Our attention is one of the most sought-after resources within marketing. Especially online, where folks are constantly inundated with content, ads, and personalities. It can be cumbersome and stressful to navigate those waters, particularly for someone looking to buy a home. They’re going to start online and work their way through a large amount of listings, narrowing down what they think they like most. In some cases, the listing pool will be very small and they may be looking deeper at just a few properties. In both of these situations, the buyer is judging and critiquing the actual home through two-dimensional imagery. The character and essense of a three-dimensional space needs to be represented through these two-dimensional images. This will change in the future when lidar and VR/AR are more advanced and common place. Until then, we use photos and videos to help represent a three-dimensional space and try to build an emotional response with a viewer. This is where high-end photo retouching becomes highly valuable.

The Benefits of Professional Photo Retouching

It’s no surprise that cameras don’t capture the world exactly as it is. Even with phones and their built-in AI which applies HDR and image edits as you take the photos, interior images still come out heavily contrasted and, likely, washed out due to bright, backlit windows. Other times, there are just things about the property that are currently out of your control, such as puddles on a driveway from that night’s rain or construction of a home in the background. These are very distracting elements that will take the viewers attention away from the home and, thus, hinder the connection to the home we as realtors and photographers are hoping to build with potential buyers. This type of editing is not standard in real estate photography because it takes more time and budgets are often quite minimal. But as you can see from the image examples below, it can make an incredible difference. There are instances where the investment is absolutely worth the value. Luxury homes and prime commercial properties are being looked at by folks who are searching for the best and who are expecting to be wowed by a listing. They may not understand what professional image retouching is, but they certainly know it when they see it. The images have that polish and sheen that draw their eyes into the space. Distracting or distasteful elements are removed and the viewer sees the property in its full glory. Take a look at a few of these before/after images to see for yourself.

To get a better idea of the work that goes into just one image, watch this behind-the-scenes video showing the post-processing workflow of an exterior photo with water and dirt on the driveway, construction materials behind the house on the left, some landscaping work that hasn’t fully grown in, and a sky that lacks visual interest.

Morals and ethics

Now, we do need to discuss how far we can morally take image retouching in the realm of real estate. Obviously we want to clean up distracting elements and remove ugly portions of an image that are not a part of the property. However, removing parts of the home that are not in perfect condition, changing the color of walls or materials, and altering anything that will not, itself, change over time (like a lawn or a sky) is immoral and unethical in the sale of the home. A few of the images above were photographed for the home builders, which allows for a bit more flexibility in what can be removed, since they are trying to market their craftsmanship and expertise, as well as the quality of the materials they use, and not the sale of the actual home itself.

These are conversations you should have with your photographer while on-site to ensure the process is transparent and everyone is working on the same page. There are also many production techniques like adding flash, closing shades, photographing with lights on and off, and using a polarizing filter that all play a part in the retouching process. If the photo production is not captured properly, retouching can only take you so far. This is another important factor when choosing the right photographer for your listing.

Have questions about real estate photography?

Feel free to reach out with any questions you have around photographing real estate or architecture as a whole. It’s a wide and ever-changing field and it’s good to have an expert to turn to for proper insights. I’d love to talk with you and help however I can.