The most important pieces of gear for real estate photography are a camera body, wide-angle lenses, and a tripod. You also need external flashes and a remote trigger to control lighting, especially for interiors. Lens filters and drones can also help enhance your exterior shots.
As you work to become a professional real estate photographer, these photography tools must be in your arsenal to capture impressive images for clients.
Camera Body
Among the best things about photographing stationary subjects is that you don’t need a camera with advanced autofocus or high frames-per-second. When looking for a real estate photography camera, look for a large sensor to allow a lot of light into the frame and for something with over 12 megapixels.
A camera must also give you the ability to modify the exposure settings manually, especially aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. It also helps if a camera has bracketing features, as well as a flash hot shoe for using external lights.
Lenses
Photography is one of the most effective real estate marketing strategies agents can use to sell properties. However, this can only be effective when you use lenses that can photograph various subjects, including interiors, exteriors, and detailed shots.
For interiors, you need a wide-angle lens to show the vastness of the space. The most common wide-angle lenses for real estate photography are 10-20mm, 14-24mm, and 16-35mm. You can also use tilt-shift lenses like 17mm or 24mm for vertical spaces.
On the other hand, exteriors require prime and zoom lenses, such as 18-55mm, 16-50mm, or 24-70mm.
Tripod
A heavy and sturdy tripod ensures you take every picture at the same shooting height, giving viewers a feel as if they’re the ones walking through the property.
Furthermore, a tripod is a crucial accessory when doing bracketed photos or shooting at small spaces. It also stabilizes lenses, so the focusing system can work properly and shoot sharp images.
External Flash
Light is a key factor in real estate photography because it sets the mood and tone of the scene. The best off-camera flash enables you to position the light angle and control power output to achieve the right lighting effect. You can also control it using a wireless trigger.
Remote Shutter
Even pushing the camera shutter button can cause motion shake, which may ruin image clarity. This is why it’s worth investing in a remote shutter so that you can trigger the shutter and take a photo without touching the camera.
Lens Filter
Even if you’re not yet in the post-production stage, you can produce vibrant colors using lens filters. When you place a polarizing filter in front of a lens, the filter can minimize glare, remove reflections, and darken skies.
Additionally, when there’s a bright light, you can attach a neutral density filter when you need to shoot at narrower apertures or slower shutter speeds.
Drone
Properties with drone footage are 68% more likely to sell than those without aerial views. Adding a drone to your gear enables you to capture aerial imagery of a home, along with its surroundings. In effect, buyers can see a property’s structural condition, neighborhood, and amenities in proximity.
Conclusion
Once you have these essential pieces of gear for real estate photography, you can practice different composition techniques and shoot efficiently. Using the right equipment in shooting interiors and exteriors also help you save time in post-processing photos. In this way, you can quickly deliver images to clients.