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Often
we hear from Realtors who tell us that they take lousy photos and
that is the primary reason they prefer to subcontract their virtual
tours to a 3rd party firm. On the surface, that's probably the smart
decision for them, and it is certainly one reason why you have a
number of 3rd party virtual tour providers available to create your
virtual tours. But what is so difficult about taking good quality
photos with a digital camera? And do the "pros" really create better
quality virtual tours than you can?
First,
let's define the quality level necessary for virtual tours and electronic
real estate marketing with photos. Virtual tours today are displayed
in a screen size (resolution) that is relatively very small. The
small screen display size is designed to load the tours from the
Internet as fast as possible. Using a larger display will only slow
down this process for the majority of Web users (home buyers and
sellers). The display size of most virtual tours is the printed
equivalent of wallet sized photos. Almost anyone can use a disposable,
instamatic camera to create acceptable quality wallet sized (or
4 x 6 inch prints for that matter) photos of your vacation, family
gatherings, etc. Most of us leave the 8 x 10 framed photos (think
of your most prized framed photos at home) to the hands of a professional
or experienced amateur with expensive equipment.
The
same is true of real estate visual marketing. If the photo of your
listing is to be on the cover of Unique Homes magazine, not only
are you not going to use a digital camera, but YOU won't be taking
the picture or deciding the time of day to shoot it, or how to capture
the landscaping, the sky, the architectural features, etc. You'll
leave all those decisions to the professionals who charge an arm,
a leg, and maybe a few other parts to showcase this property properly!
On the other
hand, virtual tours are not about taking perfect photos. They
are about showcasing all of a property's selling points using
MANY images not just a few. Today's digital cameras all do a great
job capturing the essence of real estate features for the purpose
of e-marketing and virtual tours. Buyers use virtual tours as
a way to narrow down their choices in listings not to decide if
the color of the backsplash tile in the kitchen matches the cookware
design they just received as a wedding present. They want to get
a feel for the size and general features of the rooms, the yard
and the neighborhood. No amount of zooming on a virtual tour today
will let a buyer read the time on the microwave's clock or determine
if the tile grout is more gray than blue. You should use the text
descriptions or voice narration to fill in the blanks where photos
don't tell the whole story.
The
basics of using a digital camera to take good quality real estate
photos for viewing on a computer screen (virtual tours, emailed
photos) are pretty simple...
1.
Hold the camera fairly steady. If you have trouble with this,
you probably should either use a tripod or drink less coffee.
2.
If you are taking interior photos, fill the room with light -
lots of it! Turn on all the lights (in adjacent rooms and hallways
too to avoid dark areas in the images. If it's still daylight,
use the natural light as much as possible unless the sun is streaming
directly into that room (early morning or late afternoon).
3.
The built in flash on most digital cameras only brightens up the
area about 6 feet to 10 feet in front of the camera. If you are
trying to capture an area quite a bit farther away, the flash
may actually hinder your efforts and you'll want to turn it off.
4.
If you are going to create a panoramic or 360 degree photo, take
multiple overlapping photos until you capture the entire view
desired. You should overlap one photo to the next by about 20
percent or so - see this page for a great example... http://www.visualtour.com/create_tour2d.asp
Even
if these simple steps sound too complex for you, remember the
great practical feature of all digital cameras - the pictures
are FREE! Experiment a bit in your own home with different lighting
conditions and turning your flash on or off. Then download your
photos and check the results. You'll become an expert with YOUR
camera in no time!
In
future e-marketing newsletters we'll cover other marketing and
photographic tips. Stay tuned!
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