HDR Photography for Real Estate

HDR is an acronym for High Dynamic Range. HDR photography allows for a greater dynamic range of light within a picture. In many photos, you might have one area with a lot of light and another area that is in the shade. In a traditional photograph, you would have to pick one of the areas for proper exposure, causing the other area to be “blown out” with light or extremely dark. Instead of trying to describe this problem, it will be easier to just show a couple of examples.

Here are some photos of a dining room. The first one is exposed for the interior, so the outside window is overexposed. The second is exposed for the outside window, so the interior is underexposed.

Here is another example of an outside deck. The first shot is exposed for the shaded deck, making the outside “blown out” and the second shot is exposed for the outside, making the interior of the deck too dark.

In the past, to avoid these exposure problems, professional real estate photographers would set a up a series of remote control flash units to try and balance the exposure. This could be very time consuming and tricky. Lighting is one of the keys to great photography. If you’re not careful, a flash can make a room look very cold and institutional.

HDR is the perfect solution for real estate photography. You blend a series of photos together to get the best of both worlds. There is correct exposure throughout the photograph. I typically use three different exposures, of the same shot, to get my desired result. Best of all, you can take the pictures using natural light, eliminating the harsh “flashy” look. Since the shots have to line up perfectly, it’s important to use a tripod and a remote control. Any camera shake will ruin the process.

Upload the pictures to a computer, blend them using some HDR software, do some more editing with Photoshop and you’ll end up with some naturally lit, beautifully exposed photos. The HDR photos will be more representative of the lighting that the human eye can actually process.

Here are some of examples of the previous shots, blended with HDR software and edited with Photoshop; feel free to click on them for a larger view:

For more information on HDR photography for Real Estate, Blayne Beacham has written a great article, with software and examples, on her website: this photographers life. Spencer Barron has also written a great article on using HDR photography to get homes sold more quickly.

I constantly see ridiculous real estate photos on the FMLS. The agent will pull her pocket camera out and the exposure will adjust for whatever the camera happens to have in the middle of the shot. If there is a window in the middle of the picture, then the rest of the room will be dark. Then, she’ll actually upload the garbage to the internet in a sort of clueless bliss. The following photo is interesting to me, because this beach condo unit has a bedroom, that opens to a deck with a great ocean view. Since the agent was exposure ignorant, this condo, and it’s $1.8 million view, is not given justice in potential buyers’ internet searches.

Here is a shot from another Rosemary Beach condo. Was the goal to promote a dark and dreary image for this $1.4 million beach condo? It’s sad that these owners will eventually pay a fairly large commission for the sale of these condos, and yet the agents cannot even put a minimal amount of thought into the marketing plans.

I’ve written about the importance of real estate photography before, so I won’t go too far into it. In short, 90% of potential home buyers are now using the internet for their initial searches. Obviously, real estate photography represents the most important aspect of internet marketing. So why do so many agents treat one of the most important aspects of selling your home as if it were a quick family snapshot at the park?

If you’re considering an agent to sell your home, look at her website. If she doesn’t understand what makes a decent photograph, tell her to hire a professional photographer, or market your home with a different agent.

If you would like to learn more about HDR photography, or other home marketing ideas, please feel free to call me.

Related posts:

1. The Extreme Importance of Real Estate Photography
2. A comparison of two sets of photos for the same Buckhead home
3. Really crappy marketing photos
4. The one sided real estate contract – buying an REO
5. The benefits of Buckhead real estate