A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.... Part 2

I wanted to take a moment to talk about the focal length of the camera you use to photograph the interior of a home. You want to get the widest angle possible. I use a 10mm to 20mm on a Nikon camera (equivelant to a 17 to 35mm in a 35mm format). Most of your point and shoot cameras only have an equivelant of 28-35mm lenses as their widest angle lens. The wider the angle of the lens the more of the room you will get.

The following photos were taken on a tripod at exactly the same spot with as close to the same lighting as possible. This was a large kitchen with plenty of room to step back. This shows you what a wider angle lens can do. In some case it goes from higlighting furniture to actually showing the feel of a room... how it opens into the dinging room, the new hardwood floors, the openess.... In the living room you can get the whole feel of the room pretty much showing 3 corners of the room and how it lays out, instead of a small vinette of the fireplace.

Photo 1- Taken with a 10mm lens- only available as an expensive digital SLR add on

Photo 2- Taken with a 14mm lens- only available as an expensive digital SLR add on

Photo 3- Taken with a 20mm lens- available as a standard digital SLR and some better point and shoot digital cameras

Photo 4- Taken with a 24mm lens- about the widest you can get on most standard point and shoot cameras

EXAMPLE 1

Photo 1 Photo 2

Photo 3 Photo 4

EXAMPLE 2

Photo 1 Photo 2

Photo 3 Photo 4

It is especially important to keep the camera level the wider the angle of the lens. You want to keep your vertical lines parallel to the camera frame. The next two photos show the importance of leveling the camera. This was pulled off our MLS and shows how the camera was not leveled. It's subliminally quite disturbing. The second shot the phot has been straightened out as best as it can be with Adobe Elements 5 ( will discuss later)

Remember photos are the front line of our internet marketing efforts. Make your first impression a good one. If you are struggling taking photographs consider hiring someone. Most areas have people who will photograph and video a property for a nominal fee. I know OBEO the property website company I use will take photos, virtual tours and provide a website for about $130.