How To Edit Interior Luxury Real Estate Photos | HDR with NO FLASH

[@tomaszstefanko8817]

You are a living proof that we don't need a truck full of flash lights and hours spent on every single photo to create beautiful interior images. Great work, Alex! I would love to see more videos with more examples. Thanks for sharing!

[@AlexSerrao]

Thanks so much Tomasz! That’s what I’m trying to do! Everyone makes you think you need to spend 5 hours on a photoshoot with flashes everywhere. It’s just not true. And hard to build a business of volume like that!

[@joelanai]

@@AlexSerrao This technique works fairly well when there are simple window views... however adding in blinds, different light sources, a porch in shadows, etc... sometimes popping a few flashes is actually easier than trying to work through HDR editing with complex scenes. I, rarely, need more than one hand-held flash to do whatever is needed. I use both HDR and flambient (sometimes both together) depending on the complexity of the lighting situation. It's all about being able to pull out the right tool for the right job.

[@atistiltins6163]

@@AlexSerrao Yeah, thats is not true. I can imagine, from where you have gotten that impression, maybe Mike Kelly, but he is completelly on a different level - way above any realestate work. If anything your approach takes more time and is more tedious, than for me to do 3 flash pops with flash in my hand, remotelly triggered, no light stands, just two small flashes, within a minute and edit it in 2-3min, without the need for messing with marque tools. Even if i need to do ultra crisp window shots (looks a bit artifficial imho, but ok), with flash thats is an extra flash on site and a 2s blend mode change in PS and no marque tool.

[@atistiltins6163]

@@joelanai Exactly. I use two - one on camera as a weaker fill light, that doubles as a trigger and one in hand, that is my main and i trigger the shot on my tablet, as i am walking arround gettings a few pops in and assessing on the fly. HDR is good for situations where it is very difficult to evenly distribute flash, like in a 200sqm open space office or a hangar, but other than that, hdr is very dependent on circumstances for it to work out really well, without flash and thus it is not very reliable or consistent or color accurate.

[@Baghera_1]

That's because that kitchen was nice and clean. Most properties are not like that. Don't be fooled.

[@therealist1103]

The final image is much brighter than what you were editing?

[@Baghera_1]

Of course it is; This is just step one. HDR usually messes up colors pretty badly, so you have to continue from there on with removing unwanted objects, color correct etc. If You shoot RAW, as you should, then you will have to edit everything. People underestimate editing and that's really the other 50% if not 75% of your job as a photographer.(Except for photojournalists who shouldn't be editing anything). The issue with having someone else editing is that this person has not seen the property in person, so that's when you see all sorts of crazy colors etc. I edit my own images specifically because "I" was there and know what everything looked like.

[@Perceivedshift]

The nice thing about doing a window pull with a flash is that it gives you a quick(er) and natural looking result. Especially when you have stuff in front of the window...like plants, blinds, curtains...etc.

[@Baghera_1]

Correct.

[@aznomads1579]

I appreciate the video. This was an evenly lit room with no blinds. I'd live to see how you handle a large space with tungsten and flouresent lights. Also, how do you handle blinds, seems like this technique would give you very ugly windows if there are blinds, maybe I'm mistaken.

[@aznomads1579]

I would still love to see a video dealing with these challenges. With the example you gave I think even HDR software would do a good job.

[@360VRStudios]

Agree, I HDR, and take a flash shot for window pulls and light pulls. Don’t have time to mess with cutting out for blinds.

[@nindoninshu]

if you're still wondering, i personally think this is a worse technique than just doing HDR merge after selecting the images and right clicking no need to do masking especially for difficult scenes, just let the software do the heavy lifting

[@9azzz503]

thanks for all the helps! this issue haunted me for so long now i can finally smile at it. you made this simple and short, i am lucky to find you.

[@NowCallJames]

Thanks Alex. I've referenced this 100x and is essentially my basic work flow now.

[@TheManToys]

Thank you so much for this. This was the simplest and so easy to follow video i have seen on this.

