OK, I admit it. I’ve probably been going a wee bit overboard with before & after examples. Or so the average photo hobbyist with a working knowledge of photoshop might surmise. But, despite these efforts to saturate my clients with examples of what we can do to improve their real estate pictures, I’m always a little surprised when clients assume that they must wait for the weather to improve before having photos shot. It seems that no matter how many times I convey that we can “fix it in Photoshop”, the message doesn’t stick. Perhaps some of my clients either don’t believe or don’t understand. Solution? More examples! :)
If anything, I hope these before & after examples show how a simple sky replacement improves a real estate photo. That’s it.
So next time you need to shoot a property on a rainy day or with looming grey clouds–don’t worry. In most cases, it’s not a problem. In fact, usually (as in the example photos below) it’s easier to work with and improve real estate photos shot on a grey, cloudy day because the clouds in fact act like a large studio softbox which actually softens hard shadows that are otherwise inevitable in photos shot on cloudless, sunny days.
The point is: We can make real estate photos look good despite rainy or cloudy weather conditions.
Disclaimer: For those eager to insist that this sort of manipulation is somehow wrong or that it infringes MLS or TREB rules or marketing conduct, rest assured: I’ve done the research, spoke to CREA, even consulted a client who happens to sit on the board governing these rules. They all insist that the only time real estate photo or virtual tour manipulation crosses any sort of questionable boundaries is when it is used to remove and/or add elements that are secured to the land and/or property (ie, removing a firehydrant, adding a tree, etc). As for manipulating weather and adding saturation to grass–that’s perfectly legitimate photoshop manipulation because those are elements that naturally change and are essentially not secured.
