How to Fix Real Estate Photos With Bright Windows?
Getting good real estate photography can be challenging, especially when you’re trying to photograph the interiors of properties that have bright windows. Fortunately, the right techniques and software can make it easy to achieve great results without using bulky and expensive equipment like tripods and lighting modifiers.
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Composition and Light
One of the first things that you should do in a photo shoot for any kind of property is to make sure there’s enough depth in the room. This is important because it helps the viewer feel as though they can actually walk into the image and feel like they could live there.
Another crucial element of any composition is the focal point. You can use a wide-angle lens or a standard zoom to get the foreground and background elements in sharp focus. But you should also include some distance between the foreground and the background, ideally at least two walls or a window.
You don’t want your foreground elements to appear too close to the background, or the picture will look cluttered and confusing. Alternatively, you can use a wide-angle lens to shoot from far away and create an expansive, airy feel to your photos.
A final key factor to consider is the quality of the light. A common mistake that many new real estate photographers make is to use flash when they should be using natural light. If you use flash in real estate, be sure to choose a model that produces consistent light.
Fix Overblown Highlights & Dark Areas
When shooting in bad lighting, it’s easy to over-expose and wash out a window or a wall. This is especially common in photos of a property’s interior, where the view through the window is likely a major selling point for your client.
In these cases, you need to get the exposure correct, and then brighten dark areas. This is possible with photo editing tools like Light AI, which can remove overblown highlights and correct dark areas, all in one shot.
If your photos still need help, try HDR techniques or a bracket and merge technique that will expose each shot to a different exposure level. This will ensure that you can capture the brightest sunlit areas as well as the deep shadows that often linger inside buildings.
You can then combine the photos into an HDR image in Photoshop, and use the photo merge tool to blend all the images together to create a natural-looking interior. You can then edit your merged image with the usual photo editing tools, such as color balance, white balance, and detail enhancement.
Creating an HDR image is a very useful tool to have in your real estate photography kit, and it can produce great-looking results, especially if you use a program like Adobe Photoshop. However, it’s best to be aware of some potential issues that may arise when merging the photos into an HDR image.