Ebook - High resolution real estate photography matters

Real estate
photography
quality
matters to your
online presence
databasedads.com

Data Based Ads, Inc. Real estate photography quality matters to your online presence 2
Contents
The upside of quality high-resolution listing
photography.................................................................3
The real estate photography opportunity.................4
How the big portals present your images.................7
Zillow..................................................................................7
Trulia...................................................................................7
Realtor.com .......................................................................8
Your brokerage website......................................................8
Where high-res photography makes a difference....9
Virtual tours......................................................................10
Video................................................................................ 11
Email.................................................................................12
Print collateral...................................................................13
Make a commitment to quality photography..........14
Minimum image standards...............................................15
High-res image distribution...............................................17

The upside of quality high-resolution listing photography
In competitive online venues where the participants
often bemoan the fact that the playing field has been
leveled, surprisingly few of them exercise an relatively
easy advantage – clear, high-quality, high-resolution
listing photos.
If you’re looking for a way to help your real estate
brokerage stand out, consider creating a standard for
acceptable photography to be used in company listings,
and make sure you have programs in place that deliver
that photography, in its high-res and/or optimized
format, to every online marketing venue you’re
syndicating your listings to, and to every online tool that
displays your photos.
There is a wealth of evidence that
● buyers prefer looking at larger, better
photographs
● buyers look longer and are more engaged with
better photography
● buyers make a ‘quality’ association with the
brokerage that consistently displays clear,
quality photographs of its listings.
● Quality photography sells listings faster

The real estate photography opportunity
No one marketing any product, much less what is likely
to be the most expensive and life-altering purchase
a consumer will ever make, would consider using
anything but the most professional photography to
depict their product.
So why is it that there are so many poor real estate
images out there?
● Some of it can be attributed to agent apathy or
lack of photography knowledge
● A lot of it has to do with the way listing data gets
distributed – even the good images can get
‘dumbed down’ by the distribution process
In any case, there is an opportunity to overcome these
issues and create a standout presence online that
personifies your real estate brokerage.

See the difference...
Are your prospects seeing this?
To the right is an approximated 640 x 480
(typical) MLS image vs a 1080p image below.
Although not all online venues have the
capacity to increase the size of your image to
full 1080p height, many do - and your photos
should be set to take advantage of the large
display.
Approximated 640x480 MLS image
Approximated 1920x1080 display...when they could be seeing this?

See the difference...
Artificial enlargement
Many portals will take an image, regardless of
the size, and blow it up to a “large” image. The
result is a washed-out, pixelated image that
looks worse large than it did at its original size.
In these cases, the larger you make them, the
worse they look.
This is NOT what you want to see
Approximated 640x480 MLS image
640x480 MLS image artificially enlarged to 1920x1080

How the big portals present your images...
Zillow
Zillow’s ‘View larger’ setting will blow up the original size
of the image up to 150% of it’s true size to a max width
of 1024 pixels. By limiting the enlargement to 150%, they
minimize the pixelation, while still offering a larger image.
Still, the a truly high-resolution image will look best.
Trulia
Trulia will enlarge a photo to fit the user’s screen.
Not ideal as the screen grab below right demonstrates (click
for enlarged image). Don’t let this happen to your images.

How the big portals present your images...
Realtor.com
Realtor.com’s image viewer is 640 x 480. A good choice
given that their inventory is intitally garnered from MLSs
across the country.
A ‘View original size’ link on the photo viewer links
to the original size photo. A good reason to provide
full-size, high-resolution photos.
Your brokerage website
Take a look at your own brokerage website. More likely
than not, your site has an image viewer for large photos.
Is your brokerage taking advantage of that feature by
providing high resolution photography on all your listings?
Almost every portal gives individual agents the option to upload
better images to their sites, but given the task of uploading high-res
photos to each site separately, many agents don’t seem to think it is
worth the effort, evidenced by the general lack of participation.
A brokerage that wants to make the commitment to make quality
images a part of a marketing plan may need to find a provider that
can feed all of these sites from a single source.

