your photos, you can start working on them. If you have bracketed shots that you’ve taken for HDR, then it’s time to create a single stack for them. You might have three to seven photos on a stack depending on how many exposures you have taken.

3. Adjust the color temperature on each of your stack using the eye dropper tool. This ensures that each of your bracketed stack has the same color temperature.

4. Blend your bracketed photos through your Enfuse plugin. Highlight your stacks and trigger the Enfuse process. This lets Enfuse blend each stack individually.

5. After successfully blending the stacks, edit the photos in Lightroom. Adjust the exposure, highlights, shadows and other necessary elements of your photos.

6. If you have exterior photos of the property that needs more difficult editing processes, then you might need to use Photoshop. This is usually used for sky replacements or removing objects.

7. Then, you might want to use some presets and adjust the photos accordingly so they have a similar look and feel as the client would want.

8. Once you’ve finished all the necessary edits and you’re quite happy with the results, it’s time to export the photos and package them for delivery.

Some tips and tricks

Aside from the basic editing, there are other factors and tips that you have to keep in mind while going through your images. Here are some tips to remember:

If you are shooting interior with a wide lens, having a sort of line convergence usually cannot be avoided. So, you have to straighten out the lines through your Lightroom’s Lens Correction option under the manual section.

Remember to even out the light during post-production. Lighting is key for every type of photography most especially for real estate photography. This is probably the first thing that you have to check. The goal is to make the image and lighting look natural. To do so, push the exposure slowly so you get a feel if it’s too bright or not.

Cleaning up your images is a must before you hand in the final photos to the client. Do spot removal or cloning if necessary. The spot brush tool removes dust or spots that are in the photo. Clone allows you to remove any reflections or glares. Healing, on the other hand, corrects smaller spots but adds a softer blend to the spots.