Tweaking listing photography with wide-angle lenses or Photoshop has long been standard practice for residential brokers. Under normal circumstances, a keen eye would be required to detect the use of such underhanded tricks. Not so for this listing from New York’s Prudential Elliman, which features three ever-so-slightly different photographs. Thanks to this case of overzealous publishing, the process of photo manipulation is laid bare in three easy steps:
Step 1: Shoot bland photo of average apartment (above).
Step 2: Take note that buyers might be disappointed to learn that the apartment is on the ground floor. Attempt to obscure this fact using Photoshop’s blur tool:
Step 3: If, say, a silver GMC Acadia is parked across the street, the blur tool will fail to conceal the lowly elevation of this apartment. Time to pull out the big guns. Use Photoshop’s rectangular select tool to section off each window, then increase the exposure until the view is reduced to a solid white rectangle with the vague outline of a window frame. Voila! "Fabulous South-facing duplex loft," fait accompli:
The Albert, 23 East 10 St., Unit 105 [Prudential Elliman]
Reposted with permission from Curbed.com. View the original blog post.