[@JeepTJWheelin]

Straight forward and well explained. I hired someone overseas to do my videos but at this time I want to continue editing photos until I have it down perfectly. I find editing these HDR's to be relaxing. At some point though, I'll probably pass 80% of these onto my editor. 👍📷

[@seanseuffert9623]

I appreciate how minimal you are with your gear and not overly bracketing. I have been trying to get the right look. Just HDR is not exactly what I want. So this is a nice method. Also I am not a fan of the flambiant. So much editing with that method. this is fun to practice on. You are a great reference. Yes. More tutorials on this method.

[@Samuel-qn5yd]

This was amazing, thank you! I'm starting out REP and am glad it's not too complicated of a process to hand blend

[@ShoaibChaudary]

Very Useful Video and I successfully completed my Project with a 5-Star Review. Thanks, Alex

[@werito82]

I used to shoot HDR, but wasn’t fully content with my photos, now I shoot mostly flambient but I think I might give this a try. I like how fast you were able to edit that one photo. Thanks for the video! 👍👍👍

[@AlexSerrao]

I think both options are great and you can get a great image out of either method. I honestly like proving to people you don’t need a flash lol

[@infringinator]

@@AlexSerrao ummm good luck doing that on spring break there buddy.

[@AlexSerrao]

@@infringinator doing pretty well year round my friend

[@360VRStudios]

@@AlexSerrao you need flash, for those window pulls. Its easier on editing. Pure HRD is no good, get flash.

[@sacrifice7203]

easy to see why you would want to outsource your editing. Thankfully, lightroom's new masking options make the process you are describing 1000% quicker.

[@GregShaw]

Use the luminosity mask approach or blend if approach as this will give natural blends between your layers and save you having to draw around windows etc

[@Rpye-br8vx]

I loved this video!! But, it would be nice if at the end you show us the before and after of the editing, and not just the after. Otherwise, thanks for this tutorial 🙌

[@bgva82]

Thank you for this...was very easy to follow and now I started going through my older brackets to get some practice. Night and day difference between that and my original edits.

[@k.kotanidis]

Very usefull tutorial video . thank you a lot Alex

[@michael_viteritti]

Amazing video and technique! Thanks for sharing this pearl :D

[@ronaldbom1995]

Thank you!! spent a long time looking for a video about this

[@AlexSerrao]

Glad to help!

[@Ununpentius]

Do one of these videos with a room with wood ceilings or dark features, green color casts reflecting on the walls from trees outside, as well as orange incandescent interior lighting color casts too.

[@rigobertoesquivel3362]

thank you for introducing me into real estate wow! easy!!

[@conanhutchison]

Thanks for making this! Super helpful!

[@Gerald_G]

Nice. Thank you. I'll have to try this technique as I'm learning.

[@sydneysmith2388]

LOVED this tutorial and how this edit looks on my photos. Thanks so much!! :)

[@AlexSerrao]

You're so welcome!

[@aireeldrone1772]

Great video! I have used this method a lot. Thank you Alex!

[@blomquist.j]

Thanks for the video! Would be awesome to watch you do this in some different kind of rooms. Like a room with much colors, a harsh light window where u get a lot of to bright spots in the room etc. But as i said. Great video. I would love to learn more about manual blending for HDR real estate :)

[@YourBoyStevoVA]

Great video and demonstration !

[@dustindrake1257]

These are really helpful, will probably help me reduce the need for me to outsource. But anyway, outsourcing helps me avoid boring repetitive editing. edithere if someone needs it, not that I want to advertise but their service is really great.

[@kyleschwartz.]

Confused on what the point was at 5:00 bc you ended up selecting all the windows on your own anyway?

[@KeeganChecks]

Real cool tutorial and thanx for sharing this knowledge been struggling to edit properly real estate pictures but u did a very good job on explaining it here, keep up the good work.

