[3D Surround View Scanning] Real Estate Exterior Scanning: Benefits, Challenges, and How to Obtain the Best Exterior Photos

[3D Surround View Scanning] Real Estate Exterior Scanning: Benefits, Challenges, and How to Obtain the Best Exterior Photos

External Real Estate Photography Techniques to Overcome Difficulties and Make Your Photos Stand Out

The National Association of Realtors' 2023 Generational Trends in Home Buyers and Sellers report found that 96% of home buyers use the internet to search for properties. While people of all ages consider photos the most useful feature of listings, 49% of potential buyers take a virtual viewing after browsing listings online. 42% of potential buyers eventually contact a real estate agent, and 35% will tour the exterior of the house and its surroundings without physically entering the property.

Real estate photographers and agents must collaborate to make property listings as appealing and immersive as possible to maximize buyer interest and shorten time to market. Creating this interest begins with exterior photography of the property.


Four benefits of adding exterior photos of properties to listings

Property photos are a buyer's first impression of a property, showing its exterior. Photos allow buyers to intuitively experience the overall living experience of the property (not just the interior).

While these four advantages will ultimately enhance the overall appeal of a property, real estate photographers should consider each of them individually when deciding how best to capture these elements in exterior photographs.


Highlighting incredible scenery

Aerial photography or drone shooting is ideal for photographing properties from high vantage points or distances. Long-distance shots can provide a holistic view of the property, which lays the foundation for agents and photographers to uncover and highlight elements such as captivating views.

Once buyers see the beautiful scenery, they will understand why the property is priced so high.

Residential apartments share many amenities and are close together, which must be emphasized to make buyers feel the community life and interaction with neighbors. If the listing shows that schools or parks are close to the residence, families with children will be more likely to visit the property in person. If the homeowner has created a garden in the backyard, showing and introducing the garden will encourage potential buyers with green thumbs to explore the surrounding area.


Highlighting the narrative and uniqueness of the property

Exterior photography of real estate properties can provide visual appeal for the real estate story from multiple angles . If a listing highlights the property's unique features, potential buyers will engage with the property more by clicking on more photos.

Real estate photographers can shoot properties at different times of the day, such as Airbnb's most popular treehouses, to showcase the natural light and atmosphere from morning to night.

Enhance the market competitiveness of your properties (including your market competitiveness).

Real estate marketing tools, such as social media platforms and real estate agent websites, need visual assets to attract homeowners and potential buyers. Professional real estate photography can showcase the substantial investment and careful consideration in a property, thus benefiting both the listing and the real estate agent. Strong real estate visuals help create the expectation that potential buyers will interact with you and the current homeowner when viewing the property in person.


4 challenges in external real estate photography and how to overcome them

Post-production techniques are helpful for many outdoor shoots, but real estate photographers want to accurately represent a property and remain as faithful as possible to its natural, everyday look. Of course, post-production and Photoshop still don't completely eliminate some challenges , but when real estate photographers and agents work together and develop a plan, they can ensure the property looks incredible.

Here are the four most common challenges in real estate exterior photography—and real estate exterior photography tips to help you find solutions.

weather
For any professional real estate photographer, weather is the biggest challenge. To get the best real estate photos, whether exterior or interior, you need as much natural light as possible.

If the weather is overcast, diffused light will be present. While soft light minimizes shadows, it can affect how you highlight the property's exterior selling points, such as stunning views or a perfect summer patio.

Solution: Reschedule or use Photoshop
Rescheduling the shoot is the primary way to cope with inclement weather. If the shoot must take place on the same day, wait for the weather to improve, as the sun may break through the clouds, bringing a soft, peaceful atmosphere to the property and community.

Outdoor real estate photographers can also leverage their post-production skills. Some editing and Photoshop platforms offer sky replacement features. If you want to achieve a more natural landscape effect, you can also shoot the scenery in brackets, including the sky, houses, and paths, and then stitch the photos together using HDR.


illumination
For any high-quality image of a property, lighting is like "The Blonde Story": too dark, and you'll spend hours in Photoshop. Too bright, and you'll be dealing with glaring shadows.

Solution: Shoot during "golden hour"
Complete as many outdoor shots as possible during the "golden hour" (approximately 1-2 hours after sunrise to sunset) to take full advantage of warm tones and soft shadows. If you're shooting all day, start with outdoor shots, then take indoor shots in the late afternoon and early evening, and finally take outdoor shots to showcase the house's appearance throughout the day.

If you must work in direct sunlight, you can use a radiator to redistribute and evenly diffuse the light, thereby reducing contrast and shadows.


Beautifying the environment and unsightly items
A cluttered yard, withered lawn, dilapidated fence, and miscellaneous items all detract from the aesthetics. Tree branches may also extend into a neighbor's yard, creating shadows. If the property overlooks new construction or is adjacent to an older property, its appearance should be minimized in photos.

Solution: Organize and focus on the angle.
Typically, real estate agents work with homeowners to ensure the property looks its best, inside and out. They arrange site visits before the shoot to identify areas that may need tidying up or retouching.

Real estate photographers can frame and adjust angles in exterior photos to showcase a property's selling points, such as its potential for a garden or architectural features that highlight its history. Agents can also add descriptions of the property's potential and surrounding environment to inspire potential buyers' anticipation of their new home. You can also experiment with retouching any element in real estate photo editing software!


Limited shooting time
Despite thorough preparation and consideration of external factors such as weather, some homeowners can only offer limited shooting time due to scheduling conflicts or potential last-minute emergencies.

Solution: Create a list of essential photos to be taken.
Collaborate to develop a must-shoot list. Ideally, this should include the front, back, and sides of the property, as well as any interior photos you might be responsible for taking. Make sure you can visit the property to plan from any angle and maximize the visual appeal. If necessary, inquire whether you can bring and set up any possible equipment the day before the shoot to ensure you're ready to shoot quickly.

How to achieve the best external visual effect for your property

While high shutter speeds and ISO values ​​can help in shooting exterior real estate photos in low light or less-than-ideal conditions, real estate photographers must consider how much work and time it will take to edit these photos to their standards.

Matterport offers the ideal platform and workflow for capturing high-quality imagery, especially for real estate exterior photography, as well as immersive 3D tours of the entire property from the inside out. All you need is a Matterport camera, the Matterport platform, and these helpful real estate exterior photography tips to take successful property photos!

Capture high-quality images and create digital clones using the Matterport Pro3 environmental scanner.

The Pro3 Ambient Scanner uses a LiDAR sensor and a 12-lens camera to easily create high-quality external images and digital clones for indoor and outdoor spaces, day or night.

Compared to other high-quality digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, this camera can capture data from over 100 meters away, delivering a powerful experience. With a capture time of less than 20 seconds per scan, you can quickly check for alignment issues and any quality problems. However, these issues are rare because the custom 20-megapixel sensor covers an ultra-wide angle, producing lifelike 2D photo colors and immersive, precise digital clones .

Ready to practice these real estate exterior photography techniques with Matterport Environment Scanner? It will help your real estate exterior photos leap off the page and allow you to create digital clones , which can not only help you expand your real estate photography portfolio but also allow you to build more valuable partnerships with real estate agents!