Complexity of a Well-Executed Twilight Real Estate Photo (DIY How TO)

You only get ONE chance at a First Impression

This applies 100% to Real Estate or Rental property listings.  When potential buyers or renters are looking through long results for something that meets their criteria, you want your listing or rental property to STAND OUT! 

You can do this by being the most expensive, the cheapest, or having a unique and memorable first photo! 

Compare these two photos of the same property:

front photo of white house during daytime with lights off

Not going to stand out in anyone’s mind other than perhaps the placement of the golf-cart.  (It required the Photographer to spend about 3 seconds shooting and 3 minutes editing and was shot on any moderately clear sunny day)

Sunset or Twilight Photo of White House with glowing windows and golfcart in front

This image required:

  • careful planning
  • arriving at just the right moment
  • having the patience and dedication to take several photos over time without moving the camera

It was the result of combining 9 separate photos into one image

  • (1) First one shot at 7:20 when sun was behind horizon but still light out 
  • (2) Another image shot at 8:05 when it was dark enough to see the lights on inside through the windows, and
  • (7) photos all taken while aiming a high-powered strobe at various parts of the house (to make sure that the white color stayed bright white) unlike this image, which is what most night photos look like: 

aerial photo of white lake house taken at night with glowing windows

(Also, a very nice image!)
Requires using either a long POLE to elevate the camera, or an aerial drone smooth enough to take a long-exposure shot allowing such clear visibility in very dark environments. 

BUT see how the house looks kind of blue/yellow instead of WHITE?

 

Here are the images required to keep color of the home accurate (fired separately while hand-holding a 200 Watt/second Godox Flash

So next time you ask your Real Estate photographer why twilight photos cost $150 extra, hopefully they’ll tell you it’s because we can only shoot ONE per day and only a few per week based on perfect weather conditions!

BTW – this home is available for RENT in Tullahoma TN . . . See more photos of it here: