Part 6: Property photos that sell

• Introduction
• Buying a digital camera
• Composition quick-tips
• Glossary
• Summary

Introduction

The Internet has revolutionised the way property is sold and today, the digital camera has become an indispensable tool for estate agents.

This is especially true for estate agents selling properties in Spain to residents of other countries. A good property photo is one of the quickest ways of communicating the value of a property to a prospective buyer in another country. A photo crosses language barriers much more effectively than any descriptive text.

Digital photos are an efficient and highly effective way to showcase properties on the web, and it's no secret that the better your images look online, the more enquiries you'll generate.

This chapter provides essential tips about buying a digital camera best suited for your work as an estate agent. It explains how to use a digital camera to take better, more professional-looking photos of Spanish properties.

Buying a digital camera

Digital cameras keep getting better and better. You get more digital camera for your money than just a few years ago.

Even moderately priced, point-and-shoot digital cameras come with sophisticated features and an assortment of settings and modes. Digital cameras can be divided into three basic groups:

• consumer
• prosumer
• professional

vast majority of people use consumer-level digital cameras. They tend to be compact, lightweight and are often powered by standard batteries. While primarily used for point-and-shoot photo-taking, they have plenty of features despite their small size. Most consumer digital cameras are quite capable of taking fine photos.

'Prosumer' digital cameras sport high quality lenses and have a hefty number of automatic and semi-automatic controls on the body and in the menu system. You can purchase models with zoom lenses which have a mega-telephoto reach. Others have lenses capable of extra wide angles. Accessories and add-ons such as converter lenses, filters, remote controls and external flashes can be used with these cameras.

Professional Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras (DSLR), used primarily by professional photographers and photo enthusiasts, are top-of-the- line cameras. They have outstanding optics, produce high resolution images and accept interchangeable lenses and sophisticated accessories. They function automatically but also have a full range of manual controls. These high-end, expensive cameras may not come with lenses, which must be purchased separately.

Recommended features

Unless you have a strong, personal interest in digital photography, you probably only need a mid-level consumer digital camera. It should be compact so it can be easily carried and it should have the following:

• auto focus
• auto exposure
• auto white balance
• manual adjustment of sensitivity (ISO)
• manual focus adjustment
• manual adjustment of exposure
• manual white balance adjustment

The LCD monitor, the mini screen built into the back of a digital camera that is used to compose and view digital images and to access camera menus, should be easy to view under a variety of lighting conditions.

Digital cameras capture images as pixels and one million of them equal a mega pixel. Don't get caught up in the mega pixel advertising hype and spend more money for more mega pixels than you actually need.

The number of mega pixels has little to do with camera quality or the quality of a photo it is able to produce. Factors such as the camera sensor and the optical quality of a lens play much more important roles. More mega pixels means an image has more resolution.

Resolution relates primarily to the size of a print you will be able to make and the amount of detail an image has when viewed on a computer monitor. If the primary use of your photos is for presentation on a website, a three or four mega pixel camera will be more than sufficient.

If you take lots of photos, make sure your digital camera accepts removable memory cards. Memory cards, sometimes referred to as 'digital film', are the media on which a digital camera sensor records electronic images. Digital images can be large in file size, so the small starter card that comes with most cameras will quickly fill up.

The majority of digital cameras today have at least a 3x zoom lens. Though your camera is digital, make sure its main zoom lens is not!

An optical zoom produces the best images. Most consumer digital cameras have both optical and digital zoom lenses. Inexpensive models only have digital zooms.

A zoom comes in handy whenever you want to take close-up shots and you're unable to move as close to a subject as you'd like. However, it's the wide-angle, not the telephoto, range of the lens that is most useful to an estate agent.

The importance of a wide-angle lens

When it comes to property, the most important thing is location, location, location.

When it comes to taking photos of property, it's wide-angle, wide-angle, wide-angle.

