New on Market - Big Ocean Views - 1475 Neptune Ave, Encinitas

That front photo took quite a bit of time.  We spent about 4-5 hours prepping the room by rearranging the furniture and staging it appropriately.  I also had to prepare the front porch as well.  Then there was the matter of being there at the right time so that cars were not visible.

In the end, I camped out at 7:30am.  These were really long exposures, which is why the inside is so buttery because the light was bouncing around off the carpets and the tungsten light was filtering around the room. The final image is comprised of about 8 photos blended together, with a little touchup work (e.g., I removed the furniture footprints in the carpet).  Yes, I use layers to assemble the photo pieces.

The exterior window shots were comprised of about 3 or 4 different exposures.  Total assembly time of the image was 4-6 hours.  A LOT of time (probably 12 hours for the one photo), but it is our cover photo.  That said, there is one minor defect in the photo that I could not easily correct on the computer.  If had to shoot it again, I would correct it by additional prepping.  Kudos to anyone who can spot the problem.

Margaret H.

Kudos to Lee.  Here's what happened.  In the picture window, I pulled the blinds to the side.  On the window to the left, I did not, but I should have.  The blinds in the bottom left window, became darker and more visible in the exposure that I used for that panel of the composite picture.  There was no effective way (without spending hours on it) to fix it.  NEXT TIME, I'll pull the blinds to the side so that I don't have this issue.  What really bugs me is that I DID pull them aside, but then I put them back as I sort of liked the strong vertical but subtle lines.  Lesson learned: Always always always remove thin objects from in front of windows or get enough light dumped on them because they are a time killer to fix.  Other than that, I like the photo a lot and think it is a pretty strong and compelling image.  Fortunately, the problem is to the lower right where the eye tends not to go; otherwise, I would have had to spend the time to fix it.  Once you see it, it's hard not to notice it after that.