This is going to be a little bit of a rant so bear with me…

I’ve been photography properties for around 5 years now and in the last 2-3, I’ve really found my feet with the style I like to shoot. While I have a style I love to shoot there is a time when certain techniques and the feel of the property doesn’t match the style I shoot. I maintain my style while adapting to the lighting conditions and keeping either the completely ambient and multi-layer flash images within the look I like. There are some properties that have huge window letting in a ton a light so much so that they only have small lamps or reading lights. on the other end, there are places that are basements and have little to no window light which means they (hopefully) have a tonne of daylight balanced LED spotlight and lamps dotted around the apartments.

With that being said I do like to keep my clients happy and if they would like certain images a little brighter than id like it I will happily oblige. However, ( Rant begins :D) I’ve been shown another agent's photos while discussing the shoot with certain agents and they say’I want the images to look like this’. I do my best to politely and discreetly decline to make the photos like the same way and talk about how my photos won't look like that which is a great thing and point out flaws that I personally find within the photo. They tend to then let me get on with it. Until delivery then they start requesting for me to re-edit some shots as they need it to look more like other agents shots. to which I reply with a slightly more confident wording of basically no that what you get when you book me.

I think the worse part of it all is they love my photos when they book me and first see me, they can't give me higher praise and compliments 🤭. It is frustrating because I have no problem is not shooting for people who I don’t click with I learnt this from doing wedding photography, if there spark isn’t there I can't shoot for that person, nothing personal I just can't do the best job I can. Which makes me feel like this agent hired based on my price. I’m very open and honest when talking to new clients about my shooting style an can only assuming because we are talking at this stage that you want the work I’m showing you via my website, www.Garyaskewphotography.com or my Instagram, instagram.com/garyaskewphotography. Unless the client tells me they want a certain look. I’m all for client satisfaction which is why is good for me to decline some agents because I can give them what they want.

I believe that my photos have a different look to 90% of what out there and I believe my work stands out to the typical real estate photographer so please agents when hiring a photographer to accept the style you the photographer you choose has and stand out or blend in by wanting the same thing your competition has!

I’d love to know what from an agents perspective and other real estate photographer thoughts on this.

Has it happened to you?

did a photographer display something different to what they delivered?

One thing my clients are doing more is home staging, it’s something that I usually only see with Hotels and Airbnb’s but more people are doing it for residential listing which I think really makes a house a home. It completely allows the viewers to be drag into the photo and imagine their selves there already, encouraging them to buy/let the property. Whether they look the look or not they start to move things around and make it their own without anyone saying a word. Which is why the London clientele I have always allow time for home staging before I go in and photography the luxury they have created.

In terms of photographing a luxury property that’s been home staged, it allows it's much easy to get the feel of the character of the home and how people may actually use it. It allows you to feel the flow of the home making the photos I take that much more storytelling without even be conscious of what's happening. It allows the natural or ambient light to really play with the decor and you get a sense of textures and colours that complement each other and really pull the whole house together.

Being a London photographer a lot of the properties I go to it already looks impeccable as there are a lot of quirky styles, decor taste and so many unique things about each property. It really makes me think about each shot more what should and shouldn’t include in each composition. How much of certain aspect do I ‘NEED’ to show. Should it be horizontal or vertical? All these things are going through my head when I go somewhere that has been home staged.

Luxury properties in London and around the UK could all do with a fresh touch from a home stager/interior designer so as a photographer I strongly want people to get them as it makes a massive difference to how much attention you property can get.

In the set of photos, I posted below are with the help of the following team;

Home via; www.enitanholdings.co.uk

Staging by; www.Shakerinteriors.co.uk