For taking interior property photos a wide angle lens is a must. I don't know what more I can say about that.  So I bought a wide angle lens.  I was so excited when it came, I couldn't wait to use it.

It is a heavy lens. A 12-24 Tokina, that weighs 10 pounds.  That is an exaggeration but it is heavy enough so that sometimes I leave it at home. It was also expensive and for about a year all I have used to for is property shots. I wanted to get more out of it. A friend convinced me that a wide angle lens can be fun.   What is fun about having a lens that has to be held level and works best close up?

So I put the dang thing on my camera and left it on for a few days and made myself use it. On some of the photos I straightened the converging verticals and cropped off the distortion that occurs on each end of the shot when the lens is set as wide as it can go and on some I did not.  I guess I am learning to like the lens of at least I am learning to get the most out of it. They are not cheap.

The lens is noce for shooting long trains. . . yah I know that doesn't come up very often unless you live by the river in St. Paul like I do.

I thought it would be fun to shoot a whole street so I did in the most colorful part of St. Paul, District Del Sol. It is a little distorted on one side but what the heck.

Taken from the river side of the science museum of Minnesota. The shot doesn't wow me but I have to admit I could not have gotten the building and the maze with any of my other lenses.

For this one I deliberatly took it at a wierd angle, just for fun. It is the Ordway Theater in downtown St. Paul.

Again with this one I chose an angle just for the heck of it. 

I guess I will keep playing with it. If you own a wide angle lens for your business, take it out and play with it sometime. I still think it is more fun to use when my husband is with me and carries the camera bag.

Settings: Exposure 5 Aperture: f/11.0 Focal Length: 18 mm ISO Speed: 200

Under the Wabasha Bridge on Raspberry Island, on the Mississippi River looking at  downtown St. Paul, MN

Exposure: 15 Aperture: f/22.0 Focal Length: 18 mm ISO Speed: 200

The Covington Inn a bed and breakfast docked on Harriet island.

The best time of day to take low light outdoor photos is just before the sun sets or before it rises, not when it is pitch black out.  I get asked questions about the photos.  Night shots are kind of a specialty and I wish I could go out every night. I include night shots with some of my listings and my clients love it. Those need to be taken at dusk and I have the sellers turn on all the lights.

The night shots are not all that hard to take it just takes patience.  The star pattern that the lights make can be created using a special filter but I make them by using a lower shutter speed.  On the bottom photo it was too slow and the upper photo is just about right.  Usully and aperture size of 9 to 13 does that job when it is pitch black out, at dawn or dusk about 16 to 22 seems to work best. I usually have the ISO at 200 so the photos don't have a lot of noise in them.  Each lens is different star pattern my wide angle lens makes an eight point star.

I can't take these shots without a tripod. sometimes I don't have one with me and I can get by with setting my camera on a flat surface, or I use a monopod, but a tripod works best.   I also use a remote so that I don't have to touch the camera.  The slightest vibration will ruin the shot. Camera remotes are inexpensive, I have two of them one is cordless and the other has a cable. The remote with the cable is the one that I use the most, because it give me the most control. The self timer on the camera can be used instead of a remote but it takes a lot more battery power.

I have seen people use a flash for night shots but I don't. It doesn't take any fancy equipment to take night shots.  Most point and shoot cameras have a night setting. I tried the night settings on my DSLR camera once and didn't like the result and have not tried it since.

When I travel I carry a light weight monopod.   I just bought a new one yesterday that weighs less than a pound  It isn't ideal for night shots but I can get by with it. Airport security doesn't always understand monopods so sometimes I get my bag unpacked and repacked courtesy of TSA. **Travel tip: Put the monopod on top so they don't have to dig through the case to find it, they don't do a very good job repacking.                                                                                                                                                              

There aren't many people  who like to go out at night and shoot. I have traveled all over the country and I often end up going out alone, unless I am attending a conference and Kristal Kraft is there.  Sometimes the people I am traveling with advise against it but it is so irresistable to me that I end up doing it anyway.  I understand cities at night and they feel safe to me as long as they are well lit and there are people roaming around, and I have to say I have met some interesting people that way. They see the camera and they want to talk, I stop and chat.  I plan to spend most of a night out shooting the transit system in the twin cities this summer and will be spending next Sunday night shooting the in chicago.  If you see me please don't run me over.

Inman news is having a photo contest.

"Send us your best single photo that captures the state of the residential real estate market, for a chance to win a   $200 gift card from Amazon.com. Your photo submission should be in digital form and must be sent via e-mail or available for viewing on the Web. The photo can be color or black and white. The photo should tell a story about the housing market and it should not be a marketing or promotional photo for a particular property, company, business model or individual. The contest deadline is March 31, 2009."

See the complete rules here: Inman News Photo contest

I can't enter because I am one of the judges.

I got the picture of the power lines in Central Illinois. It was a very lucky shot as it was taken from the car window.  I wasn't driving but we were going about 70 at the time. I focused and put my camera in burst mode. Burst mode comes in handy.  It works for capturing sporting events and some times in low light situations, or when taking photos from a moving car.

These photos were taken locally, by a local resident, me. They are in black and white because we are in a depression and I can't afford color any more. These pictures may be offensive to those who live in the burbs or those who live in warmer climates.

They saved Mickey's dinner, sometimes the little guy does win. The 1940's art deco street car stood in the way of progress but the City of St. Paul in their infinite wisdom made the insurance company stop building so Mickey's could stay.

