If there is one single item that improves the confidence of any prospective buyer it's the quality of the real estate photos. The main reason why the internet has transformed the real estate industry is not only because buyers can view property photos from the luxury of their own home but they now make a decision if they want to proceed to the next step BASED on those photos. There are other factors, of course, but photos can make an amazing difference on how affective property displays.

The problem with photos is they have one major limitation - they have a boundary! Vary rarely can you capture the whole room in one photo. The hard reality is that sometimes you wish that photos were more longer and less squarer.

Stitching Photos into Panoramas is the Key

By following some simple rules shown below you can extend those boundaries to create a long panorama photo that REALLY showcases the room or property. It's fairly obvious from the example above which would get a better reaction. Once stitched, the image would be shown in the video tour panning from left to right (only horizontal panoramas are accepted). This service is included in any MyRealEstateProperty website.

What are the limitations.

We will stitch a maximum of 3 panoramas for each property (not including any location shots you want stitched and kept on file). Each panorama can be made of either 2 or 3 separate photos (no more). If you can label them in sequence (eg Lounge-1.jpg and Lounge-2.jpg) it will make it obvious what photos are meant for stitching. We also reserve the right to reject images meant for stitching based on them being unsuitable or the quality is inadequate.

Follow these guidelines to take photos planned for stitching

Regardless if you have a professional photographer who takes your real estate photos or you do them in-house the following procedure and tips will give the best results.

1) Using the camera's view finder (or LCD display) sweep the room / scene from left to right and choose the most appropriate photo angles. Each image MUST overlap the previous one by 30% (or close to it). See the image below for an example. The centre part is the overlap.

2) Swivel the camera around its axis and keep it as level as you can. IE don't relocate or move your whole body left or right and stand in one place for all shots. (or better still, use a tripod which will cover all bases).

3) The closer an object is to the camera the more distorted it becomes when stitched. If possible use a vantage point that has no close objects eg. Benches, tables, chairs or other straight objects directly on front of the camera. This distortion can be minimised after the stitching process but depending on the closeness of the object can never be eradicated completely.

4) Shoot the photos vertically (in portrait mode) to get more height to your photos. This decision can be left up to you or the photographer but getting some extra height to your photos which will increase the perceived depth of the room.

5) Use the same exposure and focus setting for each separate photo and don't use a polarizing filter. This minimises the lighting and exposure difference between each photo which sometimes makes stitching difficult.

Any good photographer should understand the best way to take photos that need to be stitched together. You can print or send the PDF file below to your photographer which mentions all the above points. (The easiest way to save the PDF is RIGHT click on the icon below and select "Save Target As" or "Save Link as").

Just send us the individual photos which can be done via the "Add New Property" form and we will let you know if there are any issues with the stitching process.

MyRealEstateProperty Panorama Stitching Guide PDF.