An Imperfect World

It's really easy to take pictures of beautiful houses, as I demonstrated yesterday. But what about situations like these:





In both cases, the houses are nice, but the yards aren't. In the first one, I was able to focus on the nice, curved driveway. In the second one, I let the tree and flowers help me, as well as the blue sky. I also cropped liberally. I also focused on the spaciousness of the house.

How about if the house itself is so-so, like this one:



The solution is easy - take the picture at angle, and look for blue sky.

There were two other things about this neighborhood that I had to face:

1) It's cherry blossoms season, and there were "No Parking" signs everywhere. I had to photograph around them.

2) This neighborhood has huge, above-ground power lines. I had to stand under them to take my pictures. This is why a wide-angle lens is so important. Standing under the lines put me very, very close to some of these homes. Without the wide-angle lens, the houses would have been "cut off".

I have dinner meetings the next two days, and I'll therefore be working quite late. So, Friday - I'm going to compare my pictures with those of a house that is on the market. Whose are better?

Takin' it to the Streets

First, it's great to be back - with new content! It has been far too long.

A few weeks ago, I stepped far (far) out of my comfort zone, and took a class in a new area for me. But, what's the point of taking a class if I can't test myself and see if I learned anything? I suppose there is no point. Because the Kite Festival was postponed, I'd run out of excuses. So, out I went, in the freezing cold.

To make things a little better, I went out to one of my favorite neighborhoods to take pictures of my favorite houses. Here's a big lesson learned: Winter makes the nicest houses look very sad. So, how did I do? Well, here are examples of how I did with my "Tier 1" houses (aka my absolute favorites):







The intent of real estate photography is to make someone want to buy the house. I think I got the point across here.

The first picture was on a hill. As you may recall, one of the lessons I learned was to take the picture at the top of the hill. Here, I also wanted to showcase the green grass and the nice steps. I didn't love the picture straight on, so I took it at an angle.

The second picture looked very good straight on, so I stayed with it. Notice that the blossoms are beginning to bloom. If it were up to me, I'd make sure that all of my real estate pictures were taken during the peak blossom period. However, that's not always possible, and so it is what it is. :)

The third picture would have been FABULOUS without that car in the driveway. If I were hired to take this picture, I'd make sure that car were hidden somewhere else. Notice the blossoms, the curved driveway, and the green grass.

What settings did I use? ISO 400 (it seemed appropriate at the time), automatic white balance setting, and my wide-angle lens. Post-production, I cropped out some of the extra space.

These were my best case scenarios. Tomorrow - when the house isn't as pretty as these.

Kite Festival Plans - Postponed

According to the official website, the Kite Festival has been postponed, due to the weather. This is really too bad for several reasons:

1) I was planning to write about it later this week

2) I was really looking forward to taking pictures of something entirely new

3) I thought the weather would be perfect, because of the contrast between the kites and the cloudy sky

So, I need another plan, and I have a few ideas. More later in the week!

NCCF Contest - Submitted!

Yay me! Wish me luck!

I'm taking tomorrow the rest of the week off, to prepare for the Cherry Blossom Festival and the Kite Festival. Have a great one!

My Never-Ending Dilemna

I've procrastinated, where entering contests is concerned. Two weeks ago, I narrowed down my selections. I'd indicated, though, that I was still struggling.

So, why? Well, this isn't just a contest. It's a charity auction for one of my favorite charities. I really want to contribute work that I love, but work that people will want. That's not the easiest thing for me. On Flickr, I've noticed that most of my favorites are not the typical "crowd pleasers".

So, what did I decide with this contest? I chose the following:







In other words, I (sort of) split the difference. I chose two crowd pleasers, and one that I love. Hopefully, you can guess which is which.

Now, all I need to do is submit and send! And then, hope for the best. :)

Tomorrow - I'm traveling, so no updates from me.
Thursday - a photo challenge and my decision.

Backup and Recovery

I've come across several posts on LinkedIn asking for recommendations on storing images. I went back through my posts, and realized I'd never outlined MY backup and recovery strategy.

I admit, I'm obsessive about this. I never forgave myself after a trip to Hawaii in 2005. It was a free trip that I'd won through work, and I was thrilled to go out there. I took what I thought were gorgeous pictures. I had my laptop with me, and instead of transferring the pictures to my laptop while I was out there, I waited. And my camera was stolen. Bye bye pictures.

