Today I attended a one-day architectural photography course taught by Dennis Huckaby. Dennis has been an advertising photographer for 25 years and for many years now he has been passing on his secrets of how to take outstanding interior and exterior photos to real estate professionals. As Dennis says:

This weekend Dennis taught his class as part of Annual Re-Designers Conference in Vancouver and his audience consisted of stagers and re-designers. I think we all saw the connection that this type of photography and staging has. Each requires paying attention to composition, lighting, background, colors and the use of props.

Dennis made his point very clear that camera is just a tool and you don't have to own the most expensive piece of camera equipment to take stunning photographs. Knowing how to take advantage of best lighting conditions, composition and design will result in images that create a positive response in viewers.

As we listened to his class, Dennis not only created many "aha!" moments for us but he also told stories of some very interesting and entertaining situations that he has faced throughout his career. In one story he told us how he managed to end up with a photo of a restaurant void of any visitors (as requested by the client) even though the restaurant never closed and people were dining while Dennis was taking his photo.

We couldn't help but laugh when Dennis shared his food photography secrets. I think most of us have heard about some tricks used by the food advertising industry, but his secret recipe for mouthwatering ice cream was too funny. Apparently scooped mashed potatoes drizzled with used motor oil (chocolate) makes the best looking ice cream sundae.

On a more serious note though, here are 5 main things that I took away from this course:

• Understanding the reason for distorted lines and key stoning; the importance of leveling a camera and using a tripod
• Avoiding the use of flash and learning about what manual settings to use instead
• Creating depth in a photograph with perspective and lighting
• Keeping in mind that staging for photography can differ from staging for walk-through visitors. You may have to move furniture and props around to fit them into camera view in order to achieve the best composition
• Avoiding overuse of wide angle lens

After today's class I realized that most of my previously taken photographs have at least few broken rules in them but at least for future I will know better what to look for.

For any realtors thinking about taking this class, I would highly recommend it! And in the US you can earn 7 ½ clock hours for this class.