Most digital cameras at their widest angle have the equivalent of a 35mm or 38mm lens, which is insufficient for capturing expansive interior and exterior shots. Buy a camera with at least a 28mm equivalent lens. If you already own a digital camera and need to take wider angle shots, check if a wide-angle converter lens is available.

Barrel distortion can occasionally be a problem when shooting at the widest lens angle. This lens position causes the edges of an image to look curved or at a skewed angle. Lines that you'd expect to appear perpendicular are not.

Barrel distortion is most noticeable when you have a straight edge near the side of the frame, such as when taking a wide angle shot of a building. If you check, you can often see the distortion in the camera viewfinder or on the LCD before you take the shot. To help minimise barrel distortion, zoom in the lens closer and move back to get the entire subject within the frame. Some barrel distortion is so minimal that it is hardly noticeable, however at times the effect is bothersome. Fortunately, barrel distortion can be fixed with image editing software.

Other useful camera features

• Hot shoe. A slot on top of a camera where an external flash is mounted. (Alternative: a bracket which can hold an external flash. The bracket can be attached to the camera).
• Focus assist lamp. A visible or infrared lamp, usually placed next to the lens barrel, which helps a digital camera focus better when taking photos in low light.
• Panorama mode. Take multiple shots of a very wide scene then stitch them together with software to make a single photo.
• Voice memo. Record a brief audio clip and attach it to an image. Useful for recalling information associated with a photo.

Suggested accessories

• Extra batteries. Digital cameras drain batteries quickly. Always carry a back up set.
• Extra memory card. They fill up quickly if you take a large number of photos. Keep an extra memory card to hand.
• Padded camera case or bag. Protect the camera body and LCD from bumps and scratches. Even if your digital camera is small enough to slip into a pocket, use a camera case.
• External flash. Offers much more versatility and power than a built-in flash. It provides increased flash range, more control of light direction, and charges faster. It can be indispensable when taking indoor photos.
• Tripod. Place a camera on a tripod to prevent camera shake when taking photos in low light, zooming in at very long focal lengths or when use of a flash is impractical.
• Converter lens. Extends the flexibility and capability of built-in lenses. A converter lens attaches to a digital camera with an adaptor ring. If your camera doesn't have a wide enough range, a wide-angle lens may be available for it. Telephoto and other types of converter lenses may also be available.

Shutter-release

If you've never used a digital camera, the first thing you must learn is how to use the shutter-release button correctly. The sequence is done in two steps, not one. If you fail to depress it correctly, photos may be improperly exposed or focused and can become blurred because of camera shake.

Begin by pressing the shutter-release button half-way to lock focus and exposure. An indicator on the LCD or a light on the camera near the viewfinder will glow steadily when lock is achieved. If the light blinks, you'll have to try again. Once the camera confirms focus and exposure, then fully depress the shutter button to take the shot. Practise this sequence until it becomes second nature.

Control focus and exposure with the shutter-release button

Gain more control over where the camera focuses when you depress the shutter-release button half-way. Say you want to focus on a subject that is off to one side in a scene. Move your digital camera so the centre focus area indicator is on the subject. Then depress the shutter-release button down half way to lock focus. While holding the button in this position, recompose your picture and then fully depress the button to take your shot. This helps ensure that the main subject is in sharp focus rather than a random object selected by the camera.

Also use the shutter-release button to obtain better exposed photos in difficult lighting situations. The technique involves moving the camera to the main area you want properly exposed. It should be at equal distance as the subject since the shutter-release button controls focus too. For example, if you want to capture detail in an area that would otherwise come out dark, lock exposure on the area, recompose and press the shutter-release button all the way down.

The first photo is poorly exposed. The photographer simply shot the scene. The camera's exposure meter was fooled by the bright sky and underexposed the house, making it appear dark.

The second photo, taken seconds after the first, is better exposed. The photographer consciously locked focus on a mid-toned area of the house, indicated by the red dot, then recomposed before fully depressing the shutter-release button. A mid-toned area was selected to obtain an acceptable exposure balance that would capture detail and colour for both sky and home.

