Use a Polarizer for Exterior Shots

Here are two images of a property we listed and sold this summer. The top one was taken without a polarizer and the bottom one was taken with the same camera and lens but with a polarizer.

Note how the colors are more saturated (particularly the sky) in the one shot with a polarizer. Admittedly these were not shot on the same day so the one on the bottom with a polarizer has a little more direct sun. The unpolarized one is dull and uninteresting compared to the polarized one.

Using a polarizer is something I'd known about for a long time but forgotten until the seller of this home, who is a professional photographer, suggested it. I followed his advice and was jolted by the improvement. Depending on the outdoor lighting situation a polarizer will usually improve the look of the sky and clouds and many times it will make a very dramatic improvement in the look of an external shot of a home. I've tried a polarizer on interior shots but it never seems to make a difference unless there is light reflecting off some shiny surface.

Polarizers are more expensive than ordinary filters but they are worth it. I think the one I have for my 16-35mm zoom lens was around $50. I always carry one and use it for outside shots of homes.

One effect you should be aware of is that when using a polarizer with a wide-angle lens the sky may have an uneven color graduation. This is because the polarizing effect is dependent on the angle the light is coming from and with a wide-angle lens the light hits the polarizer from a wider range of angles. You can see this effect in the sky of the shot above.

Ken Burns Style Virtual Tours

If you've seen Ken Burn movies Civil War, Baseball or Jazz that make extensive use of panning over old still photographs with a movie camera you'll know what I mean by the "Ken Burns" style. I don't know if Ken Burns invented this technique but he makes beautiful use of it in his movies. I am always amazed how good movies that just pan over still photographs look. For interior movies, where nothing moves but the panning camera, panning over a still photo can be as good as shooting the home with a movie camera if the still photos are high quality.

A couple of new products make this style of video available to Realtors for use in Virtual Tours. InTouch Home Tours will produce a virtual tour using this "Ken Burns" technique from your still photographs of a home for less than $50 per tour.

You can create your own movies from your still digital photographs quite inexpensively ($49.95 for the software) using the Photo to Movie product.