FAQ
August 13th, 2008
- What resources are there to learn real estate photography and get started in this business?
- Sign-up for a free flickr.com account, join the Photography For Real Estate flickr group and participate in the group by looking at work by other RE photographers around the world, posting your work and participating in the discussion group.
- Photography For Real Estate, is an e-book that describes the photographic techniques taught on this blog in book form.
- The Business of Real Estate Photography, is an e-book that describes the business principles taught on this blog in book form.
- Scott Hargis and Thomas Grubba put on some excellent lighting workshops. We post details and schedules for these and other workshops as soon as they are available. Watch the Workshop category here at PFRE for the latest news and workshop schedules.
- What equipment and software do I need to get started in real estate photography? Read the following posts:
- What should I do for lighting? Read these posts:
- Beginners guide to lighting for real estate photography
- All the posts on lighting are found here
- I own a DSLR and want to purchase a wide-angle lens for real estate photography. What lens should I get? See the Lenses page. This page lists most all of the lenses appropriate for real estate photography along with their prices and quality rating (ratings are by slrgear.com and are a combination of tests and user ratings).
- From the collective wisdom of the PFRE flickr discussion group
- How long does it take you to shoot a house:
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
- How many homes do you shoot in a week:
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
- What do you wear?:
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
- How many strobes do you use?:
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
- Do you use only speedlights or other types of strobes?:
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
- Do many people use tripods?:
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
- What do famous real estate photographers like Scott Hargis eat?:
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
- What about copyright/licensing?
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72..
- Questions about contracts?
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
- What’s in your bag?
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
- I want to go multi-flash. What should I buy?
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
- How are you firing those remote flashes?
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/
Or, search PFRE discussions: cactus trigger, ebay trigger, optical trigger, pocket wizard, radio popper
- How do I know what to charge?
There are MANY posts on the topic of pricing. For example:
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
www.flickr.com/groups/photographyforrealestate/discuss/72…
Or, search PFRE discussions: rate, price, charge
- How long does it take you to shoot a house:
- How should I go about marketing my real estate photography services?
- Target market only to your best prospects
- All of the posts on marketing are here
- What should I charge? I don’t find a price list anywhere on the blog. Pricing is very dependent on your locality. The amount of local competition, the local market, the local economy and other factors make it impossible to have a price sheet that makes sense everywhere. Here are things to do to find the right price for your area:
- Understand your competition. Who are your competitors? What do they charge? You can use the PFRE real estate photographer directory to find your completion and see how much they charge.
- Read this post to get a ballpark price for your area.
- How can I build a portfolio of interior shots? Find new construction model homes in new neighborhoods. Ask the site agent permission to shoot photos. New model homes are always better than private homes because:
- No one lives in the model home so there is no one to be upset about privacy issues.
- Builder model homes are always staged by professional stagers/interior designers.
- Builder model homes are open on weekends and frequently on some weekdays.
