PHOTOGRAPHY
BEFORE AFTER
John Durrant says focus on the little things that make the difference. Like grass. And angles. D’you see?
AFTER BEFORE Because of the time difference, it also
means they can offer an overnight turnaround, which can be valuable to an agent in a competitive market. One thing to be sure of when
commissioning photo editing is extra charges. The people we spoke to offer an inclusive service, but it is wise to know whether the removal of an ugly bin or a bit of council drainwork is going to cost you extra. It usually does, but not very much. One editing expert who works on a
slightly different basis is John Durrant, who runs Doctor Photo and Hello Photo. John offers photography services to agents, mainly at the higher end of the market and he also offers photo editing. “My costs are based on a decreasing scale according to volume, the price per photo could be £2.35 if agents prepay, or £2.50 where clients pay in arrears. But the price could be as low as £1.85 where there are several offices working together, or lower still if the volume exceeds 100 units a month.” It is a job for specialists. Most of us might
manage to brighten up the sky a little bit, but removing dustbins cluttering the street and cars from the front of houses is rather
30 APRIL 2011 PROPERTYdrum
Removing ugly dustbins and cars can be more of a challenge!’
more of challenge. “I set up Doctor Photo so that agents could send me their own photos and I’d make them better” says John. “Sometimes there’s a builders’ toilet in the frame, or a car that can’t be moved – I can usually deal with those issues.” Rescom Media’s PropertyPhotoHub is
perhaps a glimpse of where this is all going in terms of low cost, simplicity and service, as it provides a total online and overnight service for photo enhancement. Although agents are welcome to use the
service, Jonathan Watkin’s clients are often Domestic Energy Assessors, who offer photography. They can take the photos, upload them to their free account, have them enhanced and show them to an agent without having to spend anything. If they download the high resolution version, they
pay; if not, no charge. And the service begins at £1 per photo, with no volume requirement. PropertyPhotoHub can add a DEA or agent’s logo at no charge too, to give that added professionalism. It’s not just exteriors that benefit from
the magic. “First impressions definitely count,” says Jonathan at Rescom Media, and that first pic is almost always of the front of the property, as we all know that buyers are very suspicious if they aren’t shown the front of a house. The interior, is another matter altogether. The first hurdle is cleared with the attractive front shot, but what if the house is empty? You can’t do much about that, can you, aside from encouraging the client to rent furniture to dress a property for sale or let. Well now you can. “We also now offer Virtual Home Staging [‘VHS’]. This takes editing to a new extreme. We can take an empty room and furnish it in any style required. It can be used for unfurnished property lettings for example. Or to simply show off the potential of a room or house. It works in the same way as editing, the agent sends us a high res photo and we VHS it,” says Jonathan. It’s more expensive, from £12 per
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