Delete Photos Like a Pro

Delete the extras: keep the better shot

The main lesson: knowing which photos to delete and which to keep.

Part 1

When two photos show almost the same thing, keep the better one and delete the other. Extra ingredients ruin the soup.

Knowing which shots to send and which to delete is what separates a pro from an amateur.
A typical home needs about seven exterior angles: one on each corner, one or two straight on, the details if there are any, and a door.
A small room needs one or two photos. Four good shots of a tiny bedroom is still overshooting.

From the review

P1 Knowing which shots to send and which to delete is what separates a pro from an amateur. Your photos are a soup: solid ingredients, then extras that take away from what the person should feel. 1572 Creek Dr
P2 My recipe for a typical home: one on each corner, one or two straight on, the details if there are any, and a door shot. About seven. 1572 Creek Dr
P3 About seven angles for a regular home, and you got more than twice that. Good job overshooting; now study them as you take them and delete the worse ones. 1572 Creek Dr

Delete: 99% leaves. Great flying, but it goes — **Delete** 99% leaves. Great flying, but it goes

P4Delete121 Mahogany Way

Amazing, careful flying this deep, but the photo is 99% leaves. Great job getting it; it still goes.

P5Delete1572 Creek Dr

Every exterior angle you sent of a typical home: 15 (plus 4 virtual twilights made from them). About seven is plenty. My call on each one I talked about is under it.

Keep: a great shot, the best angle with trees everywhere — **Keep** a great shot, the best angle with trees everywhere

Delete: a standard shot, but here you can't see the home — **Delete** a standard shot, but here you can't see the home

Keep: the one to keep. Walk back a bit and square it up — **Keep** the one to keep. Walk back a bit and square it up

Delete: the whole house is covered — **Delete** the whole house is covered

Keep: a really nice one. Great job — **Keep** a really nice one. Great job

Delete: the same angle from the drone, with cables — **Delete** the same angle from the drone, with cables

Good: next time, come a bit to the corner — **Good** next time, come a bit to the corner

Delete: not bad, but a better shot beats it — **Delete** not bad, but a better shot beats it

Delete: it doesn't really show anything — **Delete** it doesn't really show anything

Good: but the door gets chopped off — **Good** but the door gets chopped off

Keep: it shows the door. I like it more — **Keep** it shows the door. I like it more

Keep: the shot to get — **Keep** the shot to get

Delete: good, but it's the Dr. Pepper — **Delete** good, but it's the Dr. Pepper

P6GoodMy shoot, 2282 Charlotte Ave

On a home with almost the same layout I sent four angles and a door shot.

Mine: from the walkway — **Mine** from the walkway

Mine: straight on — **Mine** straight on

Mine: the other corner — **Mine** the other corner

P12Delete1572 Creek Dr

Three shots already show the whole living room, every wall. The fourth is an awkward in between angle in an occupied home: extra hot sauce in the soup.

Keep: a good shot, it shows the room nicely — **Keep** a good shot, it shows the room nicely

Keep: also a good shot — **Keep** also a good shot

Keep: another really nice shot — **Keep** another really nice shot

Delete: awkward, neither straight on nor in the corner — **Delete** awkward, neither straight on nor in the corner

P13Good1033 Scotia Terrace

A close-up and a wide of the same straight on view are two different photos: keep both. A third copy, pushed in slightly more, is the one that goes (it was already deleted from the listing).

Keep: the painting centered, symmetrical, very artsy — **Keep** the painting centered, symmetrical, very artsy

P14Delete1033 Scotia Terrace

Three photos of a very ordinary bar in a tiny home. No need to highlight it: your wide shots already show it.

Delete: a worse version that chops the room — **Delete** a worse version that chops the room

Delete: no subject, an awkward angle — **Delete** no subject, an awkward angle

Not bad: nice and symmetrical — **Not bad** nice and symmetrical

P15Good1033 Scotia Terrace

Your wide shots of the living room already show the bar, and the whole layout.

Good: it shows the bar somewhat — **Good** it shows the bar somewhat

Good: it shows more of the bar — **Good** it shows more of the bar

Good: the entire layout — **Good** the entire layout

Keep: the best of the best — **Keep** the best of the best

Not bad: good job getting it — **Not bad** good job getting it

P18Delete1033 Scotia Terrace

Same lesson: two hallway shots that show roughly the same thing, and one is much better.

Keep: much better — **Keep** much better

Delete: roughly the same thing, and it chops the table — **Delete** roughly the same thing, and it chops the table

P19Delete1033 Scotia Terrace

Four good shots of a tiny bedroom: nothing wrong with any of them, you simply overshot. Two tell the whole room.

Keep: it already shows everything — **Keep** it already shows everything

Keep: the closet, centered. Great job — **Keep** the closet, centered. Great job

Delete: overshooting — **Delete** overshooting

Delete: four shots of a tiny bedroom — **Delete** four shots of a tiny bedroom

P20Delete2106 Stonewood Ln

Pushing in front of the couch chops the sliding door, the painting and the couch in half. The wider shot feels open and symmetrical.

