While there are definite similarities in regards to methods and approach when photographing any sort of real estate, there are also important differences to keep in mind, especially when photographing commercial real estate and properties. In the residential real estate realm, they tend to use the images for a few weeks or maybe months until the space is sold, but in commercial real estate, these images are used to sell the business for perhaps years and years, and they might live on a website for just as long, offering the potential client or customer a visual representation of the space.
Whether we’re ready to admit it or not, the holidays are upon us. I tried as long as I could to ignore the names of the months passing by on the calendar, but, well, once Daylight Savings Time hit, denial turned to grief turned to acceptance turned to ‘ok, fine, let’s do this thing!’ Anyhow, chances are there’s a photographer in your family or group of friends that you’ll have to shop for, and while we're certainly a famously finicky bunch, I guarantee you, there’s still something that photographer “needs.” So here’s a list of things that will help turn that psychosis-inducing task of figuring it out into the easiest checkmark on your shopping list. Here are 10 fail-proof gifts for photographers in your circles.
So I was recently challenged by a fellow Samsung Imagelogger, the talented portrait photographer Jess Anderson, to take the Black & White Photography Challenge. Basically, I had to post 5 black and white images in 5 days. Anyone that knows me or my work knows that color plays an enormous role in the images I choose to make, so this was definitely a bit intimidating. In addition to a few of my favorites from those recent 5 days, what follows are 5 things I learned and experienced in my little black & white journey.
So this one's going to be a little different. I recently had the insanely humbling experience of being a guest on the popular Improve Photography podcast with Jim Harmer. We recorded the show with the understanding that it could, or could not be, posted. Well, the team at ImprovePhotography.com were gracious enough to post it this week. The topic we discussed was '5 Photo Projects You Can Start And Finish In A Weekend,' and
So all that hype about the ‘super moon’ that we’ve heard not only this month but last month and sometime back earlier this year as well? Well, this is more of it! Apparently this weekend, on Sunday, August 10, is the superest of all super moons (at least in 2014). Scientists like to get all loose and crazy and call it a ‘perigee full moon,’ basically meaning it’s the closest the moon will be to earth this year. Anyhow, along with all the hype about the super moon itself, for us photographers, comes all the hype about how to photograph the super moon, so here are my obligatory tips on how to photograph the super super moon.
With Apple opening up controls to iPhone’s native camera in the soon-to-be-released iOS 8, allowing access to manual photo controls, and the fact that the iPhone camera is already the most popular camera phone, we might just see a significant uptick in the quality of all those selfies and your coworkers lunches, cats, and margaritas (well that depends on how many margaritas I suppose). Most people that use their iPhones as cameras use the native app, and with that comes no controls other than aspect ratio and front or rear facing camera, and most third party apps that offer some version of manual controls proving either clunky or digitally over-ambitious at best. But now, with iOS 8, they're going to see a lot of options that they may have never even heard of before.
It eventually happens to every new photographer. You’re out in the field. You’re setting up to make a shot, and you see others around you setting up for a shot, only, some of these people have these strange contraptions attached to the front of their lens. It looks like a huge piece of square glass. You sit there. You stare. You wonder. And when you get back home, you Google ‘square things on lens.’ The first time this happened to me, I was set up to shoot some images of Bonsai Rock in Lake Tahoe, California several years back.
So one of the best ways to learn photography is to assist another photographer, which I've had the pleasure of recently doing for photographer Stephen Chiang. While getting a photographer assistant gig may seem like a tough nut to crack, you’d be surprised at how many people can or will refer you just by putting out a simple call on your Facebook or Twitter or Google Plus account. Photographers are everywhere and every single one of them can use some help, and what separates those that are helping them and those that are thinking about helping them? Well…those that are helping them asked if they can. While it may not turn into a regular gig, it’s a marvelous step in building a new network, gaining some trust amongst your peers, and best of all, learning your craft hands on. And to maximize that effort, here are a few things to remember when assisting a photographer.
I recently found myself standing in front of a stunning vista in the Santa Monica Mountains. It was June 21, 2014. The Summer Solstice. And the sun was just about to set behind the mountains, leaving a beautiful show of colors and clouds and reflections and highlights and vivid shadows in it’s wake. There was another group of photographers at the other end of the overlook and they were doing what most photographers first instinct is to do…pay full attention to the focal point of their image, the subject they wish to draw attention to, and everything else came secondary.
