Residential Real Estate Photography in Austin

What A Standard Austin Listing Shoot Involves

The everyday listing, done to the same standard every time. Most of what we shoot is residential resale across the Austin metro, from South Austin bungalows to family homes in Round Rock and Georgetown.

A standard residential listing is not a small job badly done, it is a specific job. The property has maybe eight rooms worth photographing, a front and a back elevation, and a lot that either matters or does not. The gallery has to cover all of it in about twenty five frames without padding, and it has to be up on the MLS within a day or two of the seller agreeing to list.

What a residential shoot looks like

About an hour on site, shot in this order:

• Front elevation and street context first, while the light on the facade is right
• Interiors in the order a buyer walks them: entry, main living space, kitchen, dining, primary suite, secondary bedrooms, bathrooms
• Flex space, garage and laundry if they are worth including
• Back elevation, yard and aerials last, for lot context

Everything is exposed for the room and the window together, so the interiors are bright and the glass still shows the back yard rather than a white rectangle. Verticals straightened, color neutralized, skies replaced when Central Texas has not cooperated.

Which rooms actually sell the house

The kitchen, the main living space and the primary suite carry most of the weight, and those get the most attention on the day. A guest bathroom photographed beautifully has never sold a house. What a full gallery does is answer questions, so a buyer does not have to guess whether there is a second living area or what the fourth bedroom is like.

The one exception is the first image. It is doing more work than the other twenty four combined, because it decides whether anyone sees them. Usually that is the front elevation or the main living space, and on some properties it is a twilight exterior.

What to add to a residential listing

• A Zillow 3D Home tour on almost any residential listing, because most residential buyer traffic in this market arrives through Zillow and the badge shows in the search grid.
• Virtual staging if the house is vacant. Empty rooms photograph poorly and sit longer.
• A walkthrough film if the layout is unusual or the property has a feature that stills cannot carry.
• A floor plan, which is already in every package, because it is the cheapest way to stop wasted showings.