Photo Tips
We all know a good picture is worth a thousand words, follow these few tips so your property is shown off to its best
Aim for eye catching photos - a picture is worth a thousand words.
Have your property neat, tidy and clean before picking up the camera.
Turn every light on - yes, every single light.
Always shoot horizontal or landscape images as the websites have templates for the images that favour this orientation. Please avoid panoramic shots as the picture frames provided by the websites do not allow for such images.
When outside, have your back to the sun so light is shining on what you are shooting.
Limit the resolution to about 2400 pixels on the long side. Do not provide images that are smaller than 800 by 600 pixels, as this is the minimum size.
Please do not send .png or .pdf files or files with black or white borders around them, the websites reject them.
Hold the camera firmly with two hands.
Firstly everything must be neat and tidy and clean. A bit of dust will not show up in a photo, but an un-arranged set of cushions on a couch or a poorly made bed or unwashed dishes in the kitchen definitely will. So make sure the beds are made properly, the cushions neat, the bath towels are hanging neatly and put away those odd and sods. Straighten up the chairs at the dining room table. Don’t leave tea towels hanging on the oven handle, hide that rubbish bin and toilet brush and put the toilet seat down.
Lighting. Turn on every light, yes all of them. Close the blinds about half way and don’t have a bright window in the middle of the background when you photograph a room. Cameras will ‘see’ the highlight of a bright window and try to compensate for the bright spot and therefore the rest of the room will appear much darker. If you tone down the highlight by closing the blinds about half way or setting the blinds to point the light at the roof instead of the floor, it will help.
When outside. Kodak rule number one: Have the sun over your shoulder. Get the sunlight on the subject. You may be planning to spend a few hours at the house/unit so note where the sun is when you get there and where it will be in three or four hours’ time, and photograph accordingly. Again have a tidy up, get those wheelie bins out of the shot completely, pick up the garden hose and mow the lawn.
Hold the camera firmly. Hold the camera firmly, in two hands, even brace yourself against a wall. If the camera senses a darker room it will slow down the shutter speed, so by holding the camera firmly you are helping to avoid camera shake. In such conditions, take three of four shots of the same thing, and then use the best. The space on a camera card costs you nothing, but a good set of photos on the website is worth a lot. If you are having trouble fitting everything into the frame rotate the camera 90 degrees from horizontal to vertical, especially for bathrooms and kitchens, it is good to see the floor and the overhead cupboards.
What resolution is best. When you send us your images, send medium resolution images, that way I can enhance them, I worked as a professional freelance photographer for a long time and know a few little tricks but if the image is very low res there is not much any one can do to enhance it.
