4 Qualities Real Estate Photos Must Have for Image Editing

Are you struggling to attract buyers to your property listing? You may want to check the quality of your real estate photos. Many realtors and property owners hire photo editors to attract buyers and make their images more attractive. However, even the most skilled editor cannot make poor-quality images look impressive.

In this article, we will cover:

• Qualities that real estate photos should have to ensure a smooth editing process.
• How are real estate photos edited?

Let us now see in detail the important qualities and how they affect the outcome of the editing process.

1. Image clarity

   Photo clarity refers to the clarity of the main elements in an image. In photography, an image is said to be clear when it is taken with the proper exposure and composition. In other words, there is less blurring, noise, overexposure, and clutter. Clear images make editing easier, as there is a limited need for sharpening and noise reduction techniques. A clear image allows the editor to make color adjustments and other changes without making the result appear dull.

   While there are tools to make images clearer, it is better if the real estate photographer ensures clarity while taking photos. This will help avoid extra work in the post-processing phase.

2. High photo resolution

   Have you ever tried zooming in on a picture only to see it blurred after a few zooms? This happens when the image resolution is low.

   So, what is image resolution?

   It refers to the number of pixels in a picture and indicates how much detail it contains. High-resolution photos have more pixels, so they can display more visual information. They have more detail, making them sharper and clearer than low-resolution pictures. It means the image will still be clear after many zooms.

   For real estate, images with dimensions in 1024 x 768 pixels can be considered high resolution.

   Photo resolution has more to do with quality than clarity. You can find many image editing software to increase picture clarity, but it is almost impossible to increase the resolution. High-resolution images are essential to the editing process, as they must be cropped and manipulated to get the desired result. If a picture has low resolution, cropping and other edits will only worsen the image quality.

3. Adequate lighting

   Lighting refers to the natural or artificial light source you use to illuminate the subject or scene. During photo shoots, photographers manipulate the light source’s type, position, and quality to create different visual effects. This way, the photographer can influence aspects like image clarity and tone.

   Real estate photos aim to attract potential buyers and convince them to click on your property listing. The property must have natural, artificial, or a combination of the two light sources to increase clarity and make it easier for editors to see what is in the picture. Later, the lighting can be edited to improve visibility and enhance the attractiveness of your property photos. Once it is attached to the listing, even your potential buyers won’t need to squint and struggle to see the important features of your property.

4. Balanced photo composition

   Photo composition refers to the arrangement of different visual elements in a picture. While unnecessary objects can be removed from your real estate photos, it is always better to stage the scene before a photoshoot. Avoid stuffing the scene with unnecessary items and personal belongings. Maintain harmony between the elements in the frame so it doesn’t hurt the photo’s overall appeal. Composing the scene beforehand simplifies the editing process significantly, so they won’t have to spend time decluttering the images.

Real estate photo editing techniques are little different from the editing processes for eCommerce or fashion photos. Here, the editor must ensure they don’t overdo things and keep the photo as natural as possible. They may also need to show a property in different settings or do virtual staging to get views and convince buyers. Below are some general tasks performed during a property photo editing process.

• Color correction is where the colors in an image are corrected to make it appear more realistic and natural. It is a crucial process that ensures the final image looks stunning and flawless.
• Perspective correction is where an image’s distorted or bent “lines” are straightened. You can tell that the lines are bent when your building appears to be leaning or if the perspective is off. This error can occur when there is an issue with the focus, camera lens, or evenness of the ground.
• Lighting correction is where an image’s lighting is evened out or corrected. Here, adjustments are made to the light, shadows, highlights, whites, and blacks to reduce their intensity or create different visual effects.
• Decluttering is when clutter, ugly items, and objects that obstruct the view of the property are removed with the clone stamp tool.
• HDR blending is where property images taken with different exposures are merged to create well-lit images.
• Sky replacement is where an unattractive sky is replaced with a more pleasant and beautiful one. This is done to make the image more appealing and leave a better impression on the viewer.
• Virtual twilight is an editing process where daytime real estate photos are converted into twilight photos. It is done to showcase a different perspective of the property and to make the images appear more charming.

High-quality images are important in the real estate business as they attract views to property listings and increase the chances of a sale. That is why many realtors and property owners choose real estate photo editing services to get the best-looking photos. However, factors like image clarity, resolution, lighting, and composition can seriously affect the editing process. If your images are poor, to begin with, it will be difficult for editors to give you the results you want.

We hope this article has helped you understand the qualities property images need to have before editing. Do your best to get high-quality photos before you outsource your photo editing tasks, and they will handle the rest.