These days, going several hours without backing up my work would be enough to give me a stroke, I think! If I lost pictures like these:





Well, I wouldn't know what to do. You see, I love looking at my pictures. I love sharing them with people. Yes, I have them up on Flickr, but they're lower resolution. I have two sets of the originals:

One set is on my hard drive - all originals are stored within Aperture, and I export to various directories on my hard drive. I then export the exports to Flickr. Some pictures end up on my Facebook page, but all are on a backup hard drive. I use Time Machine to perform regular backups.

What happens when I have too many pictures on my hard drive? Simple - I back those up on a different (portable) hard drive. I do this with only my oldest work. I'm at the point where I will need a bigger laptop drive soon, but for now, I'm okay. As long as my pictures are in at least two different locations, I'm okay.

Occasionally, I take inventory. I realized I had not backed up several folders that were on my primary backup, but not my secondary backup. I'm changing that as I type this. :) Also, my blog posts are in three different locations - online, on my hard drive, and on my portable hard drive. It's for peace of mind. And yes, maybe it's a symptom of OCD - but I don't mind. :)

Tomorrow - time to discuss contests. I've been procrastinating, but I'll explain why.

Real Estate and Architectural Photography - Conclusion

The class was extremely comprehensive. Frankly, I didn't think I'd learn as much as I did. There was one tip that I'd like to try myself that we couldn't cover (no time), and that involves shooting in twilight. I've done before so where exteriors are concerned:



But, now I know that I can do much better! I also need to try shooting interiors in twilight. As an example, look at this one I'd shot in daylight:





This one looks nice in the daytime, but I bet it would look even nicer in twilight. I'll never know with this house, but I can try it elsewhere.

Other than that, here's a final summary of what I'm going to do differently from now on, based on my posts this week:

1) Use a wide-angle lens for my interior shots to ensure my shots look "real"

2) Use the great trick I learned to ensure I don't have exposure problems with windows - which will work well in museums, as well as homes/hotel rooms

3) Be very careful with my lines - I'll admit this area needs a lot of work. I don't do well with pillars yet. :)

4) Shoot at the top of a hill and make the most of my scenery.

All of these will help me with not only my architectural photography, but with another area of photography that I've been exploring - travel photography. All in all, I'm glad that I kept an open mind. I need to do these once or twice a year, depending on the topic.

I should say, though, that some things never change. I still can't convince myself to use a tripod. I still hate them. Oh well, at least I've made progress elsewhere, right?

Next week, I'll start out by discussing contests. I need to make a decision and enter them. Then, I'll discuss a product I came across while reading Popular Photography. Have a great weekend!

Real Estate and Architectural Photography - Working Outside

I've spent the better part of this week discussing the joys and perils of indoor real estate and architectural photography. Photographing buildings is an entirely different "animal". Here are some examples of my work before this class (taken several months ago):



Now, these are not bad, not at all. However, knowing what I know now, well, I'd like to get back up to Philly as soon as possible for another photo shoot.

Here are some things I did correctly and well, based on the class I took:

1) The first picture was taken at an angle, and at the top of a hill.

2) The last picture was taken with a wide-angle lens, and it gives the campus an open, spacious feel.

As for the second and third pictures, I could have done the following:

1) Changed the angle of the second picture to show more of the building. The pathway is nice, but it doesn't bring much to the picture.

2) Photographed the third picture at the top of this hill, and not the bottom. This point is very important, because this picture doesn't look quite "right" to me. Also, the green post is very distracting. Had I moved up the hill, I probably could have avoided it.

So, did I do better during the photography lesson? I think so:





I took all my interior shots in this house. The interior was amazing and spacious, as you could probably tell from my pictures earlier this week.



This house was across the street.

Would you believe that both pictures were taken on a steep hill? Because I went to the side that was at the top of the hill, I mitigated that risk. Also, I cropped liberally. There was a large car in front of the house in the first picture. The second picture had too much extraneous detail on the sides. Cropping is your friend, trust me.

Now, there is an exception to the rule I just mentioned. If the sun is hitting one side more than the other, you'll want to photograph that side to give a nice warm effect, even if that side is at the bottom of the hill. That didn't apply to either of these houses, because it was a cloudy day. But, you'll want to experiment with that. You'll want to do that at an angle, in case I wasn't clear. :)

Also, use foliage and anything that is pretty to your advantage. It was easier to do this with the second picture.

