Ms. Therrien of Vancouver Island recently hired photographer Erin Brûlé to shoot a $17.5-million estate in the prestigious Uplands district of Victoria.
Ms. Brûlé says she visited the property four times to get the right shots of the interior and exterior.
In her photos of the property at Luxurywaterfront.ca, chrome bathroom fixtures glint in the sun and chairs in the garden are arranged as if the owner is about to sit and admire the view.
The idea is to make prospective buyers envision it as their own home, Ms. Brûlé says, "and not just a piece of property."
At the opposite end of the spectrum, ill-conceived photos still proliferate on many real-estate websites. But instead of being the norm, they are now objects of derision by bloggers such as Saskatchewan real-estate agent Norm Fisher, who posts his Unbelievably Bad Real Estate Photo Hall of Fame at Teamfisher.com.
Real-estate agents have no excuse for using poor-quality photos of the properties they are paid to market, says Ms. Stewart. "I'm surprised that the sellers let them get away with it."
Tricks of the trade
Can't afford a professional photographer? Borrow these tricks of the trade from Photographyforrealestate.net:
Remember that the photo's purpose is to sell real estate. Focus more on the architecture and room spaces than on furniture and decor.
Simplify images. Exclude everything that detracts from the home's attractiveness, such as towels hanging from the oven door.
View the front exterior as the key shot. Spend extra time on it, since this is the image often required by Multiple Listing Service rules.
Render interiors light and bright. Since light interiors are more attractive to buyers than dark ones, use an external flash unit or a long exposure shot on a tripod to make a room look bright.
Keep the verticals vertical. All vertical lines, such as wall corners, should be shown parallel to the sides of the image, otherwise they distract the viewer's attention. If the use of a wide-angle lens creates distortion, restore verticals with digital photo-editing.
Stick to horizontal shots. Most real-estate websites are designed to work best with landscape-mode images; a mixture of horizontal and vertical formats can be distracting.
Adriana Barton
