I'm thinking about becoming a real estate photographer. Is it still a viable career? A bit of history. I have about 10 years of experience in photography in total. I have about 10 years of experience in photography in all genres (self-taught as a hobby).I live about 2 hours north of Toronto in a cabin area.
We'll discuss this later, but it's important to note that there are different types of real estate, and they all require a slightly different approach. So how does photography influence this? Let's first quickly look at the definition of photography. To achieve this goal, real estate photographers must have skills as photographers, but they must also have knowledge about real estate (i.e.,What helps to sell properties, what customers are looking for and what are the trends in the real estate market at any given time). If this sounds like a career path that might interest you, keep reading to learn more about its details.
As mentioned before, the most important part of real estate photography is the quality of the images you capture and your degree of skill with post-editing. This means that teaching photography is not mandatory in the industry. Let's go into this step by step. For some, this may mean a formal education where they specifically learn the art of photography in a school environment and then, upon graduation, decide to pursue real estate photography.
Format makes this task easy with our professionally designed portfolio templates and workflow solutions that can help you get your real estate photography website up and running in no time. If you need some tips and tricks, check out this resource on how to create a portfolio for real estate photography. Also, don't hesitate to work at a reduced price or for free at this early stage. We'll talk more about the price of your services in the next section, but in general, keeping your commissions low at this early stage can help you build a customer base, as well as provide your portfolio with professional work. There's no doubt that you can go to a house and take the standard images expected of you, but if you're knowledgeable about real estate trends, you'll have a better idea of what aspects of the property you should highlight.
This knowledge will help you grow your career. This may not be an absolute requirement, but if you want to stand out as a real estate photographer, it's not a bad idea to have this skill. With this style of real estate photography, you'll be taking photos of both interiors and exteriors. In addition, agents may need video footage with Ariel, which means you'll want to familiarize yourself with using a drone. Your goal with photography is to specifically capture the architecture of a building.
This can include both the interior and exterior of a building. In addition, architectural photographers want to highlight aspects such as the flow of the building, the quality of the construction and the functional design of a space. Clients can vary a lot if you specialize in interior photography, but some clients you might encounter specifically in this style are professional scenographers, magazines, and even luxury homeowners looking for a photographer who can truly bring their home to life. The best way to attract real estate photography clients is to create a real estate portfolio website and start building a digital presence.
This can include cold calling, digital marketing, and sharing your website with your current network. To compete in this field, consider buying or renting a digital SLR camera with a wide-angle lens. This type of hardware gives you more options when it comes to positioning, which is essential for the quality of the final product. Both Nikon and Canon cameras are popular DSLR options that are reputable in the industry.
This type of photography requires a large initial investment. In addition, operating a drone requires successful completion of an aeronautical knowledge exam. While a quality drone can cost anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of dollars, aerial photography is in high demand in properties with large land cover or outdoor facilities, and can significantly increase your income. After deciding on your preferred camera, it's critical to select the right lens.
This is because it is often necessary to capture large surface areas. To get the job done, a wide-angle lens is the perfect tool for the job. This feature is especially useful when your client needs to capture a large room or a large area of property. To achieve this, an ultra-wide lens in the range of 10 to 24 millimeters is very beneficial.
To achieve this, a basic wireless flash must be included in the initial costs. To illuminate interiors, such as a living room in the basement or a bathroom without windows, you can use a diffuser to produce soft lighting that makes the space appear inviting. The larger the space, the more you'll need to charge. For example, shooting a small apartment and shooting a large single-family home should be priced very differently.
The only time this might not be true is if you're shooting a luxury condo instead of a standard residential space. As mentioned in a previous section, video images are increasingly popular among real estate photography. Whether it's a full video tour of the house or drone footage taken from outer space, there are many real estate agents who want this from their photographers. Just be sure to include this in the prices. Not only are video recordings more time consuming, but they also mean an additional expense for equipment and more editing time.
Not to mention that not all real estate photographers have this skill, so it's appropriate to raise prices to account for this skill. Most real estate agents will require at least 20-25 photos for an average shoot. If an agent wants a lot more photos with multiple angles of each room, this will take longer. Be sure to include this in your prices.
Do a market study and see how much other real estate photographers with similar skills are charging. This will give you a good idea of what customers are willing to pay, which will help you set a price that's not too high but not too low. With this knowledge, you can save yourself some time by having to solve all aspects of being a real estate photographer from scratch. As this is a complicated topic, it's a good idea to include information about the ownership and use of the images in the contract with the client. The contract ensures that the photographer can continue to own the images.
In this case, the customer has a license for specific uses, such as the sale of properties. If the customer wants to use the images outside of this context, they will need to request approval. This means that you are eligible for additional royalties or fees if your images are used in future promotional materials, such as brochures for real estate agents or developers. To have a successful career as a real estate photographer, you need large scale equipment, such as a digital camera (DSLR or mirrorless), a tripod, a flash and a wide-angle lens to efficiently capture different aspects of real estate. When starting out in the real estate photography business, it can be tempting to lower the prices of other photographers to win business.
Less popular than residential photography, commercial real estate photography can be considered any property that is sold for purposes commercials (i. In addition, look for the best equipment for real estate photography to ensure that you are familiar with the different options and their functions. No matter how good their camera and photographic equipment are, all real estate photographers need editing software in their toolkit to compete in the industry. To legally operate a drone for commercial purposes, including real estate photography, you must obtain a remote pilot certificate (RPC) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
With these tips ready, let's take a look at the juiciest part: how much you can expect to earn as a real estate photographer. With more than a decade in the business and several hundred expert real estate photo editors around the world, it's hard to beat PhotoUp's quality, service and pricing. Surprisingly, as a real estate photographer, you have the opportunity to bring properties to life through the power of photography. It should come as no surprise that real estate photographers have photography skills and experience.
For example, real estate photography prices in New York City will be much higher than in a small city in Texas. Remember that, unless you're photographing your neighbor's house, real estate photography will always require a certain level of travel, which is an expense that should be factored into your price. There are three main types of clients who hire real estate photographers to help them sell their properties, each with a unique perspective on the role of photography in their needs. Photography school can help you build your credibility by offering clients peace of mind about your qualifications, which is especially important when it comes to real estate agents who may have decades of experience under their belt. An even better option is to outsource post-processing to a professional real estate photo editing service such as PhotoUp.
