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A single photograph tells thousands of stories. This makes photography special. Digital photography connects us to the digital world where millions can appreciate, admire, and relate to the story behind each photograph. To point and shoot wonderful, dramatic, and dynamic photographs using a camera gives much relief to the soul of the photographer and amazement to the eyes of the viewers.

But using a camera can be very complicated for beginners especially that there are a lot of features to consider like: exposure, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, focal length, distance, filters, eye-lines, visual weight, and so on. Good photography can never be achieved over night. It is not that when you begin you actually get what is right. It requires much time to master this field. It is a craft that communicates emotions to the audience and an art that attracts attention from them.

Photographers would not be worried so much about the quality of their shots because of the presence of photo enhancers or retouchers like Lightroom, Photoshop, and Snapseed. These applications or software provide users to easily access, edit, organize, and share photographs anytime and anywhere. It also elevates the quality of their photos.

But what more interesting than these applications is a photo retoucher that can manipulate and design artistically the scene that is buyer-friendly and one who does not rely merely on such software. One who does not consider his or her own interest but of the professional quality work that fits for this career.

Retouching Guide

The quality of the photograph could attract or distract buyers so the arrangement level of the scene serves as the market for the industry.

Editing can be very critical depending on the picture to be edited so it requires skills in arts and design. To avoid relying on the easy-to-tap applications and making your product a mere abstract, here are the following factors to consider:

• Exposure. The artistry of the retouch editor relies on whether what kind of exposures is appropriate to a given picture. The set of exposures must bring the photograph to life. This will be achieved through proper lighting and correct detailing, thereby removing some unnecessary spots on the picture.

• Object Removal. Interior decoration is a skill that requires high level of designing. Objects that could be distracting to the eyes and the overall appearance of the scene must be removed so that little details could complement to the entire proportion and harmony of the sight.

• Color. Dynamic and lively colors attract the impression of the people. Make it sure that the project would not be dull. It consists of hue, value, and saturation. The color in a camera appears on screen as what actually it is in reality.

• Cleanliness. The neatness and orderliness of the scene must be taken into consideration. This would give the picture a great quality and some spare time will be saved in the editing process.

• Background Enhancement. The part behind the main object of the scene or the background is crucial in the photographic attainment. However, it must be minimized so that the main subject or the center of attraction will not be overpowered by the background. Minimal yet important details of the scene must be included in the entire quality of the picture.

• Contrast. Edge and main subject contrast must be enhanced to create a vivid picture. Tonal contrast and color contrast are two different but important factors in the quality of the picture. The former underscores light and dark tones while the latter emphasizes on how colors interact and blend.

• Angle. Whether the scene is for commercial art or for personal purposes, capturing the proper angles is a key in achieving a captivating picture. Adjusting your perspective to any object can redirect and formulate another object, thereby creating another form.

• Lines and Shapes. Shape and form are vital in the quality of the picture. Understanding the harmony of these factors lead to a simply sophisticated photograph one can ever imagine. Shape in a picture doesn’t have depth because it is two-dimensional but it creates a form. Line, on the other hand, can guide the eyes in appreciating the photograph.

• Pattern. When shapes, lines, and objects are recurring, they create a pattern. Patterns can give drama to the photograph because they could establish rhythm, clarity, and emotions.

Whenever you want to transform a real estate photo to its amazing state and you are only a beginner, you need not to worry. There are lots of photo editing programs that will surely fit your styles and capability. You may opt for free editing tools that can be found on the Internet. There are also premium or advanced editing tools that will require you to either sign up or buy the product.

Basic edits include cropping, rotating, resizing, changing of colors and background, removal of unnecessary objects, and many more. As a beginner, you might also be aware if your photos are slightly off. This is the reason why you will consider straightening of the image, proper exposure, as well as clarity.

Photos and images are integral parts of any business. This is the main reason why photo editing is essential to the digital marketing techniques that can be employed by both the real estate agent and the photographer. The real estate game nowadays employs photos as one of the potent weapons of sellers. Professional photography, which also includes editing and fine tuning of images, is very important to property listings.

It is very important to get assistance from professional photographers rather that executing the business by your own. You cannot shoot photos all day and edit them by night. Professional photos can give you great impression from potential buyers because buyers usually respond to photos. Buyers always seek the web for consultation and information. The seller who can provide the most dynamic, detailed, and crisp photos will clearly gain the advantage.
With properly edited photos shown on the listing, properties backed up by professional images will sell faster than those that are not accompanied by professional level photography. Time is also on the side of those catering well-edited photos because aside from saving time, you can even close deals with a client or create new listing, instead of doing the laborious editing works.

