I’ve always liked the idea of hiring a personal stylist. But they’d need the skills of Paul Daniels, not Christian Lacroix to make me look hot. It’s a bit like that too with photography. To be honest, much of what comes straight out of my camera (and to be fair, the cameras of other professional photographers) would be professionally unacceptable without the magic that’s possible with post-processing. With Photoshop images can be made to dance and sing six verses of Barcelona while stunning the audience with their beauty. Without it, they’re often distorted, flat, incorrectly exposed and dull.

What we want... what we need is for our audiences to be bowled over by what they see online, in the newspapers and on paper, so much so that they beat a path to your door along with a host of other hopefuls, just begging to see the beautiful homes that you’ve graciously put before their eyes – (maybe I need a reality check here). But even Photoshop needs the right starting image; so that’s what we’re looking at today. First, let’s remind ourselves why you’re bothering to read this.

In the last three articles I have drawn your attention to the most important tip that I can give to any agent, which is that you will perk up your image and your company’s image when you improve the photos you take for the properties that you’re selling.

If you can’t make your photos reach out from the portals and grab your buyers by the eyeballs, then you need to question why you’ve chosen to be in the marketing business. That’s my humble opinion – (I don’t understand why I’ve never been adequately acknowledged for my humility).

We’re in a competitive world and on top of those you’re competing against right now there’s the prospect of Tesco and other major businesses all chasing the same piece of cake.

For a big slice of the sponge in your town you have to be better than your competition; more than that, you have to be seen to be better. If you want to survive on more than the crumbs from a Victoria Sponge, you need something up your sleeve to make you stand out. And this time it can’t be Debbie McGee.

The way you present your properties to the market is the one tangible piece of evidence that you are actually as professional and effective as you say you are. It’s also the only evidence your prospective clients can actually see before they instruct you.

Arun Estates (110 offices in the southeast) has recognised this assertion as a truth. As a result they’ve even developed their own photo-enhancement software, bought the latest cameras and trained their DEA’s to use them. This demonstrates impressive commitment to their clients and their brand; they’ve certainly recognised the importance of good photography as a listing tool. And I can testify following years of personal experience, that without a shred of doubt in my mind, really good photography will win instructions for them provided they market their skills effectively; and it would do the same for you too if you can consistently produce great photographs of your clients’ homes.

Of course, reading these articles won’t turn you into a property photographer overnight. I’m not even sure that turning agents into property photographers would be a great idea. Professional property photographers are whimsical, reflective creatures who look for poetry in composition and light. Estate agents sell houses and drive fast cars. The mindsets are diametrically opposed, and yet both disciplines of necessity should share the same prime objective – which is to make sure that their clients’ properties stand head and shoulders above those of their competitors in what has become a property beauty-parade.

In an ideal world, you’d have professionals photographing all of your properties. In the real world, the best I can hope for is that you’ll stop and think about the role that photography plays in your property marketing, and at least try to improve your skills. Now, if you’re whimsical and like poetry, then maybe this’ll come more naturally to you than it might to your colleagues. I sense a chorus of The Floral Dance coming on.

ON TO THE TIPS AND TRICKS...

So, you’ve read the earlier articles, suffered my brickbats and have nevertheless taken my word for it and gone out and purchased your new SLR-camera and enough kit to give you a hernia when you forget to bend your knees as you take it out of your car boot. You waded through my most recent article, Knobs and Dials, and you’re still reading this one. Well done! Here are a few more simple things that you can do that’ll impact instantly on the images you make.

