Four Key Tips to Elevate Your Real Estate Listing Photos

Taking great photos of your home is more important than ever in 2018, because so many potential buyers do most of their home shopping online. Data from Realtor.com shows that nearly half of prospective home buyers look online first, making the photos you list online critical to making a good impression. To get top quality photos, consider working with real estate agents from companies like Clever Real Estate which offers full-service at flat fees. By saving money, homeowners can hire a professional photographer, rent high-quality equipment, and ultimately try new techniques to make the photos stand apart from the crowd. Each option provides its own benefits. If you are not confident in your photography skills, hiring a professional photographer is a good bet. If you have a good eye and some photography experience, renting a high end camera from BorrowFox can help to elevate your photos and make your listing more attractive to potential buyers. In either case, make sure to share your photos with your real estate agent in order to double check if they are suitable for posting.

1. Complement Your Home’s Architectural Style

The décor of your home should match your style and preferences if you are living in it. Once you are ready to move out, try making some changes that compliment the home’s architectural features and style. This will help potential buyers identify the style and take note of important architectural details. Some easy ways to highlight popular architectural styles include:

• Add antique–inspired décor items, like ornate vases or embroidered tapestries, to complement the fine details found in Victorian-style homes.
• Remove any large furniture items that block sight lines and define the spaces within an open–plan, contemporary home. This will help buyers feel less restricted and imagine how they might revamp the living areas.
• Hang mirrors and simple décor items in geometric shapes or paint trim or doors in black or a metallic tone to complement Art Deco style homes.  

2. Increase All Kinds of Light

Increasing the light levels in your photos goes beyond opening all the curtains and turning the lights on. Consider using brighter bulbs in your existing light fixtures to increase the light level in dark rooms. Repainting colored walls with a fresh coat of white will help reflect the light that already comes in and make the whole room look brighter. Roll up area rugs for the photo to let the floor surface reflect more light and look bigger overall.

3. Get Close Up to Key Features and Finishes

If you have upgraded finishes in your home, highlight these in the pictures you list. Get close so buyers can see the colors, tones and textures of these finishes. Some of the upgrades buyers will pay more for include:

• Granite countertops
• Stainless steel appliances
• New washer, dryer, HVAC system or water heater
• Travertine or other expensive tile floors
• Outdoor living areas, such as a pool, lanai, front porch or outdoor kitchen

4. Borrow Techniques from Social Media Posts

Some of the techniques and tools used to make photos stand out on social media posts can apply to listing photos, such as:

• Use a selfie stick to capture photos of a room or feature from a higher angle. This can help you get more of each room into the photos.
• Just as video content stands out on a social media timeline, it can also draw more eyes to your listing. Videos can help capture the overall flow and give the viewer a feeling of the space before visiting it themselves. Consider creating a short, simple video tour to go along with photos on your listing.
• Beware of too many effects or too much photoshop. The same way that people are jarred when social media profile photos don’t look like the person in real life, buyers will notice if the listing photos do not match the actual home. In one famous example, potential buyers in Sydney, Australia, complained to authorities when a real estate agency used photoshop to remove an ugly water tower from the background of listing photos.  

Better listing photos can equal less time on the market before you get an offer, so it is well worth your time to take the best ones you can.  

 

Author: Trevor Tune – VP of Content & Marketing at Clever Real Estate

from BorrowFox Ltd. https://blog.borrowfox.com/four-key-tips-to-elevate-your-real-estate-listing-photos/

World Press Photo Foundation 2018

The World Press Photo Foundation, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is known to be one of the preeminent journalistic photography organizations in the world. Since 1955, World Press Photo has staged a yearly press photography competition. Each year, on the whole, the foundation showcases incredibly artistic, and socially relevant photographs. Here are some of BorrowFox’s favourites from 2018:

• Photograph of the Year. “Venezuela Crisis” by Ronaldo Schemidt from Venezuela.

“José Víctor Salazar Balza (28) catches fire amid violent clashes with riot police during a protest against President Nicolás Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela.”

• 1^st Prize Contemporary Issues Category. “Lagos Waterfronts under Threat” by Jesco Denzel from Germany.

“A boat with tourists from Lagos Marina is steered through the canals of the Makoko community—an ancient fishing village that has grown into an enormous informal settlement—on the shores of Lagos Lagoon, Lagos, Nigeria.”

• 1^st Prize Environment Category. “Waiting For Freedom” by Neil Aldridge from South Africa.

