Fake Fires and Cloned Grass: Real Estate Photography Tricks Revealed

A video has revealed the tricks property photographers use to make properties look better than they do in real life

Guardian Australia photo editor, Carly Earl, went to a property in Sydney and took photos of the same location with a professional property photographer to show the stark differences the two captured.

In the first example, a photo of a pool was taken where the property photo editors had increased the saturation of the trees and sky “to make it look much sunnier and more vibrant than it actually is.”

“The other thing you’ll notice is that it looks Photoshopped in the fact that there’s no more leaves at the bottom of the pool anymore, and that definitely makes it feel a lot more inviting, ” says Earl.

Fake fires

The next example shows an image of a living room where the professional had filled in the shadows as well as shooting on a wider lens to make the room appear larger than it is.

“This is something they generally do in smaller houses to create the feeling of space,” explains Earl.

Perhaps most shockingly, the professional had photoshopped a fire burning where there was none before.

“In my image, there certainly wasn’t a roaring fire going on at the time, but they add this to show that warmth and to give that feeling of being cozy in the lounge,” explains Earl.

For the exterior view of the property, the professional had filled in the lawn, where it was mainly mud.

“The whole picture looks really bright, it looks like there’s grass all the way up the driveway when we know there actually isn’t,” says Earl.

And like the pool shot, the editors had increased the saturation to make the greens and sky look extra punchy.

Accurate information

According to the accompanying article on The Guardian website, fair trading rules in Australia dictate that property photographs must convey “accurate information” to the buyer or tenant.

A picture can mislead if it “leads to a reasonable belief in the existence of a condition that does not actually exist” or by “silence or omission” – such as including a picture of a beach view where there is none. The maximum penalty for breaching Australian Consumer Law is $1.1 million. USD for a company.

A picture of a burning fireplace where nobody was there is fine, according to Hayden Groves, president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia, as long as the fireplace can burn.

The anonymous photographer who Guardian Australia lejet says she regularly uses two exposures for an exterior shot and maybe three or four inside to make a well-balanced composite.

“A lot of places can look really, really shabby. They fall apart. But with the right frames and the right lighting, we can take the pictures, always,” adds the photographer.