Where high-res photography makes a difference...
Consider these questions in reference to
your own experiences online...
● How often do you click on an image, real estate
related or otherwise, hoping to get a bigger
representation of what you’re looking at?
● How often, when watching video, do you click
the full-screen icon in order to see the video
better?
● And why do you have that giant-screen TV in
your living room?
Because bigger is better, clearer,
easier to view and tells a story with
more detail.
And how often are you disappointed when you
● click an image and link to the same size image
you were looking at in the first place?
● Click the full-screen on a video and get a bigger,
but grainy and washed out presentation?
● Find a channel on TV that doesn’t have an HD
counterpart?
This is the frustration you’re putting
your real estate buyer prospects
through when you settle for
syndication of inferior-sized listing
photos.

Virtual tours
Your virtual tour undoubtedly has a full screen viewer.
Make sure your images fill the screen - that’s what
viewers expect.

Video
YouTube videos can be output at 1080p, even when
created automatically if your vendor has the right
resources. But high-res video is useless, unless it is
made using high-res photography.
Full-screen videos playing in high-resolution are now a
consumer expectation.

Email
Your HTML emails should link to a high-res web
presentation, preferably the listing detail page on your
website. But when multiple photos are included in your
email - make sure that each links directly to a high-res
version of that particular photo.

Print collateral
If your marketing tools database allows print formatting
for brochures, postcards and advertising in high-quality
production real estate books, you’re going to want to
have your best photos available.
While the web can be somewhat forgiving, high-level
print is not. Print standards require 300 pixels per
inch, which means that you 640 x 480 MLS photo only
qualifies to be printed at just over 2 x 1.5 inches.
Now while there are exceptions to this rule – lesser
print methods like laser printers and newprint do not
require quite this level of resolution – the bottom
line is that if you’re going to print, you need quality,
high-resolution photography.

Make a commitment to quality photography
Especially if you’re a high-end brokerage, making a
commitment to quality photography across the board
will escalate your perceived value by all who view your
listings online – that would be ALL of your potential
buyers.
Consider researching some of the capable photog-
raphers in your area and working out a value
proposition that benefits your agent and the photog-
rapher. Given that some agents like to take their own
photographs, consider group meetings to discuss photo
tips and successes. Educate your agents in the basics
of good photography.
Finally, make a commitment to
1. Minimum standards for all company
listing photos
2. Distribution of high-res images to all
listing venues

Minimum image standards
Consider these and more. Though some are fairly
subjective, it gives you the opportunity to enforce your
policies and enhance your brokerage’s image.
● Size minimums – 1920 pixeles wide is
currently at the top end of computer monitor and
HDTV screen resolutions. The vast majority of
potential displays fit into this pixel width.
● Adequate lighting – if there’s a dark spot in
an image, the photo should be retaken. Time
of day and adequate flash or lights need to be
considered. Why would you post a photo in
anything less than the optimal light?
● Showing-ready – no pets, wrinkled beds,
messes, clutter. Even a perfectly photographed
image can be ruined by the content. Good
images are worth the effort of a good cleanup. If
the seller won’t do it, the agent should. It, too, is
a relection on your brokerage.
● Camera quality – Quality does not mean
expensive – but ideally, the camera range
should have a bit of a wide angle. Smartphones
take lousy photos for the most part. The viewer
can usually tell it’s from a smartphone by its
quality – and that lack of quality screams lack of
effort.

Consider your camera
Short of using a professional to
photograph your listing, consider
one of the first steps in good
photography – choosing the right
camera.
These photos were taken by
an amateur from the same spot
using each camera’s automatic
settings. They have not been
retouched in any way.
A good SLR camera can give
even an amateur a much better
result in focus, lighting and
range (wide angle). And with
today’s SLRs, you don’t need to
do much more than frame and
shoot. Even some higher end
point-and-shoot cameras take
great photos. Just make sure
you have good light. There are
plenty of resources for good
photography tips to augment a
good camera.
The case for a good SLR camera
is pretty clear. And with some
setting tweaks, even this photo
could have been improved upon.
Droid Razr (Android)
Point and shoot – Panasonic DMC-Z57
SLR (single-lens reflex) – Nikon D80

High-res image distribution
Once you get the standards in place, you will find
that your MLS takes your high-res photos and makes
them low-res (for bandwidth purposes). If your MLS is
your distributor to the big portals – even to your own
brokerage website – you will not see the full effect of
your quality photography in your marketing displays.
Look for a database provider that can provide a
one-time upload of your high-res photos and feed them
to your portals and social media, as well as create
tours, videos, emails, brochures and other marketing
tools right out of the database.

Ebook - High resolution real estate photography matters

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