In difficult lighting conditions, the goal is to find the best exposure balance. You can preview how a scene will be exposed on the LCD.

Exteriors

One of the best times of day to take photos of the exterior of a building is when the light is bright but diffused, such as a cloudy or slightly overcast day. If possible, shoot when clouds block the sun and no strong shadows appear on the building.

Shadows are most harsh when the sun is overhead. Ideally, take photos when the sun is behind your back. When light is uncooperative, use exposure lock or exposure compensation to obtain a suitable exposure.

Interiors

Taking photos inside a home or building can be the most challenging part of property photography. Try to take photos when the light inside a room is brighter than the outside, when it is still light enough so some scenery shows through the windows.

When rooms are dark, turn on lights, open shutters or curtains and open windows and doors to let outside light brighten the interior.

Even if you use these options to increase room lighting, you may run into exposure problems. If you must turn on room lights, check the camera's white balance setting. Proper white balance helps prevent photos from having an orange or other colour cast. When necessary, change the white balance setting to match the artificial light.

Light entering the room through windows can cause back-lighting which fools a digital camera's built-in light meter. Back-lighting causes the contents of the room to appear dark while the scene outside the window will be better exposed. The solution is to use fill-in flash. Using an external flash produces the best results, but you can also use the built-in camera flash if you don't have an external one.

Composition quick-tips

Taking photos of properties is reasonably straight-forward, however, here are some useful principles to keep in mind when composing a shot.

• Take shots from different angles to make sure nothing obstructs an important part of the scene.
• When framing a shot, make sure that strong vertical or horizontal lines are not skewed.
• When possible, have something in the foreground to add interest to a photo.
• If possible, move items off worktops, tables and floors that distract or make the photo look untidy.

This first image is not a bad shot, but the driveway is more dominant in the scene than it needs to be. In addition, a shrub blocks the view of the main entrance.

A slight move to the right to take the photo results in a better image. The driveway no longer dominates the scene and the shrub now covers part of the garage rather than blocks the main entrance.

This photo is very similar to the one above, however the photographer stepped back so that the tree branches frame the shot. The framing adds dimension to the composition.

Editing software

No one ever gets every photo right, not even seasoned photographers. So what do you do if your 'perfect shot' is less than perfect? Editing a photo is probably the last thing you want to do, but it really is worth a few minutes of your time to correct an obvious problem. You should look for a software program with tools that let you:

• Crop
• Resize images using anti-aliasing
• Adjust brightness and contrast
• Correct colour-casts
• Sharpen
• Fix lens distortions, particularly barrel distortion
• Rotate an image to straighten vertical and horizontal lines

Top-tips

Read the manual! Besides explaining the features of your digital camera, the manual provides useful information about taking photos.

Always take a few test photos of your subject to check exposure, focus and white balance. After reviewing shots on the LCD, adjust camera settings as needed.

Take several photos of the same subject. Use only the best image to showcase a property.

The viewfinder on most digital cameras only shows between 75-90% of what the lens actually sees. To view 100% of the scene the camera will capture, use the LCD to frame the shot.

To prevent camera shake when shooting in low light, place your camera on a tripod or flat, level surface. If you don't have a shutter- release cable or remote control, use the built-in self-timer to trigger the shutter. When using the self-timer, you must still press the shutter-release button half-way to lock focus and exposure. Upon fully depressing the button, carefully move your hands away from the camera before the shutter goes off.

Unless you change settings manually, your digital camera will automatically select slow shutter speeds and higher sensitivity (ISO) when shooting in low light. Hand holding a digital camera when shooting in low light can result in blurred images because shutter speeds are slow. The need to use a high ISO number is sometimes unavoidable, but it can produce visible 'noise' in images. Still, noise is preferable to a burred image and it is usually not visible when an image is reduced in size or viewed online.