[@AlexSerrao]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@cathy7672]

Is there a way you could please make a video with the final editing steps? I loove the end result but are missing the final tweeks you or your editor did to the image.. Thank you so much!

[@martinkukol8667]

Thank you for this video, helped me a lot to improve my editing !

[@kooroshhaziny8992]

Thank you for the video, I appreciate that.

[@metanoiaphotography]

Freaking awesome! Thanks for this!

[@AlexSerrao]

Glad you liked it!

[@magnetlips]

great video! just one suggestion use pop filter for the breath control !

[@karunnaidu5060]

Superb editing thanks for sharing 👍

[@tlustejmicin]

Shown picure was already pretty decent and desaturated. Problems are where there is a lot of color cast and when there is a white balanced light coming into the room and yellow lights inside the room it is sometiˇes really difficult 😅 Lov ur vid.

[@hanschallogan7660]

The tutorial is great and THANK YOU for posting it. I am new to Lightroom Classic and I have followed the tutorial but all the changes that I made in masking it did not save after exporting it. Can you please provide an information on how to save it with all the masking changes? Thanks a lot!

[@navneetbibian7444]

8:12 Bro played us here See how drastic difference there is between both versions

[@AlexSerrao]

Definitely not homie. If I remember correctly, I just did another touch up in LR after the photoshop edit. Have nothing to hide. I do not edit my own photos. I have a team of editors that are much better than me.

[@360VRStudios]

Its better to have a flash to window pulls and lights. Easier just Darken Mode.

[@marcusmezzano]

Helpful tip: Anytime you say “By the way” you should go back and talk about what you just did haha 😅

[@leemurray3188]

Great video, thanks

[@AlexSerrao]

Thanks Lee!

[@jk-fotovideo550]

Perfect👍👍👍

[@AlexSerrao]

Thanks!

[@beaubrown3307]

THANK YOU!

[@michaelaldridge4536]

Great edit. Can you also do one with Photoshop with a Flambinent photo?

[@picsfast]

Hi, We are a team of talented photo editors and we charge $0.3 - 0.5 per image. If you are planning to find a good editor to outsource the images, we can give you a free trial of our editing. Thanks!

[@Hannah-ft5cr]

If there are blinds on the windows, do you raise them before you take a photo or do you just open them? I’m having the worst time editing windows with blinds.

[@rishabhyadav-ql5wl]

The only video i have been looking for a really long long time. thank you for this. Do you usually take only 3bracketed shots or more ?

[@drishtibhatia9444]

thank yuo so much, alex! this really gives a lot of clarity. alhough i'm struggling with how easily did you use that pen tool. when i tried to do it, i'm unable to do as easily like you. could you throw some light about it if possible. you mentioned some command shift and rubber band tool. can you help. thank you!

[@pavuciks]

what about those dark candles, which you left in the exposure for windows? :)

[@AlexSerrao]

I definitely could have gotten those candles. You would just cut around those when doing the window. Good eye!

[@gabequezada2066]

fantastic ! You have a new subscriber

[@AlexSerrao]

Thank you!

[@honeyco7502]

Hi, why do you click “remove chromatic aberration” & “enable profile corrections”? I love the video but would like to know why this is an important step. (:

[@gludeklis]

after selecting window frames with a pen tool and hitting "enter", the marked section disappears and nothing happens. any suggestions what could be wrong?

[@marilyndenyer8107]

Hi, I do real estate photography. My question is do you have a simple video for having lights or lamps on in a photo?

[@Jp4444jp]

Great video! You do really beautiful work. But, ya gotta get a pop filter on that mic. Ouch!

[@AlexSerrao]

Ugh I know man. I just upgraded 🙌 Audio is such a pain lol

[@mudbonejames9313]

Appreciate the taking time to do this one. as for time i am looking for an outsourced connection to build a relationship with. might you be able to help sort this out.

