About a decade ago, DSLRs were the only option that came to mind when considering high-grade real estate photography. But the rapid and drastic improvement in mobile cameras after 2015 changed many things. People started relying on mobile cameras for their photoshoots, and even professional photographers started using iPhone and Samsung cameras for product photoshoots. Reasonably so, since phone cameras are highly convenient for clicking and editing and yield satisfactory results.

With the release of the iPhone 14 Pro Max recently, the dependency on professional cameras like DSLRs for real estate business photography has drastically reduced. This article contains information about shooting real estate photos using iPhone’s and covers tips on editing those images as a bonus. Additionally, iPhone 14 latest camera features are also explained, which can benefit your photography project. 

iPhone 14 Latest Features for Photography

Apple has increased their iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max pixels from 12 to 48 this time. Although this benefit can only be achieved by clicking raw photos (Apple calls it ProRAW), this has further decreased the requirement of DSLRs for real estate photography. Once you have clicked raw photos, you can then outsource real estate HDR photo editing services to make the photo ready to use.

Some of the key benefits of a 48 MP iPhone camera are:

  1. Click a complete 48 MP photo by switching to ProRAW (regular camera settings won’t let you capture 48 MP).
  2. Even if you’re not using ProRAW (probably to save some storage space and for quick editing later on), the default camera settings will still combine pixels in a group of four, capturing a stunning 12 MP photo.
  3. Biggest ever sensors in any iPhone till date, resulting in improved lighting.
  4. By cropping into a new bigger sensor, you can zoom between 1x and 3x, which is twice a zoom when compared to previous year’s devices.

While the new iPhone camera presents many opportunities for capturing good photos, you must know how to implement them properly. With thousands of sellers clicking and uploading hundreds of images daily, you will need to closely follow a few tips to make your photos stand out. 

Five Tips for Clicking Real Estate Photos Using iPhone Camera

Five Tips for Clicking Real Estate Photos Using iPhone Camera

  • Understand the Basics of iPhone Photography

It sounds super easy and least important, but this differentiates a beginner from a professional photographer. This includes mobile flash usage, zoom in and out, adjusting under low light situations, understanding HDR and ProRAW, and more.

Start by holding your iPhone as still as possible when clicking the shutter button, when the button is pressed, your iPhone will shake a little, keep practicing until you eliminate this shake. To go through the official iPhone camera basics guide, click here. It’s an official guide by Apple.

  • Click One Photo With Lights Off And One With Lights On

When we click photos of any product, it isn’t easy to guess if the product will appear better under lights on or off. Standing in the same room and at the same time but clicking a photo of one wall may show better results with lights on, and a different wall of the same room may look more appealing when lights are turned off.

To take the best benefits out of iPhone photography, take a photo with lights on and one with lights off (and open windows, if possible). The photo appears warmer in indoor images with lights on, and with windows open, it will be much brighter. Also, be careful of ISO when using natural light, or you may make some parts of the image too white. Once the lights are near-perfect, the rest can be fixed using real estate photo editing services.

  • Use HDR to Improve Dynamic Range

Regarding real estate photography, the raw images can be extremely white or black and contain shadows or highlights. That’s where HDR becomes extremely beneficial as it clicks multiple photos (at different brightness levels) and then merges them to give you the final and best possible image. For example, when clicking the photo of a sofa where the front parts are bright, and the lower or the side area isn’t that bright, then HDR will click a separate photo of each section where brightness will be increased for dark areas and then merge all photos to bring a balanced image.

  • Use External Lens

Carrying and using an external lens is considered a hassle in regular and casual photography for personal use. However, when photography is being done from a business perspective where sales, marketing, brand authority, and much more are at stake, it’s almost mandatory to use as much external equipment as possible.

External lenses in an iPhone work by clipping on the outside of your existing camera lens. This will increase your real estate property details by giving more sharp images. Additionally, it will cover more wide angles than the default camera lens of the iPhone and won’t distort image edges. Darker areas at the corner can be eliminated and are highly recommended for larger rooms, halls, ceilings, etc. An 18-millimeter wide-angle lens is a good way to experiment.

  • Take Sturdy Shots

By taking light into consideration, take photos from the extreme corners of the room to cover the widest possible view. Try using natural light from windows and avoid indoor lights as much as possible; no artificial light can produce images as fine as natural light. Even if you need to use some lighting, ensure it’s not your iPhone’s flashlight, as it will not yield business-level images.

Try adjusting or removing a few items from the room to make it appear cleaner, more spacious, and more elegant. Use tripods to take images slightly higher and lower than your eyes. Real estate images are more appealing from angles that aren’t in line with human-eye angles. In addition, a tripod can also help enhance HDR images because multiple images are being clicked in a second, where a slight hand movement can result in sharpness absence and graining.

Editing Raw Images For Final Output

Once all the above tips are implemented, it is important to add a final touch to the images before using them. That’s because even the most carefully shot images have the scope for improvement. However, the challenge with photo editing lies in its time and skill constraints. 

That’s where real estate HDR photo editing services come in handy. If your business doesn’t have an in-house editing setup, or the existing setup isn’t delivering expected results, or your team has too much workload, and you can’t lose on potential work by spending time in editing, the perfect answer to all such business hurdles is outsourcing.

Outsourcing photo editing for real estate is quite common. It gives you access to advanced tools, skilled resources, and prompt outcomes. If you choose an experienced photo editing company, you can also get top-notch results at cost-effective rates. 

Conclusion

By following the above-mentioned tips and suggestions, you should be able to shoot pro-level real estate photos using your iPhone camera. With little practice, a few experiments, and close observation, the iPhone camera can surely deliver images you can count on for marketing your real estate business. 

Make sure your iPhone software is up-to-date, and avoid using any third-party apps, as these apps can’t use the maximum hardware potential of your device. Follow these few simple tips to shoot the shot and get your real estate image edited by professionals; this trick can help you stand out from the vast online competition.

Author Bio

Kathy Butters is a content strategist currently working at PhotozWorld, a leading photo editing company providing dependable and affordable services. As a creative writer and a photography enthusiast for more than 10 years, she loves to share her passion for image editing with other professionals. Her write-ups usually cover topics surrounding tips or best practices for image editing, photo retouching, portrait editing, photo correction, and more. Furthermore, she educates companies from different niches and industries on how they can take their business to new heights with high-quality pictures. For more than ten years, she has been actively sharing interesting articles and blogs to help retailers, merchants, entrepreneurs, and other online businesses leverage the power of photo editing through her write-ups. Besides writing, Kathy is also fond of photography and turning her shots into sketches. Creative writer and a photography enthusiast for more than 10 years