Many consumer digital cameras are set by default to focus continually. Others focus by automatically selecting between several auto focus points which adapt according to the shooting conditions. But auto focus modes are sometimes unreliable. In order to control where your camera focuses, shut off auto focus and select either single area focus or spot area focus modes.

When taking photos of rooms containing items with reflective surfaces such as glass, a mirror or glossy furniture, shoot at an angle so reflections, including yours, are minimised.

Avoid using flash when photographing items with reflective surfaces. The light from the flash will reflect back into the lens and potentially ruin the photo.

Pictures taken of scenes containing straight or diagonal lines are prone to the 'jaggies'. This occurs when lines are in high contrast to the background, such as a roof-line against a clear sky. When an image is reduced in size correctly using a photo editing program with anti- aliasing, the 'jaggies' visually disappear. One solution when photographing subjects with strong angles is to take photos from a different position or change your distance to the subject.

Make sure your digital camera is set to record images at its highest resolution.

Always use a flash and focus assist lamp within the recommend range. Check specifications listed in the manual.

Keep the camera lens free from dust and finger prints as they can reduce the quality of an image. One of the most important things to do to preserve the condition of the lens is not to touch it with your fingers.

Glossary

35mm equivalent Digital camera manufacturers describe focal lengths in terms of the lens length on a 35mm camera, which would produce a similar view. The focal length between all 35 mm cameras is identical because they all use the same film size. Digital cameras, however, use different size image sensors and therefore have different focal lengths.

Anti-aliasing A photo editing process that smooths out jagged lines by surrounding them with shaded pixels. Anti-aliasing is most effective when images are reduced, not enlarged, in size.

Bracketing Taking several shots of the same scene at different exposure settings to help ensure getting at least one well-exposed photo. Bracketing is most useful in difficult lighting situations. Some digital cameras have automatic bracketing (see exposure compensation).

Camera shake Caused by even a slight movement of the camera as it records an image. Camera shake is the main cause of blurred images.

Digital zoom The actual length of the lens does not change. Digital zoom crops the central portion of an image and reduces its resolution giving an appearance of zooming in. Image quality is not as good as when taking photos with an optical zoom (See optical zoom).

Exposure compensation Increasing or decreasing the exposure of an image from that automatically selected by a camera metering system (see bracketing).

Exposure meter Built-in digital camera meter that measures the amount of light when framing a photo and determines the best exposure. Matrix (Evaluative), Spot and Weighted are the main metering types; some digital cameras have all three.

Fill-in (forced) flash Forces a flash to go off even in bright light; often used outside to soften dark areas or shadows.

ISO A measurement of light sensitivity. The higher the sensitivity, the less light is needed to make an exposure (see noise).

Noise Randomly-spaced speckles (pixels) that can appear in digital images shot at high ISO numbers. Noise results in a reduction of photo detail and clarity, though noise can be reduced with special noise reduction software. Noise is most visible when photos are shot at ISO 200 and above with a consumer digital camera. Some digital cameras have a Super CCD where higher ISO numbers (e.g. ISO 1600) can be used which produce very little noise.

Optical zoom The focal length of the lens actually extends and retracts. An image is magnified by the lens itself. An optical zoom produces the best images (see digital zoom).

White balance Adjusts the brightest part of a scene so that it appears white. How a digital camera records colour is affected by the colour of the main source of light.

Summary

Wouldn't it be superb if every photo you took of a property guaranteed a sale! Although this is clearly not the case, it is undeniable that a great photo will attract more potential buyers to a property.

Because photos can successfully communicate across language barriers, your choice of property photos is one of the best methods of demonstrating the value of a property to buyers around the world.

Article Contents

1. Introduction to Internet marketing - why market on the Internet at all?
2. Listing properties - making the most of your most valuable content
3. What's wrong with your web site? - 10 mistakes that keep visitors away
4. Making sense of statistics - hits, pages, cookies, visits and visitors
5. Saving time managing properties - exporting and distributing property details
6. Property photos that sell - professional photography tips

 

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