How to take twilight shots - 12/23/07 09:38 PM
I have been asked to detail how to take twilight shots of listings.  Someone said they were glamour shots for real estate; probably very accurate.
What you need:  a camera with some manual control and a tripod. 
Arrive about 30 minutes before sunset.Take some test shots to determine the right angles.Go inside for interior shots (turn on ALL the lights in the house and leave them on for the exterior shots)After sunset, turn on ALL exterior lights and set back up for the exterior shot you determined earlier.Flash – Off  (At this distance, it’s useless)ISO - Low (Low ISO’s will yield … (24 comments)

Best Real Estate Photos of 2007 - 12/23/07 01:23 PM
Larry from Photography for Real Estate has chosen 36 of the best real estate photos from the PFRE flickr group.  These “best of” photos were chosen from 1,258 photos submitted this year.
Between the photos and discussion on this flickr group, a wealth of photography knowledge can be gained.

I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas.
… (8 comments)

The Kodak V705 is discontinued? - 12/15/07 11:36 AM
As popular as the Kodak V705 has been, at least on this site, I'm suprised that it has been discontinued.  So which camera do you now recommend for real estate?
I have seen really great performance out of Panasonic.  The DMC-FX55 has a 3" LCD and the FX33 has a smaller LCD and a smaller price.  The Lumix cameras use the Leica lenses.
 The FX18 has a zoom lens which goes from 28mm to 504mm.

Richo's GX100 has a 24mm-72mm zoom lens.

Canon's SD870 IS also has a 3" LCD and you can't go wrong with Canon.
I currently use a Nikon Coolpix … (14 comments)

Cheap PAP (Pole Aerial Photography) - 12/11/07 11:22 AM
Earlier I posted about the Evolution of My PAP System, and found a couple more articles that others have posted which you might want to read.
They are Inexpensive Pole Aerial Photography (PAP) and Malcolm Waring's Comments on PAP.  Both are found on Photography for Real Estate, a great resource.
Earlier this year I introduced Pole Aerial Photography (PAP) to ActiveRain.  Margaret Hokkanen has written several blogs about PAP.  They include Pool Pics by Pole, When to use Pole Photography (PAP) and when not to use it, and Street Photos vs. Pole Pics - Side by Side.
The bottom line is that you can spend … (17 comments)

Correcting barrel distorstion - 12/09/07 09:19 PM
Wide angle lenses are imperative for great interior photography.  The problem is that lesser quality lenses, like a multiplier lens stuck on a point & shoot like I use causes barrel distortion.  It's similar to what you see when looking through the peep hole out your front door.

Not only barrel distortion, but you can see the vignetting in the lower corners.  I found this plug-in for Photoshop Elements that helps to correct this issue.  The problem is that DPReview.com no longer has it on their website.  So I tacked the plug-in down here.  Just follow the instructions found on the … (10 comments)

Evolution of my PAP system - 12/07/07 10:55 AM
For those who haven't read the other post, PAP is pole aerial photography.  Stick your camera to the end of a pole, hold it up on the air and take pictures of listings.  It just gives you a different look from the typical front photo of a house.

I started off by attaching my little Sony DSC-P71 to the end of three bull float handles.  Bull float handles are aluminum poles which are six feet long with a male thread in one end and a female thread in the other.  This allows you to screw together as many as you … (44 comments)

 

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