Photo Retouching Tools for Newbies

Luckily for every photo editing newbie, there is a wealthy collection of photo editing and retouching tools that are available today. Photo editors can Google these different retouching tools and they can decide whether they will opt for the free software or the free trial ones.

Below is the list of five (5) most real estate photo retouching tools for beginners this 2019.

• Adobe Photoshop

This is the most popular and sought-after photo editing software by most photographers, designers, and editors. Adobe Photoshop remains to be the most well-known photo editing tool which allows users to develop, edit, and create new photos. It can be used to designing websites, mobile apps, simulating painting techniques, and of course, creating crispy and glossy real estate photos to attract customers. Adobe Photoshop has a 360-degree panorama workflow, variations of tools, and has a custom path color and width. What most people like about this editing and retouching software is its highly improved brush management system and can easily imports and develop libraries.

• Pixlr Editor

This is a wide array HTML5 photo retouching and editing software. Pixlr Editor’s best feature so far is that it can support a variety of formats and it contains a large number of editing tools which include overlay, pre-built filters, and assortment of effects. It has also a one-click management for a variety of tasks and it has this special vector editor. It’s easiness to use will really favor beginners. They can easily add image quickly while at the same time edit it by using some of the software’s stylish features.

• Serif’s Affinity Photo

For beginners, this is a very powerful editing option but is really suited for Mac users. Its robust features can give the user how to create an end product. Because of its channel controls, editors can easily add shadows, glows, and even outline the whole photo. In general, flexibility is what Affinity can really offer. This can be a great alternative to Photoshop because of its efficiency.

• Pablo Editor

Aside from being one of the best real estate photo retouching tools around, it has a robust collection of 600,000 images that editors can choose from. These images can be used to edit some real estate photos. Basically, Pablo is a free image editing tool that can be a good alternative to boost business projects. The software is focused on image editing for social media. Speed is Pablo’s defining characteristic.

• Ribbet

Ribbet is a free image editor just like Pablo. But this software is solely focused on layering and watermarking which is ideal for collage creation. In the real estate business, collage is considered an attraction to customers since they can easily look at the whole property on only one page. Ribbet also has a number of auto-fixing tools and generally a user-friendly software.

Photography has never been more important to venture real estate than it is these days. The markets are always in demand. Hence, this also creates demand to photography. For professional photographers, real estate business entails patience because there are lots of competitions in this business.

Although real estate properties, most especially houses, go on and off the market on a daily basis. And every agent must have the perfect strategy to get the attention of every homeowner. Because of this, real estate agents resort to photography. This task is a little tricky. This is why doing photography for real estate is one best option to make selling fast.

Being a real estate photographer entails lots of days for photo shoot not only as part of marketing purpose but also to perfecting the small details of some common mistakes. A photographer does not only consider the right time of day to create good shots. Other factors like correct lighting and good angle are also important in developing good quality real estate photos.

Since most buyers are already using online for their home search, uploading of stunning photos is a factor that will make your listing get noticed. There are times when photos were taken on a cloudy day and this kind of photo needs enhancement. In order to make listing photos stand out and gain that elusive attention.

Digitization has made everything possible at the tip of the fingers. Picture editing and enhancement is one of the most common tasks to be done when it comes to improvement of pictures. Image restoration of old photos and videos ultimately needs a particular set of skill. With proper knowledge on photo editing, it can be guaranteed that profits can grow exponentially when used in a correct and professional manner.

Photo editing is valuable to portraits for personal representation of pictures. It can be utilized for special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and other eventful ceremonies. It is also suitable for commercial projects and businesses, like real estate, in particular. Photo editing can also help service and advertising firms for real estate companies and brokerage systems. It can increase the aesthetic beauty of properties by the enhancement and enrichment of images.

Mastering Real Estate Image Enhancement

Giving your clients a number of high-quality images will not only give you the edge. Captivating photos are what homebuyers are always looking for. They can simply attract buyers. This is the very reason why photo editing is an important inclusion in real estate photography. It allows you to improve colors, crop objects, upgrade lighting, change settings, adjust dimensions, and more. Below are some of the basic techniques to master real estate image enhancement.

• Correct the color

In shooting photos, always consider the weather conditions, interior and exterior lightings, window tints, camera model and camera settings, and many more. These factors clearly affect the color of the photo. Color correction is very essential to significantly change the color of the photos to new and invigorating ones.