[@AlexSerrao]

Look through real estate photography Facebook groups. TONS of editors in there

[@henrymiller1204]

Is the photo you showed at 8:12 as the result edited further from where you finished? It appears to have a better white balance and brighter shadows than the end product you were editing. I appreciate the tutorial video otherwise.

[@AverageatMostThings]

What version of Lightroom is this I was trying to find the pen tool and it seems to be replaced with object aware based masking

[@Pict8kr17]

Great video! Your comment about using an editor reminded me how much time I am losing. I work a full time job and do these photos on the side. Mind pointing us in the direction of who you would recommend?

[@AlexSerrao]

Look in real estate photography groups on Facebook. TONS of editors in there. Have them send you a portfolio

[@Gen3photography]

Hey so I started using this technique for my interior shots, but I have had an issue, which is that in some of my photos where say there may be things infront of the window or this or that, and you can see wierd light and dark lines where you can see i made the selection in photoshop. I love the results way more than just merging HDR in lightroom so if anyone could lend a hand with the windows it would be amazing!!

[@shuvonkarsaha1350]

Hello Alex, thanks for the video! Can you please share the link of the updated tool to edit photos? I am a newbie in the business. Still confused about which Adobe editing plans to subscribe to. Thanks!

[@steelty]

You always just use Adobe Color profile?

[@jgioele]

Alex this video is GREAT! Thank you! Just curious what outsourcing company do you use? I'm currently also in the market for one.

[@ruandrokleynhans1078]

Who do you use as your external editor??would you mind sharing their details

[@lnordlinger]

hi Alex! Great video. Thank you! How much time would these windows take if you were in EDITING MODE and not TEACHING mode?

[@icom782]

8:07 and 8:12 are two completely different images. The 2nd edit probably took much more tools and time to do. All you showed here is window pull which is pretty easy to do if you have windows like you do in this photo but with curtains or flowers on the windowsill? No way to do it like that. And windows with flowers or curtains are like 90% of the time so how would you do that.

[@zulqarnaintiwana998]

very helpful , loved it, can you please help me with one more thing that if windows are bit tricky i mean round shape and blocked with some sofas and etc what is the fastest way to do thanks

[@FredHoffman]

Great video and thanks... I am shooting the Nikon Z now and need a good recommendation on a good, but not too expensive, lens for interior real estate. I do have a 20-20 Sigma that I could use on my Nikon 7000 but would like to move to the Z... any help and recommendations would be appreciated

[@hafrankhauser2805]

Thank you for your awesome trick. Do you know why when I applied the layer mask after selecting all the windows and nothing happened. The other time it worked when I followed your step one by one. But the layer mask didn’t work this time.

[@jonathanskeele854]

when or why would you choose to use this method over flash/ambient (flambient)? what are the advantages or disadvantages? Thanks

[@Leth0]

Wait how did it go from the image On the screen that clearly shows the shadows alot darker than the image at the end? 8:10 to 8:13

[@benjaminelizalde5202]

same

[@longjohn2404]

This is amazing stuff man. Really appreciate you putting out these videos. Quick question though: isn’t this super time consuming? I’ve gotten used to using Photomatix so seeing you do this for every photo seems so tedious. How long did it typically require you to edit a single house session (when you were editing them yourself)?

[@AlexSerrao]

Very time consuming. I just couldn’t keep editing with the shoots becoming more and more frequent. Went through a bunch of different editors before I found someone I really like

[@PREISINGPRODUCTIONSsince1912]

@@AlexSerrao Could you please share your editor’s information? We’d love to work with your current editor!

[@fotofan9795]

Lightroom generates much more accurate HDRs than photomatix

[@WeiK0]

Interesting!

[@atvitales]

Hi Alex. Do you have any suggestions on how to find a quality over seas photoshopper? I have no idea how to even begin. Thank you for your video. I did learn but I agree, it would be better time spent to have someone else do the final editing.

[@AlexSerrao]

Yes, check out my latest video! It answers a lot of that

[@stashakim4767]

Great Video!Can I ask you who or where do you use for editing?

