I find Adobe Elements to be a great tool for adjusting photogrpahs. All of my final photographs get run through Adobe Elements. You can download the program at the Adobe website. Last I looked it was $99.00
The tool I find to be the most helpful is the transformation tool. I take your vertical or horizontal lines and makes them perpindicular to the frame if you did not get it right taking the photograph. The wider the angle the lens the more important it is to keep your vertical lines perpindicular with the frame. You can also correct, lighting, color balance and other photo defeciencies.
When this photo was taken care was not given to leveling the camera off, thus the fireplace looks like it is tipping over. Sub-consciencely buyers will wonder if there is something wrong with the home. Or at the very least they will focus on how bad the photo is, not on the important features of the room.
10 seconds on Adobe Photo Elements can correct that. Making a photo thats pespective is not so warped.
Poor color control was executed when this photo was taken.
Photo Elemwnts can help bring the color back to something that may be a little more natural. It is important to try and get the photo right when you are taking it or if possible go back and retake correctly. There is only so much Photo editing programs can do.
Again poor exposure when the photo was taken. Phot editing can brighten the photograph. Editing does degrade the phot and this is an extreme correction. Ideally try to get it right the first time.
The clone tool is a great tool to remove unwanted items from photos. Note the island it the first photo with magazines left on and removed in photo two. Literally, it takes no skill and about 30 seconds to remove the item.
Again, I would like to reiterate try to get the photo right when you take it. Adobe Elements is a great tool to add to your arsenal. I only touched on a few things that it does. Some of the examples I showed were extreme photos I pulled off our MLS..... Adobe Elements is good for small corrections but really work on getting the photo as close to perfect when you take it.
Wanted to share Yudu and some things im doing with it. It allows you to host online brochures. It can be used very creatively. I just hosted my resume to send out with email inquiries regarding properties.
I also use it for online brochures of properties and am looking into it for other uses.
Wanted to share my home book. I used leave at the house. Currently I use a single sheet and one copy of the homebook. I have the home booklets available online for people to download. I like driving traffic to the my sites and currently can show my clients the traffic going to the site.
My home book can include:
I publish the document to Yudu Freedom... It's FREE!! This is a site where you can upload pdf's word documnets or powerpoint files. I then can embed in emails, webisites or just send a lik to it. Its professional and very cool... its an online brochure. I have been expirementing with Yudu for other things. Try it out.
I wanted to wrap up this series with optimizing the lighting of the interior of the homes you photograph. Four of the biggest things you can do to impove your interior photos is:
The following of photos is a series of different lighting situations. Camera doesnt move just camera setting and use of flash.
Photo 1 Photo 2
Photo 3 Photo 4
Photo 5 Photo 6
Photo 7
Photo 1 is just using the window light coming in through the window. One Big Problem is the camera is trying to expose for the light outside the windows and not the interior of rooms.
Photo 2 is again just using the light coming in through the windows, but the focus/exposure lock was used to expose for the interior of the room. All cameras have this feature. If your camera is exposing for a window that is the time to use the exposure lock. What you do is point your camera somewhere in the room where the windows are not any where in the photo(in this case I did the rug with the chair). Hold the sutter button half way down. It locks the exposure and the focus. Reframe the camera the way you want then take the photo. It exposes for the room rather than the outside windows.
Photo 3 is just using the flash on camera. Notice shadows are harsh and some areas go dark.
Photo 4 has all the light on in the house and the cameras shutter is allowed to stay open as long as it needs to. (usually most point and shoots have a special nighttime button but usually you need to use a tripod the shutter is too slow and youll blur the photo).
Photo 5- has all the lights on, shutter left to drag open(nighttime mode) and the flash on camera is turned on. A technique like this will give you some natural looking photos
Photo 6- Is the same as 5 except there is an off camera flash bouncing off the ceiling softening and spreading the light.
Photo 7- Is an old inexpensive point and shoot digital camera using the techniques I use in phot 5- Tripod, all lights on, dragging the shutter speed and flash on camera. The results are good just not as wide as I can get with my more expensive set-up.
Hopefully there was some tips in here people can use!!
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.
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