Why should you hire a professional real estate photographer in Montreal? Image matters.

First impressions matter

The biggest reason for hiring a professional real estate photographer to shoot photos of your property is quite simple: quality.  Nobody will deny that a bright, sharp, well-exposed photo of a room will make that room feel more inviting than a photo that’s dark, blurry, grainy, distorted and/or uneven.  The equipment and the photographer both have a role to play in assuring that the photos have all of the good qualities listed above and none of the bad ones.

In real estate photography, experience matters

Many people will say that it’s not the camera, it’s the photographer, so we’ll start there.  A professional real estate photographer has years of experience at controlling light, which is a skill that’s very important in real estate photography. As any agent will tell you, getting proper detail both inside a room and out the windows at the same time is not an easy task. The windows are so much brighter than the interior that if you try to catch detail in the window, the room goes black, and if you try to expose for the room then the window area becomes a huge, white block.A professional has the understanding of light and of the limits of the camera to be able to work around this simple but significant problem using one of several photographic techniques.  Traditionally, a real estate photographer in this situation would use lighting equipment strategically placed to light up the room to the level of the windows so everything looks even.  Today, many photographers opt to use a technique that blends many natural light exposures into a single image to accomplish the same task.  Whichever technique the photographer uses, there is a great degree of skill required to make the shots look natural.

A real estate photographer knows the right tool for the job

Skill and experience are very important to real estate photography, but the equipment is also important.  A smartphone simply can’t handle the technical difficulties mentioned above.  A professional has specialized equipment optimized specifically for this kind of work.  Without the right lens, you can’t get a composition that shows much of the room.  Without the right camera, the shots will probably look very grainy.  Even something as simple as having a level can make a huge difference in the look of the photos!After all this, there’s also the question of knowing what makes a good photo from an artistic standpoint.  There are some people who will say, “Look, I just need to show what the house looks like, I’m not trying to create art”.  Actually, yes, you are.  Photography is art, and you’re using it as a marketing tool to help you sell a property.  A well-composed, artistic shot will be more effective than a random snapshot.  Here’s why: you aren’t trying to show what the house looks like.  You’re trying to show what it feels like.

Make sure the photos have an emotional impact

Consider this: think of all the times that clients have walked out of a property they’ve just seen and said, “this property is ideally situated and fills all of our logistical and economic needs and concerns”.  Now think of all the times they’ve left a property and said, “I love it!”.  I think we all know which one happens more often.  One of these responses is entirely intellectual, and the other is entirely emotional.  The goal of the photos is to create an emotional response in the clients.  The best way to do that is with photos that appear warm and inviting, but are still representational of what the property actually looks like.  A professional real estate photographer specializes in creating images that will make your potential buyers say, “I love it!”.If you'd like to see what I can do for you, you can see samples of my work here.