The man sits on the bench on West 7th plaza in downtown St. Paul, eating a bagel.  The white speckles on the bench are pigeon poop. It is on the bench because there are a lot of pigeons on the plaza eating bagel crumbs.

W.A. Frosts on the corner of Selby and Dale. You just can't get any more St. Paul than this. They have a lovely patio but I didn't bother taking a photo because it is winter and no one is using it.

One of the lovely homes in St. Paul in the cathedral hill neighborhood. The roundish thingy to the left is the cathedral. This photo screams St. Paul so you might want to cover your ears.

Hardware on a brick building downtown.  When I stopped to take this shot the people I was with thought I was kind of nutty.  They have probably thought that for a long time now but the truth is I will stop to take a photo of a random water valve from time to time.

I love where I live even though there is pigeon poop and it is cold out and I can't afford color any more.

HDR is a photo processing Technique, also called HDRI, for High dynamic range imagining.  Three or more photos, each with a different exposure value, are combined into one photo.  The process brings out details that don't show up in a single photo. I use photomatix to process the photos.  All of the photos were taken with a camera.

Como Park Coservatory in St. Paul

Cafesjian’s Carousel, at Como Park in St. Paul

The officers quarters at Fort Snelling in St. Paul

The Minneapolis central Library in Minneapolis, MN taken from the second floor, using my trusty wide angle lens, the kind that every Realtor who takes interior property photos should have.

About nine months ago I wrote a post about high dynamic range photography, commonly referred to as HDR, or HDRI. It is a photo processing technique where several photos are combined to create a photo that is something more. It has not been easy for me to learn.  I bought a book which has been helpful: "Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Digital Photography" The book is not all that easy to use but has amazing photos in it and it helped me get started.

I am using a program called Photomatix Pro to process the photos, and I am shooting them all in the RAW format. The process can make the photos look cartoonish.  As I am learning how to create these photos I am also learning which type of photos it works the best with.  Here are some of my latest.

This one is a bit extreme. Taken at City Center in Minneapolis. It was an OK shot to begin with but the windows in the background were just a white blob. The HDR processing brought out the windows and even the buildings in the background. I combined five photos. I used a wide angle lens which is kind of fun in a wide open space.

This photo isn't so extreme, it was taken at Mears Park in St. Paul.  I have taken this shot many times and I have never gotten what I wanted. It is a place I go to often and really enjoy. Located right in the heart of the lowertown art district in our downtown.  There is a band shell with live music in the summer.  The HDR processing brought out the leaves on the trees and other details that seem to disappear.  Five photos were used to create this.

On this photo I used HDR to bring out the reflections in the water and to make the Lillie stand out. I combined three photos and I did very little processing. The photo was taken at Como Park Conservatory in St. Paul.

This one is a little more extreme. I took it yesterday on my way home from a meeting. I had to drive by Oakland Cemetery, one of the oldest grave yards in St. Paul. I like to photograph it in the winter because I love the old oak trees and the way the tombstones look in the snow. Strange I know but we all have our little quirks.  I used three photos to create it and did a lot of processing.

These photos don't come close to being as wonderful as the photos I find on the interent but who knows maybe with more practice and better photos mine will improve.  HDR can be used for property photos. I am thinking the less extreme processing will work the best.

I wrote this post a few months ago but neglected to put the 50 words in it that are needed for points. Can you imagine that this would not count as a blog post? There is a lot going on with it but heck I don't make the rules and I mostly don't follow them either which is why I sometimes end up with pointless blog posts.

Here in Minnesota we have seasons.  They occur every year no matter what.  Enjoying the seasons is free.  Recession proof and depression proof.  Most of the best things in life can't be bought, but you already new that. This year is no different. Well I guess it is different in some ways but I really don't want to write about it just now.  I guess I could but I just used up my 50 words and so any more words would not make a difference.

Sugar maple.

The old Oak trees in Oakland cemetery, a great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.

The walking paths along the Mississippi River - Upperlanding park -

My neighbors fence, I almost never hit it when I back out of my drive.

The Republican National Convention starts tomorrow.  There isn't a lot of real estate being sold this weekend and I have listings that are inside the safety zone and will be unavailable to show during the convention.  I live about 1/2 a mile from the main event. I have been giving directions to lost Republicans as I walk down the street with my camera.  Here are some of the photos I have taken in the last day or so.

Either a reporter or the CIA, lurking in front of a local resturant

Law enforcement are every where. They seem to travel in groups of 4 and they rented all of these nifty green jeeps.

This was the Xcel Center yesterday. I couldn't get nearly as close today.

Local antique shop, has a sign that says: "look political display".

Roads and sidewalks are blocked off. There have been protests, and some arrests. There will be some larger protests after the convention starts.

Photo taken through the fence. CNN is to the right. They have taken over the Eagle Grill and remnamed it the CNN Grill. The sign in the window says "CNN Brew since 2008"

Local buisinesses in the immediate area are getting some good traffic. We all hope that convention attendees will tip well.

Have a great labor day!

With almost every listing I try an experiment. I use my normal online marketing and I add something new. If it works, or helps sell the listing I keep using it. I found this site a few weeks ago for making guides and decided to try it. It is called Guide Spot.

Very easy to use, I didn't need to read any instructions. I can take my photos and put them on maps. For some of the local attractions there are already descriptions written which saves some time.

The only problem I had is when I tried to add new addresses, they didn't always show up in the right place on the map.

Home buyers like pictures, and want more pictures. This gives me a way of showing what the home looks like and the neighborhood, and one more place to use the photos I take. Check it out and try it on one of your listings.