This post is my attempt to explain why I don’t guarantee 24 hour turnaround free of charge. Look, I understand that we live in an on-demand, same-day delivery world and that’s fine for getting products delivered by large corporations with unlimited resources. In the creative world; however, things don’t (or shouldn’t) work like that. I’m fully aware that in the real estate photography world, there are many photographers that offer a guaranteed 24 hour turnaround and more power to them, but I don’t believe a quality product can be rushed. I’m not a turn and burn real estate photographer and I don’t plan on ever becoming that. For me, quality takes precedence and quality takes time. The thought of shooting a home, heading to a coffee shop and rush-editing the photos on a laptop so I can fit the next three shoots of the day in fills me with anxiety and dread. And punch me square in the nose if I ever outsource my editing. I’ve had the fortune to shoot primarily higher-value homes from day one and have stayed in business because I’ve taken the time necessary to create photographs that reflect that value. That being said, the monetary value of the home means little to me and it’s why I don’t base my pricing according to the listed value. I try to shoot all homes with the same care, regardless of value. My pricing is based on square footage simply because larger homes with more rooms take longer to shoot and require more photos.
The real estate season in this part of the world is 7-8 months long and during that time, I’m generally working 16 hour days, 7 days a week. I rarely schedule more than two shoots a day and try to limit myself to one. This is a rarity in the business from what I’ve gathered and I’m fully aware that my greedy bank account hates me for it, but I take pride in delivering a fairly-priced product to my clients that will reflect well on both of us and benefit both of us equally. It’s kind of gross to say, but in this internet-age personal branding is everything. I firmly believe that every single photograph I deliver has the potential to make or break my personal business, as well as affect positively or negatively the brand of my clients. I believe that when you get paid a fair price to do a job, you should take the time to do it to the best of your ability for mutual benefit. Deadlines come with the territory, but to offer a guaranteed short turnaround, for me, is irresponsible and goes against my philosophy on work.
So what goes into photographing real estate you ask and why can’t you have your photos within 24 hours? Well let me explain. After settling on a date for the job based largely on availability and weather, a time for the shoot is determined based preferably on best light at the location. Allowing myself the time flexibility to capture the home in the best light means not having to work around multiple other shoots and remaining on site for hours past the scheduled time if necessary, or returning to the location later in the day. On-site, a walkthrough is conducted during which I’m running through possible compositions in my head, turning on/off lights, opening blinds, tweaking staging elements, etc. Equipment is gathered in one place and set up, vehicles are re-parked out of the shots if they aren’t part of the presentation, distracting items are moved, and the shoot begins. I try to work methodically and efficiently as possible, inside and out, which usually means starting outside and working in so I’m not wasting time running all over the place. Exteriors often go quickly even if I need to periodically run out to grab shots in ideal light. Interiors are shot almost exclusively with ambient light and flash. I rarely shoot HDR (high dynamic range) interiors which means my workflow is slower than HDR photographers. I firmly believe flash/ambient blend photography for interiors is superior to HDR though so for me the time spent setting up lights is necessary. Over 80% of my scheduled job orders also include aerial photography which takes time to capture. I don’t view aerial photography as any different than ground-based photography. Just as much time should be spent on planning and composing photos from the air as from the ground. Time is also often spent contacting and informing individuals at neigboring homes that a drone may be buzzing around so as to avoid any potential conflict that could reflect badly on myself, my client or the homeowner.
After the conclusion of the shoot, it’s time to return to my home office, transfer and archive the hundreds of photographs that will have been taken that day, select possible deliverables and begin the editing process. Typically if I spend four hours shooting on average, I’ll spend at least twice that processing and editing the photos. Interiors take the most time as usually 3-5 ambient and flash exposed photos are manually blended to create a final product. I’ll typically spend 10-15 minutes on each interior, although considerably more or less time may be spent depending on various factors such as whether a properly exposed view through windows must be shown or whether windows can be artistically blown out. Over the years, I have become much more efficient in editing and software keeps getting better with the advance of machine learning, but editing is where the magic happens and often can’t be rushed.
Upon conclusion of editing, the photos are exported and viewed on a color-corrected monitor to determine adjustments that need to be made. After those adjustment are made, a final cull is done and the photos are uploaded to Photoshelter, my client delivery service. The photos are then delivered, invoicing is completed and it’s on to the next. This whole process of shooting and editing photos of a single home often begins one day and ends late the next as I’m usually shooting every day during the season. Planning and travel also consumes a lot of time and I haven’t even mentioned shooting and editing the occasional video. The point is, for me to maintain a level of quality I can take pride in, guaranteeing a finished product in 24 hours is not smart business because every shoot is different and requires a different level of time spent. A 24 hour turnaround is most often not necessary in this business and can be an indicator of an expected lower-quality level of work product.
