Is it bad to use HDR photos for real estate photography?

Question

What I want my technique to be is take 3 bracketed shots, and in Lightroom merge them with "HDR merge". I tried to blend the bracketed shots without HDR in Affinity Photo but I'm just really struggling. And in my opinion, the HDR photos come out way better. Is it unprofessional or just "bad" to use HDR for real estate photography?

Answer 1

If it looks good, it is good.

Answer 2

No, not when they're done right. It's difficult to take interior photos that expose for the indoors while not blowing out the light from outdoors. Making a photo that more closely matches what the eyes would see helps the prospective buyer get a better idea of what they'd see when standing there inside (or outside) the house.



But you don't need to go to the trouble of HDR. First, use a camera that shoots in raw format. Second, load the photos into an editor that can handle raw files, such as Lightroom. If the overall photo is over- or underexposed, start with the exposure adjustment to get the midtones more into a properly exposed level. Then with the tools in the editor, drop the highlights down to bring back the details that are overexposed, and boost the shadows to lift the details that are underexposed. It's a similar effect to HDR but without the hassle. Export to JPG for the real estate listing and you're done.



Additional tip: a tripod is your friend. When taking indoor photos, especially if the house doesn't have much in the way of lights, set up the tripod and take a photo with an exposure as long as necessary to get it properly exposed. That way you don't have to increase the ISO to a level that would allow for a fast enough shutter speed for hand-holding, which would increase graininess in the photo.

Answer 3

No problem with hdr, the key is how to make hdr photos doesnt looks like hdr (in general ofcuz )

Try not to use bracket, but shoot depends on exposure you need, and merge it manually

Answer 4

HDR can be a wonderful thing, but it is often overdone and looks cartoonish. I see most real estate photos are HDR.



What you want to see is photos that look like real life and not limited by the camera's shortcomings. That is how good HDR is used.Watch videos and view lots of images till you know clearly how you want to make your images look.

Answer 5

It's not bad to use HDR at all. What's bad is "how" you use it. If you use HDR to produce an image that looks normal, then that's perfectly fine. But if you produce an image that makes one's eyes bleed because you overcooked the image, then of course that's not acceptable.



The idea here is to produce an image that looks normal and is an accurate representation of what the customer would see if they were in the home. However you do that is fine. But remember, time is money and while you may want full detail in the entire room (including the windows) almost all customers looking at the house really don't give a damn. In the end, you'll likely spend too much time editing an image where the only person who cares is you. Instead of taking photos and making money, you can easily find yourself stuck for far too long in front of a computer making your images look perfect for yourself. Think of your clients and whether they'd care about some clipping in the highlights or not.

Answer 6

Every interior real estate shot I have ever seen uses HDR or something similar. If HDR is done well it looks more like what our eyes see than a single exposure. Our eyes deal with high dynamic range better than a camera can

Answer 7

Real estate photography? Selling? You do whatever it takes to make it happen.

Answer 8

One would think and expect that real estate photos are real. HDR is not real, but manufactured photos.False advertising, in my opinion.