• Cropping

Even professional photographers usually fail to shoot the best image they imagine. By means of cropping out the unnecessary parts of the image, it means improving the framing of the photo as well as changing its aspect ratio. Bear in mind though that it is not proper to include permanent fixtures to be cropped out. These may include electrical posts, piping systems, water tanks, etc.

• Check vertical alignment

It is also an essential element in basic image enhancement to address the vertical alignment of the property. Make it a point that the image undergoes vertical correction because this is one of the most common editing processes for real estate photos.

• Replace the sky above

Sky replacement is a common thing in real estate photo enhancement. When skies look dreary, it is without question that they must be replaced with clear, sunny skies. By doing this, it will completely change the outlook for the property.

• Removal of unnecessary things

Items like cars, bins, electrical equipment, gardening tools, and the like must be removed during the editing procedure. And in doing so, it will make the surrounding area clean. This will also pave the way for customers to see the whole property without any distractions.

In ensuring that the images of the property on catalogues and websites can attract potential customers, the use of real estate photo retouching tools are very important. Even if it is for a fact that real estate business mainly focuses on skills on marketing and selling, maximizing the use of the different techniques in enhancing real estate photos is another interesting strategy to increase sales.

There are customized services that can offer high quality real estate retouching jobs in order for your business to have the edge in the market. In utilizing the assistance of these services, it does not only aim to deliver high quality services to customers. Because these photos can capture the attention of buyers, it also helps increase sales.

Real estate retouching process are techniques using different software applications. Adobe’s Photoshop and Lightroom are two of the most common software applications used to enhance and recreate captivating photos for the business. These are two powerful applications for photo restoration, retouch, photo masking, and more.

To recreate photos means many things. Recreating photos can be the removal of undesired objects, color enhancement, tidying up the area, balancing of light sources, just to name a few. For a real estate photographer, he will only shoot the property the best possible way and leave all the retouching works to the editors.

Likewise, for real estate agents and brokers, edited real estate photos can attract more buyers because they will be presenting attractive property images. Buyers would like to see spacious areas. This is the reason why there was a removal of unwanted things during the editing process. In this way, it pushes up the selling process because the photos will be presented with those unwanted things eradicated.

Statistics would reveal that high quality photos of homes sell 32 percent faster. Furthermore, homes with more photos also sell faster. Eighty-nine percent of homebuyers who used the internet are likely to be looking for photos. These photos, according to study, are the most useful and powerful feature of most of real estate websites. Many sales agents believe that a single photo can sell a thousand homes because, ultimately, photos attract buyers.

It is always a good option for photographers and editors to make the photos attractive so that listings are always fresh. This can be a reason for them to avoid reshooting and make their business stay at the top of the game.

How to Take Crucial Shots to Sell Homes the Quickest Way

For a photographer, he has these innate tricks on how to make shots correctly. In reality, he has no control over what he wanted to include in his photos and what he does not want. There are things that he needed to highlight but he does not know how. This is where the tricky works of a real estate photo editor come in.

Below are some of the techniques on how to capture shots for your listing needs that will help sell homes the quickest way.

1. Make the curb appealing

This is the foremost consideration to gain an excellent impression. One of the most common ways to do this is by simply removing the vehicles in the driveway. The street leading to the house must always be clear of anything including trash bins and other unnecessary things that will cause buyers’ withdrawal from the transaction.

2. Create a room with a view

To ensure buyer’s interests, focus the attention in making the rooms with views. Make sure that the windows can capture the views outside. In addition to this, always create spaces of the exterior landscapes.

3. Shoot the biggest bathroom

This is the tone-setter of any house, a great hiding place, and perhaps the most important room of any house but is sometimes, taken for granted. When you want to shoot the biggest bathroom, take the shot right from the doorway. One way to make the bathroom big is using lots of white – from tiles to paint to any other elements inside your bathroom.

4. Showcase the master bedroom

When taking images of the master bedroom, pull up the blinds. For curtains, make sure that it is styled in a pleated way to show views from the outside. Also, ensure that covers are free from creases and folds, and pillows are in their proper places.

5. Make the ambience of the living and dining rooms perfect

Before taking shots at the dining area, ensure that the chairs and tables are spaced evenly to create a better atmosphere. The living room is another area that is a separate zone from the dining area. Accent type of lighting is a good alternative when shooting a living room. As for the furniture, it is important to straighten out sofas and must face away from the dining area.

6. Kitchen

Just like the dining area, the kitchen needs to be free from any unsightly objects. Ensure that chairs and stools are arranged properly.

7. Backyard and entertainment room

When shooting the pool or the patio, always position at the rear-view to obtain two different angles in a single frame. This technique is a common practice among real estate photographers.