Delete: chops the slider, the painting and the couch — **Delete** chops the slider, the painting and the couch

Keep: open and symmetrical — **Keep** open and symmetrical

P21Delete2106 Stonewood Ln

Another common one: you overshot the exterior of a pretty common home. Every angle you sent: 11 (plus 5 virtual twilights made from them).

Fix: looking up at the house — **Fix** looking up at the house

Fix: looking up, and the home spills across the photo — **Fix** looking up, and the home spills across the photo

Fix: too low and too close — **Fix** too low and too close

P22Delete2106 Stonewood Ln

Two fruit shots: keep the better one. And remember, not so many plant shots.

Delete: decent. Pick one — **Delete** decent. Pick one

Keep: even better — **Keep** even better

P23Delete2106 Stonewood Ln

Every close-up of the staging and the plants you sent of one home: 11. Typical staging needs two or three at most, then move on.

Delete: a nice shot, but not worth highlighting — **Delete** a nice shot, but not worth highlighting

Keep: kind of cool. I like this one — **Keep** kind of cool. I like this one

Delete: too close — **Delete** too close

Better: centered. Back up a bit more — **Better** centered. Back up a bit more

Delete: we already overshot the staging — **Delete** we already overshot the staging

Delete: a cool idea that didn't work — **Delete** a cool idea that didn't work

Delete: so close it lost focus — **Delete** so close it lost focus

Aerials: six or seven, with the home in the center

Part 2

About 20 aerials of an average home is too many. Six or seven is the most it needs.

Put the home in the center square of the grid, so one look tells the whole story.
Pick one top down. Of two similar angles, keep the one that shows more of what is around the home.
Skip the shots that show more street cables than home: removing cables can make a photo illegal on the MLS.

From the review

P24 Ask yourself: do we already have all of the information? Did I get the angles? Did I get several shots of the same angle, and which one is better? 1572 Creek Dr

P25Delete1572 Creek Dr

Every aerial you sent of an average home with nothing much around it: 21. Six or seven is the most it needs. My call on each one I talked about is under it.

Keep: almost perfect, the home in the center square — **Keep** almost perfect, the home in the center square

Delete: decent, but outdone — **Delete** decent, but outdone

Delete: the same top down, closer in — **Delete** the same top down, closer in

Delete: trees hide the backyard, dead grass — **Delete** trees hide the backyard, dead grass

Keep: mountains, greenery, the home dead center — **Keep** mountains, greenery, the home dead center

Delete: very similar to the next one. Pick one — **Delete** very similar to the next one. Pick one

Keep: I like this one more, it shows the greenery — **Keep** I like this one more, it shows the greenery

Delete: outdone by the two before it — **Delete** outdone by the two before it

Delete: the home hides behind trees, street cables — **Delete** the home hides behind trees, street cables

Delete: a bunch of cables. Your ground shots are better — **Delete** a bunch of cables. Your ground shots are better

Delete: a good shot, but outdone — **Delete** a good shot, but outdone

Every aerial you sent of an average home with nothing much around it: 21. Six or seven is the most it needs. My call on each one I talked about is under it.

Delete: a bit too far, nothing calls your attention — **Delete** a bit too far, nothing calls your attention

Good: a great shot, but this angle is here three times — **Good** a great shot, but this angle is here three times

Delete: the same angle came back again — **Delete** the same angle came back again

P31Delete1033 Scotia Terrace

Every aerial you sent of the complex: 19. You get really great shots, then add worse variations of them: random ingredients that ruin the soup.

Keep: a great shot — **Keep** a great shot

Not bad: the wide angle would have been nicer — **Not bad** the wide angle would have been nicer

Delete: the complex sits on the left — **Delete** the complex sits on the left

Delete: the complex is too close to your face — **Delete** the complex is too close to your face

Keep: centered, the road and the companies around it — **Keep** centered, the road and the companies around it

Delete: a duplicate of one you got higher — **Delete** a duplicate of one you got higher

Delete: a worse variation of the wide — **Delete** a worse variation of the wide

Delete: the worst variation of the wide — **Delete** the worst variation of the wide

Keep: one great angle, the wide — **Keep** one great angle, the wide

Every aerial you sent of the complex: 19. You get really great shots, then add worse variations of them: random ingredients that ruin the soup.

Delete: a balcony you already have, and it confuses — **Delete** a balcony you already have, and it confuses

P32Delete1033 Scotia Terrace

Two good aerials, then the best one. Keep the best and delete the other two.

P33Delete1033 Scotia Terrace

Once you have the wide angle, the duplicates and the worse variations go.

Delete: a worse variation — **Delete** a worse variation

Delete Photos Like a Pro

Keep the better shot, delete the rest.

It's not about adding. It's about removing.