How to Review Your Images

You have received your images. How do you know if they are any good?

When you receive your images it might not be the most intuitive thing to know if they are good; great; or even acceptable. So let's get into what you should look for.

Let's start off with something easy. Correct exposure: Is the image too light or dark overall? Nobody wants the inside of the house looking like a medieval dungeon, but it also should not look like the a hospital operating room.

This also gets into Dynamic range: You should generally be able to make out the items in the brightest and darkest areas of the image simultaneously. Are specific areas too bright, such as a sky that has turned white ie:"blown out"? Are the darker areas so dark that you cannot see important elements ie: "crushed"? Same with windows and lamps. We will get more into the windows.

Ok, so Windows: Windows are where editing really comes in. Most photographers will take steps to make sure the windows are properly exposed during shooting by using methods such as multiple exposures of the same image that are then combined in a process called High Dynamic Range bracketing (HDR). Other photographers will use a multiple image bracketing method that adds one or more flash exposures. These images are then combined during the editing process to achieve simultaneous correct exposure for both the interior of the home and the windows. You may hear your photographer refer to this as a "window pull". When reviewing interior shots, the windows should be darkened enough in editing to allow you to see outside.

Verticals: Ever looked at a picture and you had this weird feeling you were tilting in some way? Like you want to rotate your head slightly so that you can see the image straight? Real estate photography rule#1 is that all vertical lines should be straight up and down. No tilt forward or back or left or right. And any lens distortion that can cause the lines to bow in or out should also be fixed in editing. This rule can be broken for specific elements such as vaulted ceilings, overlooks, chandeliers; anywhere that looking significantly up or down would be a normal viewpoint.

Color balance: Look to see if the image actually shows the correct color of the home. Ambient lighting with incandescent bulbs will cause items inside the house to look overly warm (think yellow), while the sun will actually cause items to look very cool (think blue). This is one of the big struggles in real estate photography because it is very common to have both of those light sources within the same room. A camera can correct the color cast for only one source using today's technology, and so further editing will be needed to achieve a neutral color balance throughout the image. So look for excessive blue and yellow casts.

Composition: A common saying in real estate photography is "commit to the angle". This means that when composing the image you should have the elements at a significant angle or straight on (not sorta at an angle). This is one of those human idiosyncrasies: humans don't like things that are almost straight. Have it at an angle like 45 degrees from the room corner, or straight on. Nobody wants to see a countertop at a 10 degree angle that is almost straight across the bottom of the image.

Image height: The camera needs to be level on all axis (remember the vertical lines), and at a height that will make the image seem natural. This will generally show equal amounts of floor and ceiling. Between waist and chest height is where most photographers shoot. The kitchen is usually shot a bit higher so that counter tops do not dominate the image. Also make sure that the kitchen photos were shot high enough that the underside of the cabinets is not visible. Builders and painters usually leave those looking pretty ugly.

- Jack