Digital Photography Tips

We want to thank Sallie Mobley from FMLS for the following Digital Photography Tips. Sallie is one of the FMLS Instructors who teaches a 3 hour CE Class on Real Estate Photography. If you haven’t taken advantage of this free class from FMLS give it a try.

Aperture:  Aperture is measured by using an f-stop number.

•    A large aperture number setting (Ex. f/16) will give you a “larger depth of field” and provide more detail in the background of your image.  This is a great setting for Real Estate photos.
•    A small aperture number (Ex. f/4.2) will give you a “smaller depth of field” resulting in less detail in the background.  Use this setting when you want to focus on details like crown molding or granite countertops, etc.

Shutter:  Shutter is referred to as “shutter speed” and is used to capture movement.

•    Fast shutter speed setting (Ex. 1/250th of a second) will allow the shutter to remain open for just a short time, resulting in movement looking frozen in time.  This setting is great for taking photos of water features in a backyard.
•    Slow shutter speed setting (Ex. 1/160th of a second) will allow the shutter to remain open longer, resulting in movement looking blurry.

ISO or Sensor:  ISO is referred to as an ISO number or its measurement of sensitivity to light.

•    If you are taking an exterior photo and you have a lot of natural light, then you can use a low ISO setting on your camera (Ex. 200 ISO).
•    If you are taking an exterior or interior photo and you don’t have a lot of natural light, then it would be a great idea to take the photo with a flash as  well as a higher ISO setting (Ex. 800 ISO).

Lens:   The lens determines the field of vision for your photo. The goal in real estate photography is to capture as much of the room in each photo as possible, which means you want a small lens number.

•    The smaller the lens number means more of the room is captured (Ex. 4.88 mm lens setting might capture up to 12 ft. of the room).
•    The larger the lens number means less of the room is captured (Ex. 6.4 mm lens setting might only capture up to 8 ft. of the room).

Helpful Digital Photography websites:

•    Free Photo editing software:   www.picnik.com (Use this when you want to edit, crop, lighten/darken a picture.)

•    Free Batch Editing Software: www.fotosizer.com (Use this when you want to batchresize photos.  For example, let’s say you need to reduce the size of a bunch of pictures to 800×600.)
•    Ed Wolkis: www.photosthatmovehouses.com (A great resource for taking photos!)
•    When purchasing digital cameras for Real Estate photography, consumers need to look for a camera with a wide angle lens, a powerful flash, and a larger size light sensor.

Thanks again Sallie for these great Digital Photography Tips.