How To Shoot HDR Real Estate Photography In 6 Steps

If you are real estate photographers, you may be familiar with HDR technique which is considered the fastest way to get great looking real estate photos. And if you are beginners, in this article today, we will introduce to you 6 steps to shoot HDR Real Estate Photography so that you can produce the best photos ever for your clients.

What Is HDR Photography?

HDR simply stands for High Dynamic Range which allows you to shoot multiple exposures at different lighting to get the most image information to create the best possible image.

And by using blending techniques, you will get final image with all details in both highlights and shadows areas.

Why Should Use HDR For Real Estate Photography?

As mentioned in the definition of HDR photography, HDR helps to show a lot more details in your scenes so that it can reflects exactly what your eyes can see.

Most real estate photographers want to shoot HDR, especially for Interiors because it showcases the house in a realistic manner.

6 Steps for Shooting HDR Real Estate Photography

#1. Shoot with A Tripod

A tripod is an essential item in your real estate photography gear set. It should be used for two reasons.

First, tripod helps to reduce blurry pictures when you use a very slow shutter speed

Second, tripod helps you to level the camera so that the photos are all vertical and not tilting.

#2. Shoot with Lights Off

It is better to have only one light source when shooting interior photos to avoid the conflicting light source and make the white balance process easier.

#3. Make ISO low

When shooting HDR, the noise can be intensified and visible in shadow areas. As a result, to have a great clean lines, try to keep the ISO low

#4. Select the right apeture

For interior or real estate photography, use a deeper depth of field to keep everything in focus. An aperture of F/8 is often a good choice when using a wide-angle lens.

#5. Adjust shutter speed

Each angle will have its own lighting, and if you choose to shoot manually, adjust your shutter speed for each photo is necessary. You can take 3, 5 or 7 exposures, however, make sure there is one with properly exposed highlights, one with properly exposed shadows and one with overall balance.

#6. Properly blend the photos

When you have your exposures ready, it is time to blend them together. You can simply download a HRD software on the internet and let it do the work. However, sometimes the quality can not be as good as you expect. If possible, you can do it on your own on Lightroom or photoshop. And if you don’t have time, have a photo editing team help you with your HDR real estate photography.

Real Estate Photography HDR Vs Flash

As we all know that HDR is the most popular style amongst professional real estate photographers. However, there is another method which many and many real estate photographers are prefering is using flash. So what is the pros and cons of using HDR techniques and Flash?

HDR

Pros:

• Simplicity of Shooting: with a tripod and a modern digital camera with default HDR default settings, you can easily shoot HDR photos
• Higher dynamic range: HDR techniques offer photos with high saturation and vibrance
• Time-saving with post-processing: A lot of HDR software available to help with exposure blending

Cons:

• Inacurate colors
• Haze around the windows/light bulbs

HDR techniques can bring very natural look. However, if you don’t know how to blend them or adjust the camera setting properly, it can be tricky in post processing step.

Flash

Pros:

• – Better light control
• – Accurate color balance
• – Ability to use lower ISO, decreasing overall image noise

Cons:

• – Extra gear
• – It can be expensive and time-consuming to set up
• – It is tricky when shooting a room with a lot of mirrors or reflective surfaces

Flash seems to be used to solve the issues which HDR can not. Flash produces a sharper, crisper image with whites will be whiter and your blacks will be blacker. Although it is a bit more time – consuming in shooting but it will save a lot of time in post-processing and offer the correct color for the photos.

Final thoughts

HDR real estate photography techniques are more common the flash techniques. Many photographers prefer to shoot HDR because they like the natural look it offers. Both HDR and Flash techniques have its own advantages. Just consider to choose the right method to shoot depending on the composition, time of day, exterior and interior lighting.