Not your grandma’s before and after
Dallas based real estate photographer, Lance Hames has caught the attention of the photography world with his HomeSnappers.com website through creative use of technology to feature before and after shots. Rather than offer side by side shots in his “Typical vs. Pro” showcase, Hames takes a different approach.
Larry Lohrman, President of PFRE Media said, “I’ve seen a lot of attempts at illustrating the difference between typical real estate listing photos and professional real estate photos but Lance’s page is one of the best illustrations I’ve seen.”
By using javascript code that makes a mouse-over effect, each before shot hides the stunning after shot, with Hames noting that the same lighting was used and highlights how incredibly different a point-and-shoot is from the work of a professional with the proper angles, tools and editing suite.
Striking comparisons
“The comparison is striking and the mouse over approach is a great approach to showing the difference,” Lohrman opined, adding that it is an effective way to show potential clients the difference between this photographer’s work and others’ work and tangibly proving results.
AGBeat has long profiled quality photography, namely in real estate because if there are roughly three million listings on Realtor.com alone and each listing averages maybe five photos (we are hypothesizing), that is at least 15 million images on the web right now that represent the industry as a whole, whether Realtors like it or not.
Bad photography will never end, but as the world becomes more aware of the results quality photography can provide as demonstrated by Hames, the Realtor reputation can be repaired, even if only slightly. When hiring a photographer, consider what their competitors’ work looks like and what it looks like when you go it alone – the differences can be night and day, just as shown on Hames’ site.
Below: on Hames’ site, you will see only the before image until you scroll over the photo, but we have showcased below the stunning differences of one of the many showcases.
Roland Estrada
March 1, 2012 at 9:04 pm
The Realtor photo horror show is shocking sometimes. I recently started shooting in Auto Exposure Bracketing mode with my Canon S80. It takes three exposures. I then use a free program on my Mac called HDRtist. I drag and drop the three exposures onto a drop-zone and I’m done. Massive difference in photo quality. They look professionally taken.
Steve Castaneda
March 1, 2012 at 10:02 pm
Having high quality real estate photos will definitely get more people through your listings; that’s for certain. I’m mostly a buyer’s agent at the moment, and it is quite common for a client to be compelled to see a home because of pictures alone (regardless of features and amenities).
Having high quality real estate photos is a definite way to remove a barrier between finding the right buyer and getting a listing sold. Do it!
Lani Rosales
March 2, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Fascinating point, Steve!
Lance Hames
March 1, 2012 at 11:50 pm
Thank you Marti for your post, and everyone else for the words of encouragement!
Andrew Kantor
March 2, 2012 at 9:47 am
I notice that at least in the second picture on the company’s site (exterior of the home), the grass has been colored in. It’s brown in the original, but green in the “pro” version.
Assuming he’s telling the truth about the scenes being the same, wouldn’t that violate the Realtor Code of Ethics? How much manipulation is permitted?
Lance Hames
March 2, 2012 at 12:54 pm
At least in our local MLS, NTREIS, we are permitted to green grass because it is not a permanent feature. We are not allowed to do things such as remove signs, powers lines, etc.