[@granjavianacasas2782]

very good tutorial. but I'm head banging. these 3 pictures you take are the opening manual. clear | media | dark? iso still at 100? is it just the opening? another thing , the no neu LR the RGB I can not delete for the points are traced . my dream is to be able to do this kind of work. but I'm having a lot of trouble. are all files on Raw? congratulations for your content, I await an answer.

[@jaredmeche6325]

@Alex Serrao How do you determine the feather on the ambient luminosity mask?

[@AlexSerrao]

That’s up to my editor haha. Best decision ever to find a good editor. It’ll change your business

[@ctheseira2]

Nice effort on the video but working on masking is old school thinking, especially for real estate photoshoots. That's how I used to do my window pulls and it was SO time consuming. The masking part was such a pain, plus it is not always that accurate. That also explains why you need to source out the editing efforts too. Now, I focus primarily on the flambient technique for all my real estate photoshoots cause it is TEN times faster, and it also 10 more accurate, especially complicated windows. Plus, homes are selling like hot cakes and delivering finished images to an RE agent is absolute key to maintaining and growing your business. Sourcing the editing work off shore is not the best idea. Just saying.

[@AlexSerrao]

Flambient is definitely faster for editing but for my workflow I have to send to an editor regardless of how I shoot because I have so many shoots in a day. It’s all about speed and quality. This is how it’s worked best for me.

[@ctheseira2]

@@AlexSerrao I can appreciate time management, which is key for scaling a photography business. Can you share how long your photos are returned after sending it to a contractor? US based or overseas?

[@robertleyland209]

@@ctheseira2 with my overseas editor I receive the images back within 8 hrs or so. It wouldn’t be possible for me to edit my photos when I some days have 4 shoots. I send them to the editor at night and they’re in my inbox when I wake up.

[@photos-fera7392]

@@AlexSerrao Great video man! I was shooting bracketed real estate using Luminosity Masking for the last 5 years until I started flambient a year ago. No looking back after using just 1 light especially for accurate colors, bracketing is at the mery of ambient light which can never be without colour contamination. Good video nonetheless man, do whatever works for you!

[@aznomads1579]

That's great if you want to keep a little business. BUT, if you're trying to build a big company you need to learn to trust others. Whether you outsource or hire in house editors, at some point you're going to need to do that if you every want to be more than a one man show. I built a company with 30+ photographers and our editors were awesome. Just saying.

[@ScottOwens28]

What WB do you shoot with for interior? What are the Bracketed shots you used, I saw 3 images. TIA!

[@kastrosiete]

So where do we find this over seas editor? I need one lol

[@akorze01]

Hello. Great video. Can you recommend outsourcing company for editing?

[@picsfast]

Hi, We are a team of talented photo editors and we charge $0.3 - 0.5 per image. If you are planning to find a good editor to outsource the images, we can give you a free trial of our editing. Thanks!

[@seanhardman1964]

can you do a tutorial where you give us a link to download the photos you edit?

[@matthewbromley2893]

Hey man you havent uploaded in a min

[@jabisanz]

Thank you so much for this video and all the content on your channel. One question. For me the final editing doesn't look the same as the one you give to the client. Did you do something else on the editing? for me seems like blacks are not the same and also the contrast. Looking forward to heating from you.

[@AlexSerrao]

You just need to keep adjusting it to your liking. You'll get there!

[@jabisanz]

Would love to see the final adjustments you did

[@joshmcdzz6925]

How did you hire an editor? Where do I get them? This is a lot of process if I have to edit 5 homes with 40 images each ( 200 images ) and to deliver within 24hrs. Your edit style seems to use luminocity masking ( which I used for landscape ). Why didn't you use LR hdr merge and just take it on from there rather than going into PS?

[@picsfast]

Hi, We are a team of talented photo editors and we charge $0.3 - 0.5 per image. If you are planning to find a good editor to outsource the images, we can give you a free trial of our editing. Thanks!

[@ernstlyregis600]

why did your final photo looks different then when you were editing??

