Update to HDR Software Post: Let’s Talk About Exterior Photos

After writing a post about why I don’t use HDR software for real estate photography (which you can check out here) some of the current agents asked me about exterior photos. In response to their question I have decided to write a post with examples to show the difference between the process that I do and what HDR software does. But before we get into the sample photos I would like to mention: I don’t think using HDR software for exterior photos in real estate photography is bad. Yet with that said there is a difference in the end result which you can see in the images below (by the way you can click on any image to make them bigger for better preview). With each sample photo I will explain why Shutter Avenue Photography doesn’t use software to do the job for us.

In the image above you can see how HDR software made the image look flat, the colors are off or in other words it’s over saturated.  With the style of editing comparing to the software we get to control what needs to be corrected. For instance, we get to pick and choose where shadows needs to be lighter, not over all image like the software does. Also the images doesn’t have that oversaturated look to it.

In this example it’s clear that the software had a hard time distinguishing the light and dark areas so it made a decision to give the final image in natural ground. Comparing to the image provided by us, the final image has more vibrance, light, and more natural look over HDR image. Which makes the home more attractive to potential buyers when looking at the home via internet.

Example above shows how HDR software still has a hard time by getting rid of dark shadows, plus overall image is flat with oversaturated look. Also look at the sky, how the software can’t really control over exposed clouds. But with our style of editing we were able to remove most of the shadows and also the clouds have more detail. So in the final image produced by us, your eyes are lead to see the home not just overall image and surroundings.

In this sample it’s a good point that HDR software can make a good decisions and give a decent final product. Yet if you look at the image which we produced for real estate agent you can see that the image has more natural look to it comparing to HDR software.

Here is an example of when the whole home plus lots of shadows cover the front yard and this creates dark areas throughout most of the image. So the HDR software just takes multi-exposure images and produces the final image on the neutral ground, and everything just looks flat and saturated. With Shutter Avenue Photography style we get to control where shadows needs to be controlled by adding more light to certain areas so this would make the home stand out more comparing to HDR software.

Sometimes people say “it doesn’t matter if the it’s cloudy weather because the image is still flat looking no matter what so HDR software does a good job” and I agree with them but knowing what do edit in the photo our quality of work still has more details and also has more sharpness to the whole image. Plus this is a good example not only for overcast weather but if adding different sky it also enhances the final image, as you can see on the right.

Last words: HDR software for exterior photos is not bad but after all the example you can see how we can create better exterior photos so that way it will attract a viewer looking at these images online. Also there are people who love the look of HDR and if that’s you and your buyer then keep using the software, we are not telling you to stop but just comparing the two.

Do you agree or disagree? Well leave a comment on our facebook page and with any other questions you might have for us.

Photos Provided By: Denver Architectural Photographer