Great Post Lori!

Like I always say, "you stage it, we'll shoot it!" 

All the Best,

Sean Alvarez

Hey there Lori...lighting and color are the keys to a great picture.  For the time you spend in photoshop... if you pay your self by the hour... you can easily buy a better camera and follow a couple short rules. 

  Time to toss that handy little point and shoot.  Your bread and butter comes from how you make something look... and your ability to capture that.  That makes one of your most important tools... your camera.  Not that you can't get a good picture from a point and shoot, but, consistency... is king.  There are alot of DSLR's on the market.  (I recommentd for starters Nikon d-50's) You don't have to have the biggest or the largest megapixel.  Just a good lens  and flash.  There are a few good mid size point and shoots with hot shoes as well.  Be prepared to spend $400-$700... and alot less time in photo shop.  Most camera shops have free classes for those that are purchasing a camera...take advantage. 

Your other best tools... are a tripod, and a good compatible flash.  The flashes on the handy point and shoots are only good up to 6 -10 feet.   Take your time to see what each setting on your camera does... then, since its digital you can start just automatically making those adjustments when you shoot..saving hours at the computer.  I can shoot an average house in 20 min... and spend another 20 in photo shop.  In shooting for some magazines I take considerably longer..... but only about 20% of the time get better results.  In the case of your set ups... better to take longer and make sure you cover the bases rather than miss something.  But in staging your listing... you can go back if you need to.

 If you learn how to use your temp settings on the camera and how much light you need and where its coming from to accent you picture..... your pictures will improve dramatically.

L and L

Thank you "L and L". Are you the first or second "L"? You gave me some great information.  I do think that with over 70% of Buyers looking on the Internet.......... Pictures speak volumes.  My feeling is that we all will be working closely at one point with a photographer in our Staging. My point and shoot is a Sony Mavica and though I do spend alot of time editing in Photoshop, I do like the fact that I can throw it in my Staging bag and away I go. It is actually big and ugly so hopefull no one would want it when there is a large work crew around.  Working with people like you, really helps us learn.  Thank you for the great advice :)

Lori

LOL... well...I'm probably the second L... if you have checked out our site.... you may notice that I'm a photographer :-)  Yep... the Mavica was my first digital camera.... time for an upgrade.  The top two point and shoots on the market right now are olympus and Canon... and the newest canon  for $500 has a hot shoe for an external flash... a pretty wide lens and good telephoto for a good all around camera... image stabilized and small enough to carry in a bag.  I think its a G7  I'll have to double check.

Lori, it almost looks like a different room.  I recently contacted someone who does professional photography because my pictures never come out right!  Thanks for sharing that---and to the "L" for the Canon information!

Here is a new picture with another photographer. I love this job! We begged, borrowed, and stole things throughout the house and then added our magic.

That bedroom is gorgeous Lori -- the colors are rich and sumptuous.  Very nice occupied home staging! The camera angle is wonderful, I'd love to know how to do that!

Thank you Maureen. This pic is in the running for on a cover of one of the Marketing magazines around here.  I will send another pic of a bathroom we just did a little later ;)