[@carlmulder6482]

It looks like you shoot an ambient, darker ambient, and a window exposure. So not a traditional -2 0 +2 HDR, Do I understand that correctly?

[@AlexSerrao]

Yes! I find that I get a better result this way. Both work though!

[@anetahristova3743]

How do you do that?

[@criticaltinker]

No way will use the pen tool. How about if there are small blinds or plants? Still pen tool?

[@AlexSerrao]

It’s time consuming for sure. That’s why I use an editor. I highly recommend finding a good one. You can select then fill the whole window with darker exposure then using a layer mask to paint back the blind with the brush tool though. But again I solely use an editor nowadays

[@Avalanche19]

where do you outsource your work?

[@picsfast]

Hi, We are a team of talented photo editors and we charge $0.3 - 0.5 per image. If you are planning to find a good editor to outsource the images, we can give you a free trial of our editing. Thanks!

[@A1Bokeh]

did you forget to turn your mic on bro ?

[@AlexSerrao]

Ok sooooo. They first segment, I literally forgot to plug the mic in. Segment at the computer was on though. Had to call me out didn’t you! 😂

[@A1Bokeh]

@@AlexSerrao 🤣 I'm sorry bro! Love the vids tho im already improving the hdr type technique

[@3dhawaiirealestate812]

Aloha Alex, can you send me your photo editors, link?

[@picsfast]

Hi, We are a team of talented photo editors and we charge $0.3 - 0.5 per image. If you are planning to find a good editor to outsource the images, we can give you a free trial of our editing. Thanks!

[@joshuaharmening7750]

Great vid! Where did you find your editor?

[@AlexSerrao]

Found them in a facebook group! But I have at least 5-6 editors reach out to me by email and instagram every week. Once you get going with your business, you'll get that too. They all offer a few free edits to prove themselves. Use that to your advantage and try out a bunch of them.

[@Actionworksphotography]

Have you ever used aurora if so any pros or cons. Also do you have an email I could get ahold from of you and ask you a few questions on

[@AlexSerrao]

I haven't personally used aurora. [e-mail]

[@SeanHarrison]

How do you find someone over seas that knows how to edit? and is it expensive?

[@jameslawlor7509]

Found it!

[@jameslawlor7509]

Are you using someone from fiverr or something? I do flambient on 2-3 photo shoots a day, and it’s KILLING me. Especially when I have luxury with video.

[@AlexSerrao]

I don’t use Fiverr. I use to and there are some great editors on there but I wanted someone more dedicated to just me. I ended up finding someone in a real estate photography group on facebook. Join some groups and ask for editors. There’s TONS of them

[@aligning2118]

can you share your editors info I dont have time to edit

[@louisyang6450]

how do you sharp your photo in editing?

[@AlexSerrao]

I don’t really need to sharpen very much usually. Just get the image in focus for the shot and you should be good 👌 but Lightroom does have a sharpening slider to help if you need a little adjustment

[@philippenewman]

You left the candle in the middle window which looks black instead of white. Also, this technique isn't really effective wgen you're shooting places with any number of pillows, plants, etc in front of windows

[@jaylistudios]

How do you deal with mixed lighting? Like 2700k interior lights with overcast 7000k natural light coming in the window?

[@AlexSerrao]

I try to get my WB as good as I can and then pay my editor to handle it lol

[@jaylistudios]

@@AlexSerrao 😂

[@Muleketo369]

How long it takes to edit 200 photos?

[@picsfast]

It takes 5hrs to me to edit 200 photos. Hi, We are a team of talented photo editors and we charge $0.3 - 0.5 per image. If you are planning to find a good editor to outsource the images, we can give you a free trial of our editing. Thanks!

[@gonzalovillota7840]

Could you please share the company or person that does your retouching overseas?

[@AlexSerrao]

No Sorry. I hired them on. But I would check out Fiverr. They have some great editors

[@marilyndenyer8107]

or lamps