“A young southern white rhinoceros, drugged and blindfolded, is about to be released into the wild in Okavango Delta, Botswana, after its relocation from South Africa for protection from poachers.”

• 1^st Prize General News Category. “Rohingya Crisis” by Patrick Brown from Australia.

“The bodies of Rohingya refugees are laid out after the boat in which they were attempting to flee Myanmar capsized about eight kilometers off Inani Beach, near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Around 100 people were on the boat before it capsized. There were 17 survivors.”

• 1^st Prize Nature Category. “Dumpster Diver” by Corey Arnold from USA.

“A bald eagle feasts on meat scraps in the garbage bins of a supermarket in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, USA.”

from BorrowFox Ltd. https://blog.borrowfox.com/world-press-photo-foundation-2018/

Top 5 Most Photogenic Buildings in London

London, in an architectural sense, is one of the most beautiful, and iconic cities in the world. While it doesn’t have the skyline of New York City, or consistency in style of Paris, it is still a great place for a photographer or filmmaker who is interested in unique architectural styles. Perhaps what sets London’s architecture apart from the other major cities in the world is the is the sheer breadth of the different styles. You can find, and of course photograph, structures that were built in the medieval era, the contemporary era, and everything in between. Here are some of our picks for the most photogenic pieces of architecture in the Big Smoke.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London is one of the oldest, and most historically significant buildings in London. Built around 1066 after the Norman invasion, the tower and its surrounding ramparts are an imposing, but stunning example of medieval British architecture. The Tower of London’s architectural style is a relatively rare sight in London, and that, combined with its historical significance, make it a landmark worth photographing.

Buckingham Palace

No list of important, and photogenic London architecture would be complete without the inclusion of Buckingham Palace. The Palace, which was originally a townhouse built in the mid 1700s, was expanded in the early 1800s by architect John Nash. His grand, and decadent neo-classical style made the structure immediately iconic. The Palace’s style remains a true sight to behold, and is certaintly a great destination if you want to photograph unique London architecture.

The Shard

The Shard is one of the newer architectural standouts in London. Finished in 2012, the Shard stands as the tallest structure in the United Kingdom. Because of its height and its unique shape, the building is hard to miss. In fact, it is perhaps the most iconic building in the London skyline today.

 

Houses of Parliament

The Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster, sits iconically on the banks of the River Thames. It is easily one of the most photographed buildings in London, and for good reason. The mixture of gothic revival and neo-classical style makes the Houses of Parliament a sight to behold, especially on a day where the sun glints off the exterior.

The Barbican

The sprawling and massive Barbican Centre Is perhaps the most controversial building on this list. Built in the divisive brutalist style in the 1980s, the building was named London’s ugliest building in 2003, but also, in 2001, named a site of special architectural interest. Unlike the other buildings on this list, the Barbican’s brutalist architecture certainly values function over form. That is not to say, however, that the structure does not have its own strange beauty. As such, it is worth visiting to snap a few photos.

from BorrowFox Ltd. https://blog.borrowfox.com/top-5-most-photogenic-buildings-in-london/

Featured Tech: Zhiyun Crane V2 Gimbal

The Zhiyun Crane, when it was released in 2016, was immediately popular and changed how filmmakers viewed gimbals in general. Unlike many of the gimbals on the market at the time, the Zhiyun Crane was exceedingly lightweight, easy to use with one hand, and compact. The Zhiyun Crane V2, available on BorrowFox for only £20 a day, built on the successes of the original model to create an even better lightweight gimbal for filmmakers.

The Crane V2 has three operation modes: pan and follow, locked, and pan-and-tilt follow mode. The controls of the gimbal are easy to use one handed – they are laid out in a square inch that are easily accessible. There are thumb screws that are used to balance the camera and do not require any extra set of tools. The batteries for the gimbal last around 12 hours so, as long as they are fully charged, the Crane V2 should last for an entire shoot.

The Zhiyun Crane V2 can hold cameras up to 4 pounds. Setting up the gimbal is easy: simply attach the camera to the mounting plate, balance the camera, and then the stabilizing motors will take care of the rest. The results are spectacular, especially for a gimbal that is so lightweight. The Crane V2 is friendly to first timers as the controls and the set up are easy. With just a little bit of practice, you can capture flawless pans, tilts, and follows. For the low price it can be rented for on BorrowFox, there is no reason not to test out the Zhiyun Crane V2 on your next shoot.

from BorrowFox Ltd. https://blog.borrowfox.com/featured-tech-zhiyun-crane-v2-gimbal/