HDR vs. Flambient Photography

The Key to Stunning Real Estate Photography

Real estate photography has seen a lot of changes over the years. Gone are the days when a single exterior photo was enough to entice buyers to request a showing. Nowadays, not only are you essentially required to have professional photography for every listing, but there are now two major styles of real estate photography that can make or break how your listing is presented to potential buyers. What are these two types of photography and which one should you choose?

Let’s start with the style every agent knows about, HDR Photography.

HDR photography rose to its peak of popularity in the early 2010s. As computer processing of photos became more popular and accessible to amateur photographers, so did the technique of HDR or High Dynamic Range Photography. The idea is simple; you take several photos from the same angle on a tripod, each varying in exposure or brightness. Some are darker, and some are lighter than the normal exposure. These sets are called “brackets” and typically consist of 3, 5, or 7 exposures of the same scene. The photographer then blends them together on his/her computer to create one final image where everything is perfectly exposed with an even color tone. Or…at least that’s what’s supposed to happen in a perfect world. Unfortunately, HDR is not that simple, and while it is easy to combine images together, producing something that is evenly lit and colored correctly for the available light is quite hard to do. And frequently, photographers will simply layer all exposures on top of each other and call it a day. That leads to images looking surrealistic, where a red chair becomes ULTRA red, and grass has an unnatural dayglow green color. That results from merging a very dark exposure, with a medium dark exposure, one normal exposure, a lighter exposure, and an ultra light exposure. It was thought that the darker exposures would help balance out the light exposures, and vice versa…but it often only creates a disastrous result that’s virtually impossible to correct.

However, it’s fast…and it’s easy, and doesn’t require any additional lighting equipment to lug around from shoot to shoot. It’s also much cheaper and less time consuming for the photographer, which is why you’ll typically only see HDR photography offered by less experienced photographers or individuals looking to turn real estate photos around quickly for a budget price.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There ARE some real estate photographers who shoot using HDR, but spend the necessary time adjusting their photos in their computer software, and are able to achieve great results. But it’s a 50/50 proposition…and depends on their post-processing strategies to determine outcome.

Enter Flambient Photography

Flambient photography gets its name from combining the words “Flash” and “Ambient”. Professional photographers know that using a flash is the only way to achieve even lighting, beautiful contrast and minimal color casting from interior lighting. Flambient, like HDR, uses a set of multiple image exposures, but adds additional flash images or “frames”. These flash frames are used to eliminate color casting from interior and exterior lighting that tend to cause problems when using the HDR technique by itself. They also help balance the light in a room and provide a clear view of out the windows for a seamlessly blended final image, inside and out. Flambient photography should be done by a seasoned professional photographer who understands how to properly capture all the needed images and who can provide the intense post-production needed to produce high quality images. This is why amateur photographers and very inexpensive photo studios shy away from using flambient. The higher quality comes at a cost of time, equipment, training and skill level. It’s a little bit like any industry. Real estate, for example. Some agents do the bare minimum when transacting real estate, while others go all out in providing an unquestionably superior experience for their buyers and sellers.

The choice is clear when it comes to professional photography of your next listing. Flambient photography shot by a true professional photographer is the only way to ensure that your listing will be held to the highest standards of quality. It provides consistent results with even lighting throughout the scene and beautiful color across the entire image.

Article and examples provided by:

Will Gay
Will Gay Photography
Direct/Cell: (303) 351-2012

Professional photographer serving Fort Collins and all of Northern Colorado specializing in capturing Real Estate, Architecture, and Commercial photos.

We do business with agents all over the country (and Canada). As a result, we’re constantly exposed to various levels of real estate photography. Some are absolutely OUTSTANDING, which not only makes our job easier, but also helps make our brochures look SPECTACULAR! It’s funny…whenever we visit a download link for photos on real estate listings, we’re always keeping our fingers crossed that the photographer is experienced, and understands the value of using flambient. That’s because HDR is noticeable at a glance, and is disappointing as it requires additional work on our end, as we attempt to desaturate and correct the colors as best we can. Nevertheless, the end results are NEVER as good as flambient.

If you sell real estate, and are concerned about how your properties are presented to the masses, whether online or in print, it may be well worth your while to seek out a photographer who utilizes flambient, however be forewarned…they are few and far between and will probably be booked well in advance!

In closing, I wish to extend a hearty thanks to my friend Will for his valuable insight and for providing examples to illustrate how drastic the differences can be. Thanks Will.