Whether you’re a property owner looking to sell your home or an estate agent tasked with marketing listings, great photography is crucial for showcasing a property in its best light. When it comes to HDR in property photography it can work magic.
What is HDR Photography?
HDR photography is a technique that combines multiple photos taken at different exposures into one image. Doing this captures a wider range of light and dark areas in a scene. The end result is a photo that shows incredible detail in both the brightest highlights and darkest shadows.
For property and property photos, HDR delivers images that are richly detailed throughout the entire image. Rooms look brighter and more inviting. Textures in furnishings, floors and walls are noticeably sharper. The outdoor scenery visible through windows and doors looks more vivid. Overall, HDR processed shots better represent what the property and rooms actually look like in real life to the human eye.
Creating Balance with HDR
While HDR enhances detail, it’s important that images still look natural. A heavy handed HDR style often appears overly processed and unappealing. When used correctly and with a light touch, HDR simply helps interiors look their best, not fake.
The right HDR approach for property photography should result in bright, sharp, balanced images that give home buyers and sellers an accurate sense of the space and rooms. Photos should invite viewers in instead of visually bombarding them.
Advantages of HDR Property Photographs
There are many advantages of using HDR processing for property photographs, including:
- Rooms appear brighter, more spacious and welcoming
- Details throughout the image are sharper
- Dark corners and rooms photograph better
- Textures of surfaces are enhanced
- Landscapes visible through windows look more vivid
- Helps downplay visual flaws or blemishes
- Minimises need for supplemental lighting
- Represents what the rooms actually look like in real life
- Clear view out of the windows
By showcasing properties at their very best, great HDR photographs can help encourage more viewings and offers, ultimately leading to faster home sales.
Shooting Tips for HDR Property Photos
When photographing interiors and property with HDR in mind, follow these best practices:
- Use a tripod for sharp, aligned multi-exposure shots
- Manually bracket 3-5 exposures for each scene depending on lighting
- Take exposures at one or two stops apart
- Include “normal” exposed frame in brackets
- Adjust shutter not aperture between frames
- Shoot raw for best HDR processing results
- Capture wide dynamic range scene elements
- Avoid overdoing HDR effects
By controlling exposure brackets and practicing smooth HDR processing, property photographers can create property images that impress home buyers and sellers alike. Dramatic skies out windows are brighter and more colourful. Interior furnishings and architectural details are abundantly clear. The property simply shines. But if you don’t have the skill to do it, you should always seek the help of a professional property photographer.
This is the visual magic of skilful HDR photography in the property market. Properties look their absolute best while still retaining a realistic and inviting feel that attracts buyers’ interest and sells homes faster. Contact our expert property photographers today to get help with your HDR property photoshoot.