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Photography is a key part of advertising a property for real estate sales. But just as stunning images show the property looking its best, the opposite is also true. Poor photography, with blurred, sloping rooms, and out of focus images does little to inspire viewings.
The video tutorial gives you several tips for taking sharp interior photography, as well as showing other helpful hints like choosing an appropriate lens and focusing correctly. Watch the video to learn about tripods, lenses, focusing, and keeping the camera steady.
Now, let’s look at some of those tips in details.
Here are some basic, but important, steps to help you improve the quality of your interior photos. You’ll see what causes photographs to turn out blurry, and get some handy tips on equipment and techniques to avoid falling into these traps.
The best techniques for getting sharp photographs can be let down by poorly working equipment, or badly chosen or untidy scenes. So it’s important to start your session with good preparation and follow your check-list. Here are a few things that should be on your list.
Make sure your equipment is okay, batteries are charged, extra lights working, tripod joints tight and in good condition, and that the lens is completely clean. Loose tripod joints, broken lights, and dirty lenses make problems for you later, so good preparation is worthwhile.
Dirty windows still look dirty in photographs, so take a household cleaning cloth and some glass cleaner. Cleaning everything is always easier than removing debris in post-production.
Tidy and set the scene, removing unwanted items from window sills, adjusting furniture positions and cleaning the windows. Don’t forget to look through the window too – a washing line of underwear probably isn’t what your client wants to see!
Think about the final image and what you want, then keep that in your mind throughout the photography session.
Three common issues ruin a real estate photograph: blur, poor focus, and sloping rooms.
Blur and bad focus often come from camera movement during the long exposures you need when photographing interiors. Rooms appear sloping when the camera is not level.
You can resolve all three problems by securely mounting the camera on a sturdy tripod, which is why a tripod is highly recommended when photographing interiors.
For more on getting sharp images with a tripod, read: 5 Tips to Get Sharp Photos While Using a Tripod.
There are also other sources of blurriness in photos. One of these is called mirror shake.
DSLR cameras have a mirror which sits in front of the camera sensor and helps you see the view through the lens by reflecting the image up to the eyepiece (through a prism). The mirror snaps up and out of the way when you take the photo, creating vibrations that can cause blurring.
You can eliminate this problem by setting it in the up position before taking any photographs. Look in your camera menu for the Mirror LockUp setting.
Left: The mirror is down in this image. Right: the mirror is up here exposing the camera’s sensor.
With good preparation and technique, and the right equipment, you can consistently get sharp, crisp interior photographs. When you set out to capture that image, remember:
Please share any other tips you have for taking sharper interior photographs of real estate in the comments area below.
Disclaimer: HDRsoft is a paid partner of dPS