First things first, if you’re not familiar with Google’s free Picasa photo management and editing software, I promise it is well worth getting acquainted with.  Besides being incredibly simple to use and user intuitive, it works wonders for photos.  And let’s face it – those of us in real estate probably need all the help we can get to create great marketing photos for our listings.

Get off to a straight start.  Once your photos are uploaded, select one with good potential.  Now, unless you’re an expert photographer in the first place, the truth of the matter is your photos are probably not perfectly composed.  One secret that the eye appreciates but the mind doesn’t always make obvious is straight up and down vertical lines.  Use Picasa’s Straighten feature to make sure your all vertical lines are just that – perfectly vertical.  The viewer probably won’t grasp the difference right away, but their eyes will be professionally pleased.

Narrow it down to what really matters.  Eliminate extraneous clutter and distractions by using the really simple Crop feature in Picasa.  Use it to select just the part the viewer really wants to see.  But don’t get carried away – sometimes it’s important to leave a little extra to show perspective or to frame the subject of the photo.  Also, it’s best to stick the standard shapes and sizes of photos for consistency.  Unless you absolutely must, stay away from the manual dimension option.

Experiment with the tuning.  Sometimes, the picture you took will be perfect exactly as it was downloaded from the camera – no editing required.  But if you want to add a bit of extra pop, try gentle experimentation with the Tuning option in Picasa.  Fill Light will often just wash the whole photo out, but Highlights and Shadows can really bring the subject to the front, especially if the right lighting conditions exist in the picture to begin with.  If it helps, great.  But if not, no sweat – there’s always the undo button.  Just be careful not to go overboard.

Try a little saturation.  Under the Effects tab, you’ll find the all important Saturation feature.  When used sparingly, this feature can do more for color photographs than perhaps any other tweak.  It’s especially useful to bring out light, such as with an exterior house photo in the twilight with interior lights on in all the windows.  With a little practice and the right composure to work with, you can make it look like the home is just beckoning the viewer to come inside.

Bring out the blue skies.  Maybe one of my favorite adjustments offered by Picasa is the Graduated Tint feature.  Again, found under the Effects tab, it is fairly limited in its application – but one thing it works really great for is the sky.  If your photo shows off lots of sky, you can make it look bluer and more pleasant than ever with one flick of the mouse.  Particularly useful to brighten up a cloudy or dreary day.  Give it a try for yourself!

So there you have it – 5 easy ways to improve your real estate photos with Picasa.  Remember, practice makes perfect.  And just one more thing to keep in mind – try to keep any effects or adjustments to your photos as natural looking as possible.  Good luck and stunning photos to you!