What To Look For When Choosing a Real Estate Photographer

Here at DMD, we can help you sell a home faster and for a higher price. But how can you be sure that you should choose us?

After all, not all real estate photographers are created equal. Moreover, many offer different packages and services. Consider the following factors before you make a decision.

Available Services 

DMD offers all of the following services: 

• Photo packages

• Drone photography

• 3D tours

• Virtual staging

• Video packages

• Custom listing websites 

• Floorplans

Different types of visual imagery can show off different angles and aspects of a property. Without a drone, for example, you won’t be able to show buyers the expansiveness of the land — a feature that’s often a big selling point in Alaska. And without a 3D tour, buyers may not be able to view the stunning high ceilings. 

Think about what you want to show off before you searching for packages and photographers. And make sure your ultimate choice can do all the things you want. 

Reputation 

What are the photographer’s clients saying about their service? Check Yelp, Facebook, and other social media platforms to read reviews before you commit.

Since 2009, DMD has photographed thousands of homes across Alaska. Most of our clients use our services again and again and again.

Another way to check out the photographer’s past work is to view their portfolio. If you’re impressed with the portfolio, you’ll most likely be impressed with the photos they take of homes. Check out ours!

Local Businesses vs. “Corporate” Photographers

How many people are involved in the photography business? Do they offer services throughout the country or just in your area? 

We may be a bit biased, but we believe that local photographers know what homebuyers respond to when shopping in the area. 

Moreover, our photographers know when to schedule shoots to get the best lighting (trust us, that’s extremely important in Alaska) and the websites where these photos will appear. 

Their local knowledge is paramount to the effectiveness of their photos.

Additionally, one of the problems that commonly arises with bigger companies is that they can be hard to reach, and shoots can take more time to coordinate.

At DMD, we understand that you want the photos taken as soon as possible. That’s why we offer an online booking form - so you can get started right away. 

Learn Why DMD Real Estate Photography Is the Choice of So Many Across Alaska

Our expert photographers have helped realtors throughout Anchorage, Eagle River, Palmer, Wasilla, and Fairbanks sell homes with beautiful photo and video packages. 

Learn more about our services by checking out our website or getting in touch. 

Great Photos Can Increase the Perceived Value of Real Estate

Alaska realtors do many things to try to sell their properties for the highest price. They clean up the lawn to increase curb appeal. Stage the home to make it look attractive. Have necessary repairs done.

But there’s one specific element that can dramatically increase what buyers are willing to pay for a home. It’s how the photos look.

Okay, yes, we’re a real estate photography business. Of course we’d say that. But it’s not just us...

Statistics on the Importance of Real Estate Photography 

How important are high-quality photos to selling homes?Half of all home buyers find their home online. And this matters, because...

• When buyers look online, they spend 60% of their time looking at listing photos. In contrast, only 20% of their time is spent looking at the description of the home.

• Even the types of images can matter. For example, homes with aerial photography on their listing (aka, images taken by drones) sell 68% faster than homes without.

So good pictures are important. But how do they impact the price buyers are willing to pay?

• If a home has high-quality photos on their listing, it can get 47% more per square foot than a home without high-quality photos. 

• Other research says you can sell a home for up to $19,000 more if you decide to use professional real estate photography. 

In short, not only will a home sell faster with professional photos, but your listing will also drum up more competition and ultimately sell for a better price. 

Why? Because high-quality photos suggest a high-quality home. 

At DMD, we use drones, videos, virtual staging, and more to give buyers a better idea of what it’s really like to walk through each room. 

Members of our team can help real estate listings in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Eagle River, Palmer, and Wasilla sell fast and for a higher listing price. Reach out to us through our online booking form today. 

Behind the Scenes: Post-Processing Real Estate Photography

Unless you have the kind of relationship with your real estate photographer that we do with many of our clients, post-processing for your listing photos may still be a mystery to you. 

What is it that keeps your gallery files from being zipped and shipped over the morning after your photoshoot.

We know that you know it’s worth it. But we also want you to know why. 

Today’s post offers a behind the scenes glimpse of that magic happening to your images in the time between shoot and upload.

Balancing Light Temperatures

The number of windows in a room, the home’s location, and even time of day can affect lighting throughout a home. Think about using a flash versus none or the difference between the lightbulbs you have in various lamps and fixtures at home.

Unfortunately, for buyers scrolling through your listing photos, stark differences can be quite distracting. So, real estate photographers “balance light temperatures” across the gallery. 

This means they edit lighting in order to bring the entire gallery to a light, bright, and airy middle ground. They do this by reducing ultra bright highlights, lifting shadows, and saturating blacks, among other things. 

Color Correcting in Tandem

In tandem with balancing light temperatures, your editor is adjusting color saturation and playing with hue and tint, too. This is how we enhance the green trees and warm exterior evening lighting, for instance.

Or, while brightening a kitchen shot, you could kick up the contrast and increase saturation on a countertop close-up, to make the natural grey veining through gorgeous white marble really pop.  

Note, however, that it is always our goal (and responsibility) to accurately represent a space. Because eventually, a buyer is going to see the real thing. Best to keep it enhanced - not unreal.

Final Touches on Staging

Often, photographers send a preparation checklist ahead of their appointment to ensure everything is in place. Still, even the best planning won’t escape uncontrollable factors like weather and staging mishaps.

Luckily, we live in an age where we can make these kinds of corrections digitally: 

• Crop images for best framing

• Remove distracting objects

• Add minor details (fire in the fireplace, flowers in a vase) 

• Replace cloudy skies with a clear day

Vertical correction can straighten the strange curving or odd distortion that sometimes results from an awkward angle taken for “full effect.”   

In the rare case where zero staging has taken place, we can also virtually stage to provide depth and perspective in each room.

Your Gallery’s End User Experience

Once you’ve got the gallery’s overall look and feel where you want it, the last order of business is to ensure visual integrity from photographer’s files to listing upload.

We always resize listing photos to real estate site specs. Any distortion in your gallery images can have you overlooked in a heartbeat. Making sure every photo is uniform and fully viewable to the end user is a must.

To learn more about what DMD does behind the scenes of our post-processing of real estate gallery photos, feel free to call or contact us through the site!