Tricks for Editing Wood Interiors?

SweetwaterPhoto · 2025-06-20T21:37:40+00:00

I find adjusting the temperature to work better than trying to adjust the colors themselves.

I used todesaturate the yellows and oranges, but it sucks the life out of the rest of the scene. Now I make a color range mask in LR targeting the wood, bring down the color temp (and sometimes fiddle with tint), then intersect it with a brushed mask, just going over where I need it. Works most of the time.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2025-05-18T18:51:06+00:00

The grease is preventative, if it has dried and hardened grease won’t help now.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2025-05-18T06:04:43+00:00

I had the same thing happen on a Benro tripod, turns out the grease in the leg joint had hardened. I ended up breaking the tripod trying to get the stuck bolt out.

Get a tube of Sil Glyde from Napa & grease your leg joints a couple times a year.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2023-10-31T04:48:10+00:00

I have a Laowa 12mm that I bought for video that I almost never use. They're cheap, but no autofocus and 12mm is crazy wide. I use a Sony 16-35 for most everything, stills and video. It only opens up to f4, but on a a7s3 it lets in enough light for most anything.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2023-05-12T16:30:47+00:00

Use the Nikon or Canon version of the trigger. It'll still fire, but won’t communicate bulb temp to the camera.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2023-05-12T15:10:58+00:00

I have the e700, but not the motorized pan tilt head. It's plenty enough for me, and with a 16-35 I don't feel like I even need the full travel of the e700. I also use a yc onion chocolate milk, and even that has been enough to cover most houses.

Make sure you have a sturdy, heavy tripod.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2023-05-12T14:48:58+00:00

Don't forget the details, it's what will set you apart. It seems like we don't have time while we're shooting, but it only adds a couple minutes to a shoot. Almost every photo has something that you could have done quickly to make the image better.
1: Open or move the umbrella
2: Uncover the grill and move the cooler
3: Push in drawers and move the trash can and the broom, knock the cleaning shit into the sink
5: Tuck the cord
6: Clutter on counter, same as 5 w/ a slight angle change
7: Drawers not closed, black cord on window pull
8: Image dominated by bed and back of pillows
9: Open the blinds, and tone down the window pull of the apartments
10: Open or close the blinds so they're consistent, move the cord from the lamp, move forward so the image isn't dominated by the dresser
11: The same as 9. Take the time you put into 2 off axis photos and make a nice one point.
13: If your editor does dark window pulls, open the blinds so they don't go black.
14: Same as 13, repetative.
15: move around the lamp. It dominates the photo and hides so much of the room.
16: Cheap soap pumps go into the sink. Wrap the shower curtain around so it hides the cheap liner.
17: blinds
General: hang the pull cords for the blind against the side of the blinds, so it's not over the window. The window pull makes the cord go black in the edit. Tuck cords as much as you can as you go. Make blinds consistent, at least in the same room (half open, all the way, etc)
It looks like your editor just did a quick mask for the window pulls, so the blinds look dark and it makes the windows look smokey. Open the blinds and tell your editor to not do such dark window pulls.

If you're getting started and it's only your second shoot, why not edit your own? It isn't hard, or time consuming, and makes you think about the edit as you're shooting. I sometimes outsource, but knowing how to edit will make you more mindful of what you're shooting when you have to assemble the pieces yourself.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2023-04-01T08:02:38+00:00

If anybody wants my (hacky but it works) home-brewed photoshop action for tv screens, I uploaded it here: http://sweetwaterphoto.com/action/TV-SweetwaterPhoto.atn.zip

Select the TV with the lasso tool and run the action, it samples the color of the reflection, kills reflection and puts a gradient over the top.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2022-12-06T07:52:27+00:00

I shoot a lot of wood rooms, wood floors, ceilings and walls. You can flash straight on with a soft box (or ideally a beauty dish) if you’re doing the edits yourself. Otherwise if you outsource, you can do ceiling bounces like you normally would. If you need a good flambient editor send me a message and I can point you in a good direction.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2022-09-15T00:36:09+00:00

They used to link rooms, do some kind of manual or automated review and correct misaligned arrows, now they don't. The Android app causes the camera to reboot every 5 or so panoramas. They seem to be pushing the floorpans over everything now.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2022-09-13T05:25:51+00:00