If you read this blog regularly, you’ll know that one of my primary sources of income is photographing real estate and properties for various clients ranging from Airbnb to real estate companies and management companies. After doing this for the past 3 years, I’ve managed to pick up a few tips and pointers along the way that have made my job a LOT easier. Here are 7 of them:
I was recently asked by a friend of mine who runs Ocean Walk Pet Sitting to shoot a few candid shots of one of his clients dogs so that he can present them as a gift to the client. Since this was, one, for a good friend, and two, another excuse to be outside in the sunshine on the beach with a camera, how could I say no? It’s not the first time I’ve done pet photography as I've shot some of his client’s pets in the past, so I knew a bit of what to expect, and I was able to draw on what I had learned the last time and apply them to this session. Here are 8 pet photography takeaway tips from those sessions that I wish I knew right away:
When most people think sharpening in Photoshop, they understandably default to the ’Sharpen’ or ‘Unsharp Mask’ filters. But since I learned this trick a few years back, I don’t believe I’ve opened a single one of Photoshop’s native sharpen plugins a single time. Instead, I’ve relied on one of the ‘Other’ filters in that ‘Filter’ menu -
Independence Day is upon us!! A day when we can celebrate the hard-fought achievements of our forefathers by, well, doing what we do best…git your gluttony on (as respectful as possible of course…). Here are 5 quick photography tips for your 4th of July barbecue:
In Part 1, we explained the process of getting the proper exposures on location for architecture and real estate photography. Here in part 2, we explain how to post-process these exposures.
Now that you have your exposures as described in Part 1, pull them into Adobe Lightroom. Use the first three bracketed exposures, and make any adjustments you see fit. I usually pull the highlights down on the overexposed exposure, and sometimes I pull the shadows up in the underexposed frame.
If you’ve shot architecture or real estate photography, you already know the rub…exposing for interiors as well as exteriors! It’s a finicky art all in itself. Living in Los Angeles, sandwiched in my little hippie canyon between Malibu, Pacific Palisades, and the Hollywood Hills, I’ve had the opportunity to shoot some very high-end real estate for some very high-end and particular clients, and through that process, I’ve learned some incredibly helpful methods to help pull off results that even surprised me!
So as many of you know, I embarked on a nature and travel photography trip this past Spring to the Pacific Northwest, and I’ve shared all those pictures here and all my social outlets. This so happened to be my first photo trip in which I left the DSLR behind and employed mirrorless cameras exclusively, namely, the Samsung NX30. While this post will forgo all the reasons behind that (click here if you want to see those posts of that journey), now that the dust has settled and some time has passed, I’ve been able to reflect a bit on the incredible experience, which has proven to be a personal milestone in many ways in my photographic journey. So I figured I’d take this opportunity to share with you a few of the lessons I learned on that trip:
It didn’t make sense at first. Use the AE button on the back of the camera for focusing? How is that supposed to be easier and/or better than the traditional method of pressing the shutter halfway down? I mean, that’s what I know, that’s what I’ve grown to know, that’s what’s normal! Is this an elitist purist thing? Or is this real? About a year ago, I decided to truly dig deeper into the idea behind back button focus and, well, like a classic case of neuro-plasticity, over the next 90 days, I had inadvertently rewired my brain to wonder the exact opposite of what I was wondering when I started this little experiment…how did I go this long without it?
Being in Southern California, we get a lot of wonderful light during the final hours of most days, so naturally, a lot of my photography happens during that time. Consequently, I find myself in position to photograph sunsets a lot, many of which can prove to be quite spectacular, and one of my favorite effects is to catch sun stars (also called starbursts) and silhouettes during this time. I’ve been asked more than a few times what my methods for sunset photography are, so figured I’d share a few tips to help you catch those perfect sun shots during your summer adventures. Click past the break here to see the tips.
So if you’ve logged on lately, you might have noticed, but I wanted to wait until everything was ported over from one to the other before introducing my new website. I've been working hard the past several weeks getting this sucker in shape and I think it’s ready! You’ll notice that the homepage no longer begins with my portfolio, but rather with the blogroll, so that way you’ll see the latest, and freshest content whenever you log on. Additionally, I’ve created two categories for the blog posts. One, 'Journeys,’ will continue to focus on my personal photographic journeys and adventures that you've grown used to, the other, ‘Lessons' will focus on tips and tricks and lessons learned through my photographic (hopefully) growth.
