Professional real estate agent photos are a great marketing method for advertising your business. These visuals serve for attracting potential customers by representing a realtor in the best possible light. Such images are must-have for any realtor, but it’s important to know how to take them properly.
When writing this article, I consulted with professional portrait photographers, industry leading real estate photography companies and experienced realtors to get their headshot photo tips, and tips on what real estate agents can do to make sure their next photo shoot is successful.
You need to analyze your target audience, its social layer, age, interests. These aspects are important for selecting the appropriate clothing, makeup, location, and more. To specify your clientele, think about the area you specialize in.
If you sell luxury homes, you will need to use images that meet high requirements. The images of property in mountainous areas should be quite different from the pictures of condos in the city.
Great real estate agent photos should have a model in focus. Therefore, it is important to opt for the appropriate background, like a blank white canvas. Such a backdrop is an optimal choice to make the viewers concentrate on the model’s face. Moreover, such a background meets the requirements of various professional platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.
A natural background, which matches the style of your work, is essential for advertising and selling property. For example, if you are selling urban houses, photos with blurred-out streets or buildings will look stunning. In case you sell rural property, use the forest or field as the background.
To increase your level of expertise, you can watch popular real estate videos and check the photos of other realtors to evaluate their strong and weak sides. To develop your unique style, you can analyze how successful agents use various headshot poses and expressions. If you like some professionals check out their works and define the aspects that make theirs headshots so captivating.
If you decide to take pictures by yourself, you can contact our photo enhancement service to achieve a professional result. You will get polished but natural-looking images.
Our experts know all the nuances of this genre of photography and will quickly send you high-quality photos for social networks and real estate campaigns.
We recommend you contact a shooter a week before a photo session to discuss all the details and explain the purpose of your images. For example, you can ask them for pictures with particular color scheme for your marketing campaigns. The style of pictures for websites, social media, real estate video marketing is quite different.
We also advise you to make clear whether you need to pay extra costs for retouching services and photo enhancement as well as specify their turnaround time. Find out how they deliver the images afterwards. Try to be as specific and clear as it is possible and share your expectations with a photographer.
To use photos legally, you need to purchase the copyright from your photographer. Clear all the details about how you can use the pictures and ask a photographer whether they are going to retain the copyright for your pictures.
It is great if nothing in the contract prevents you from using your photos commercially. However, if you can buy all copyrights and uses for your images, take advantage of this option.
If you want to look honest and trustworthy in a photo, rather than awkward and confused, do a test shoot. Before the day of a photo session, choose appropriate clothing and makeup, and then ask a friend to take pictures.
Of course, such images may look not so impressive in comparison to the snaps taken by professionals, but you can experiment with expressions and poses. This will allow you to see what poses, and angles work better for you, and are more flattering. As a result, you’ll feel much more confident during the shoot.
Props have the power to spice up the images and make them more visually interesting. However, they can sometimes be quite distracting. To keep the focus on you, use props in moderation.
The only props that are welcome in real estate agent photos are technology, papers, and keys, as they can help the clients envision finally getting a key to their apartment.
Lifestyle photography is great for creating flyers or images for social media networks. A “lifestyle picture” is an image of a person in a working environment. Such shots can help you establish connections with people quicker, as they look more personal.
This genre is a mix of documentary photography and classic portraiture. You can sit at your table, deliver a presentation in a conference room, or take a photo with the property as the background. Such photos should be as unstaged and unposed as possible.
You can only use real estate agent photos for several years, as the trends in clothes, hairstyles are likely to have changed by that time. Not to mention, that your appearance can also change drastically.
To avoid confusion post current pictures, so that a client is able to recognize you easily upon meeting. This way, you can instantly build trustworthy and long-lasting relationships with your customers.
Avoid wearing colorful clothing with patterns during a photo session, as it might be quite distracting. Your pictures should advertise your services, and not show off your clothes.
A classic suit in traditional colors is always the most appropriate choice in this case. Black, white, gray, or charcoal always look great on formal clothing.
Opt for simple jewelry or avoid it completely. Too many accessories will distract a viewer from your face. The purpose of your photos is for people to look at your photos and remember you as a competent professional, and not to remember your expensive jewelry.
Even if you prefer putting makeup on your own, it is unlikely that you have the same skills as a professional makeup artist. When we talk about creating attractive real estate agent photos, every little detail counts.
An expert knows how to underline your best facial features and conceal the defects to make you look stunning. Before a photo session, consult with the photographer and ask them whether they know a good makeup artist.
This is one of the classic poses, and is a great option for a formal setting. It is so beneficial because a walking person looks more relaxed. It helps if you are shy in front of the camera and don’t know what to do and how to move.
Start from a distance and start walking towards the camera. You can look straight into the camera or to the side. As a result, you’ll have many dynamic photos to choose from.
One of the most frequently used female poses is a person sitting on something with his/her knees higher than their hips and loosely laying the hands on the legs. Stairs are the perfect location for this purpose; the only aspect to control is the posture. One should always keep it straight.
Due to how our mind works, it’s possible to trick your body into being confident simply by using power poses. Resting your arms on the hips, or crossing them on your chest are prime examples of such poses and are perfect for a realtor photoshoot.
Some realtors, especially men, think that a stone-faced blank expression works best to give off a professional impression. Though many influential look serious in their photos, such an expression is not always the most appropriate choice.
Numerous studies have shown that a warm smile makes people trust you and think of you as an honest person. As a result they will be more likely to work with you, than other realtors.
As for portrait photography poses, try emphasizing your jawline to make your appearance more photogenic. All you have to do is lower your chin a bit and move your head forward to add more confidence to your stance. This trick also helps to deal with the double-chin problem that a lot of people have when taking real estate agent portraits.
It’s important for real estate agent photos to have a calm and laid-back feel, and the only way this can be achieved is with relaxed poses. Simply leaning towards the wall, railing, tree or door does the trick and makes you look friendly and laid-back for the viewer. It’s a great pose to incorporate the interaction with the environment.
Many real estate agents like this one of the most used male poses since it eases the tension and makes a model look at ease in a photo. The model just needs to put a jacket over their shoulder while standing still or moving. They can look directly at the camera or away.
After taking photos, you can use them to create real estate flyers. Try using this bundle of free real estate flyer templates to create captivating layouts. Thanks to these templates, you can stand out among other professionals and effectively promote your business.