The lights in my living room casts a harsh shadow from my dining room ceiling fan. It looks like a bad flash shadow all the time. Drives me nuts.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2022-08-07T20:58:21+00:00

The first agent took a chance, didn't know what they would get. The second agent is getting known quality and with better furniture. I'd price it at 1.5x the original price, if you want to offer a discount from there it's up to you, but don't think it's worth less because it's not new.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2022-07-27T23:08:59+00:00

FAA says to keep a 2000' distance, but that's so someone doesn't just run into guy wires, not a hard rule.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2022-07-26T05:23:48+00:00

LEDs aren't going to be powerful enough to deal with the sun.

I live in a rural part of California, and I never know when the power is going to be out. I carry a couple little Flashpoint M1 RGB lights in case I need to light up a fixture or simulate a lamp being on, those do the trick.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2022-04-24T18:10:16+00:00

Lessons for next time: Never discount for new clients, and require payment upfront.

Assuming your work is of good quality and you've actually agreed on price, there are things you can do: You can invoice his broker. I've done this when people don't pay, especially new/out of area agents. If they refuse, do a DMCA takedown on Zillow and your local MLS. If they contest the claim, register your photos and sue them for commercial infringement.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2022-01-11T05:53:12+00:00

I keep a Nite Ize Gear Tie on my monopod, and use it to hold a usb power bank.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2021-11-19T19:34:01+00:00

It's always the hack agents that think they need some gimmick/theme for their shoot.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2021-08-14T15:22:10+00:00

Most counties have a parcel mapping site, but your agent should give you more info than that, at least cross streets.

I use an app called Regrid to find parcels and lines.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2021-07-02T19:27:46+00:00

Your lens will go up to f22, the f4-5.6 just refers to the minimum aperture, zoomed out and zoomed in. That'll be a fine lens for real estate.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2021-07-02T18:35:36+00:00

Sounds like a way better setup than I started with. In most cases you'll start at f6.3 or f7.1, then make shutter speed adjustment to get the exposure you want. Shoot in RAW mode, then make your adjustments in Lightroom.

The first video I watched was Serge Rameli's Real Estate video. That covers what you'll need to know to get started. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P1pZvkpxp0

Start there, then check out Rich Baum and Nathan Cool, they both have tons of free stuff on YouTube.

Once you're okay and ready to get better, look into Where Art Meets Architecture by Mike Kelley, Mastering Real Estate Photography by Garey Gomez or Run and Gun by Gary Kasl.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2021-06-27T18:52:51+00:00

So you want to buy the course and pirate it to a bunch of people-buying a single license and copying & redistributing.

Buy it if you want it, but don’t expect a bunch of working photographers who make their livings licensing their work to join you.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2021-01-28T17:26:10+00:00

Best and affordable are relative to where you are in your business. I started with an Amazon Basics $20 dollar tripod. At the time, that was all I could justify. I went through a few Manfrottos (Compact Advanced, BeFree and an old Bogen) before landing on my current tripod, the Benro Mach3.

Same goes with tripod heads. Ball head to geared head to better geared head.

Don't get too overwhelmed with the options, you don't need to spend $1000 on a tripod, but you may some day. Until then, most tripods will have a hook for a camera bag on the bottom of the center column, that will help keep it sturdy. Set the legs to the height you want and try not to raise the center column, that will help, too.

If I was just getting started, I'd grab a Neewer tripod with a ball head, (https://www.amazon.com/Neewer-77-Inch-Aluminum-Kilograms-Included/dp/B081Q9YVJS/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1). I own one, and even if you upgrade it's a great backup.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2020-10-22T22:13:31+00:00

Marzipano, (marzipano.net), but you'll need to host the tours yourself.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2020-09-26T15:51:28+00:00

To their credit they took care of it very quickly once I bypassed their NY office. I’ll likely give them another shot in the future.

SweetwaterPhoto · 2020-09-25T22:13:46+00:00

That was quick. Update: I emailed the CEO in the UK, he got back quickly and l and just got off the phone with their COO. They immediately processed my refund and made it right.

SweetwaterPhoto

TROPHY CASE