• Manage your clients’ co-operation
  Clients need to hear that great photos will improve their bottom line. You’re the best person to tell them – so do it. Their preparation of the property for your photography is, therefore, essential – unless you’re looking for an excuse to wear a pinny and do it yourself. So, before your visit, ask clients to put out some flowers and fruit ‘for splashes of colour’. This is code which roughly translated says, ‘For the sake of all that is holy, please tidy up’. They’ll get the idea and realise there’s no point in them buying fruit and flowers only to dump them into the washing basket lurking under the breakfast bar. Suggesting they buy fruit and flowers for the benefit of their bottom line shouldn’t offend anyone.
• Choose the best time of day to take the photo – when the sun’s on the elevation
  If you were never a boy/girl scout and you’ve not a clue what time of day the sun will give you the best light for a particular property, look at Google Maps, select the Satellite image version and look for the property you’re photographing. If the main elevation faces east (to the right of the screen), take the photo in the morning. If it faces west, take it in the evening. South at the front, take it any time. Due north at the front – Houston we have a problem. North at the front means it’ll be best to take your photo in the summer, really early in the morning, or really late evening Alternatively take the photo when the sky’s overcast, and send it to www.doctorphoto.co.uk to have a blue sky added. The first one’s free!
• Take loads of photos
  Digital photos are free. Experiment with different angles. Even changing a composition by a small amount can make for a significantly different, possibly much better picture. Make your eye roll around the edges of the viewfinder so that you’ll see everything you’re photographing. Most people look only at the viewfinder’s centre, and so miss the underwear and socks lurking near the edge of the frame.
• Exteriors – take these from a distance
  An elevation’s perspective improves when you stand far away from the property and zoom into it. The roof will look a better shape. Walls will appear nearer to vertical. It’ll look like a proper house rather than one drawn by your four-year-old.
• Open the curtains
  When you’re outside shooting an elevation, make sure the curtains are open so that the windows will be well defined.
• Take interiors from a low level
  Keeping the camera at around midway up the height of the room will give you the optimal image for interiors. Try it. Rooms will look bigger and a better shape.
• Keep the camera perpendicular to the ground
  You’ll avoid the worst of any lens distortion by doing this. Verticals will look nearer to vertical than they would if you point your camera down into the room or up at an elevation.
• Use a tripod when shooting indoors.
  Indoors in low light, using a tripod will help avoid camera-shake (blurry pictures). Even Photoshop can’t help with these. It’ll also enable you to use a small aperture so that you’ll get a deep depth-of-field (see our previous issue ‘Knobs and Dials’ for an explanation of what I’m droning on about here – it’s at www.propertydrum.com/articles/photomay).
• Switch on Internal Lights
  But especially if there are wall-lights; if there’s a dimmer switch turn the lights to a low setting. This’ll help reduce the hideous halo-effect that you often see around wall-mounted lights.
• Allow more time than you used to
  What’s the point of rushing when you’re engaged in one of the most important functions you have – which is to properly present your properties to the market so that people will want to buy them?
• Learn Photoshop
• There’s no such thing as a camera that takes perfect pictures without the need for some kind of post-processing in Photoshop or a similar editing programme. Photos all need sharpening for example, colours need correcting. But if you have neither the time nor aptitude for this, then send them to www.doctor-photo.co.uk to be made better. The first one’s FREE!
• Take training
  You wouldn’t expect me to write these articles with their endless wit and goodnatured humour without plugging the fact that I’ll travel anywhere in the UK to teach the subject that I most love, which is how to photograph property properly.
  I’ll teach up to four people in a day, anywhere in the UK and it can be just as much a team building ‘bonding’ day as an extremely useful business training day.
  See my site, www.doctor-photo.co.uk for details. You’ll hear about photographing rooms so that you can see what’s outside of the window as well as the detail in the room, I’ll show you how your camera works and we’ll get hands-on experience in the afternoon in one of your empty properties. Lucky you. Take a look at my other site, www.hello-photo.co.uk for an idea of what I do with the rest of my time.

I want to end this series of articles by thanking everyone who has contacted me by phone and email to ask questions, arrange for training and to agree with what I’ve said.

I want also to thank PROPERTYdrum magazine for allowing me the opportunity to speak out and highlight my concerns for estate agency in today’s UK and for giving me the Victor Meldrew sobriquet. I’ll have to live with that forever now that my wife’s read the article. (I don’t believe it!)

The first and second parts can be found at: www.propertydrum.com/articles/photoapr www.propertydrum.com/articles/photomay