Show. Don't Tell.

A Journal of Real Estate study found that buyers looking at online Real-Estate Listings spend 60% of their time viewing the property's photos.  

Out of the photos, the majority of time was spent looking at the exterior photo, then the living room,  and views from windows.  The study found the least amount of time was spent looking at the master bathroom.  

Check out the Wall Street Journal's entire video and article.

If you're in  need of professional real estate photos give me a call at 314-629-7719 or visit kprealestatephotos.com

Does Clutter Ruin the Shot?

One of the best things that can be done to prepare for  a home photo shoot is to diminish  clutter.  For this article we'll be using a bathroom as an example.  Often when we are in a "real" place our brains ignore items like shampoo bottles, tissue boxes, toothpaste etc.   However, when we look at a photo something happens and all those items steal the show.

Here's an example of a bathroom that hasn't been groomed to showcase the room.  Instead we are mostly aware of the many hygiene items left  about and we wonder about the homeowner's cleaning habits.

Looking at the above image, you're brain probably doesn't even register that this bathroom has lots of counter space and a lovely glass shower door.  However, after taking a couple of minutes to put everything away, the result is a much more pleasing image that showcases the room's features.

Also note how a bit of greenery was  placed into the shot, which adds softness and color.  For more on plants refer back to my previous article, Flower Power.

12158 Trailway House

Yesterday I spent the morning shooting this beautifully maintained and nicely decorated residence in the Creve Coeur area.

The home is for sale by owner Kristyn Newbern, who also happens to be an agent with Red Key Realty, and a really nice lady.   I tried to keep the images true to the experience of being in the home and thanks to Kristyn's eye for styling, it made my job much easier.

Photos by:  Karen Palmer

Let's Get This Straight

Have you ever looked at a real estate photo and thought, 'that seems to be a great looking room but something's wrong with it?'  Maybe you even felt a bit sea sick.

Just so you can see what I'm talking about, take a look at this photo.  (I purposely used an image with straight verticals and made them crooked.)

An image with crooked verticals

Images with crooked verticals send a message that something's wrong.  We live in a world where a safe and sound home has straight up and down walls!! You may say  'so what?  They'll figure out it's just the photograph,'  but you may have also planted in the viewer's subconscious  that the house has something wrong with it.

Now take a look at the same image, but this time with straight verticals.  Which one is easier to look at?

How do  verticals get crooked?  Sometimes it happens because the camera isn't lined up correctly.  Tilting the camera down, up, or to the side can greatly effect the outcome of your image.  Other times  a wide angle lens introduces barrel distortion  and you may get some strange looking lines at the edges of your photos.

How do you avoid crooked lines?  The main prevention is making sure you take the time to set up your shot with all the walls vertical.   Once you start using a wide angle lens this can become more of a challenge.  Sometimes there's nothing but image editing software to fix the problem.

Do your photos scream out - "Come see me"

A friend of mine has her house for sale.  She hasn't had  too many lookers.  I happened to see the photos that are marketing her house and suggested a few professional photos may be the ticket.

She has a cute house, but her current photos, in my mind, did not scream out 'come look at me.'  I thought I'd share a couple of the new images she  can now use to entice house hunters.

Here we have a fresh, inviting image that  invites the viewer to come in and relax.

Photo by:  Karen Palmer

After we did a bit of staging and set up a careful composition, her charming kitchen was captured.   

Photo by: Karen Palmer

That's all for now.

For A Better Viewing Experience - Calibrate Your Monitor

Have you ever wondered why the images you're viewing look different from monitor to monitor?   It could be,  your monitor is in need of a "calibration tune up."

Here are a couple of useful calibration cards.

http://www.photofriday.com/calibrate.php

http://www.photobusinessforum.com/images/0-set-screen-color.jpg

Happy Viewing!

Karen Palmer
www.kprealestatephotos.com

Capturing the Kitchen

My latest work took me to a beautiful home hidden in the woods within Chesterfield, Missouri.

For this photo shoot I was working closely with the client's vision and purpose. We agreed upon the angle required and one of the first shots was this.

Then, after completing the staging, adding the lighting, and post-processing we ended up with this:

Add in a few other shots to complete the package:

Now we're talking.  We've captured a great kitchen - fit for a Queen or King.