I live in a neighborhood with beautiful houses. When the weather improves and the flowers begin to bloom, I plan to head out and try to take pictures like these. I've always felt that my architectural pictures looked very fake, so I'm hoping I'll do better. I certainly learned quite a bit!

Tomorrow - some final thoughts about this workshop.

Real Estate and Architectural Photography - Keeping it Straight and Crisp

One of the things I love about abstract photography is that I don't have to be neat and precise. This is not the case for with real estate and architectural photography. If you're putting a home on the market, do you want people to think that the home slants? Probably not. :)

This sounds obvious, until you consider that a wide-angle lens is the best option for this type of photography. Unfortunately, if you go too wide, then you start to see distortion on the sides - at least with some types of lenses. If you're not using a wide angle lens at all, then the situation is worse, and you have the leaning building effect, because you're tilting the lens upward.

To complicate matters, ensuring the picture is crisp is another challenge with this type of photography. This is because levels of light are relatively low. Sure, you can bump up the ISO, but I wouldn't do it past 800. This is why I reached the conclusion that using a tripod would be inevitable one of these days. You really can't afford the slightest shake where these pictures are concerned.

For all of these reasons, this is why I consider this type of photography the most precise. And frankly, the most scary (for me).

So what can you do? Well, aside from using a tripod, which will solve these issues, consider the following:

For crispness, hold the camera very close to your body. Keep your elbows in. Bump up the ISO to 400 or 800. Take several versions of each picture. Remember that what looks good in the viewfinder might not look good when you load it on to your computer, so multiple takes are a must. I admit that if I were paid to take these types of pictures, I'd suck it up and bring a tripod.

As for keeping lines straight:



If you don't have a tripod, make sure you line your camera viewfinder such that it's parallel with the floor. Doing this will help ensure that you aren't inadvertently pointing the camera upward. Otherwise, use the Straighten tool post-processing (most image editing tools have it). It is, though, much easier to get this right the first time.

Here's another example:





Here, the key is to focus on the vertical lines of the pictures because it isn't obvious how the floor should be oriented. So, line up the vertical part of the viewfinder instead.

Believe it or not, I learned even more than this - such as tips on taking pictures outdoors. I'll go into that tomorrow.

Real Estate and Architectural Photography - Windows

Remember these pictures?





You may recall that I had trouble with the exposures of these pictures. Informally speaking, this is because the camera tries to adjust for the darker interior and that makes the windows overly bright and blown out. With the two pictures here, I had to do some pretty extensive post-processing.

In class last weekend, the instructor taught all of us a great trick. Unfortunately, I think it only works with DSLRs. Turn on the flash, and use a shutter speed of 1/200. That's it! Nice and simple. An overhead flash is better, but I found that this worked just fine with my regular flash on my camera. Here's an example:



See? Nice, tidy, and properly exposed. Now that I know this trick, I should have better luck moving forward.

Tomorrow, I'll cover the importance of lines and angles - and getting them right.

Real Estate and Architectural Photography Lessons - "Take away the Fake"

Although I was extremely distracted over the weekend (a brutal crime happened a few blocks from where I live), I learned so much at this class that I had to make this a multi-part series. Today, I'm going to go into my most important lessons - how to make my pictures look "real".

I've had a lot of trouble with this. I'll take a picture of an interior, and it won't quite look the same as I'd expected. An example was during my trip to Vegas. I stayed in a terrific room with an amazing view. Unfortunately, every picture I took of the interior looked fake - it didn't resemble what I saw with my eyes. I therefore had to resort to posting pictures like this, instead:



Mind you, I'm not complaining about this picture, but I felt limited.

I did slightly better with other aspects of the hotel, including the spa, but I never knew why:



I discussed my issues with the instructor, who was very patient. He solved my problem very quickly. Here's why - I shot as wide as possible. Every time I tried to shoot something that wasn't "at scale", it wouldn't work or look good. Anything at a relative distance was fine.

So, with a point-and-shoot, how would that work? Well, my Canon point-and-shoot is especially wide. If you have a camera like it (the SX210 IS), then it's much easier. The key when shooting an interior is not to zoom, if you're looking to take a shot of the room. Obviously, for a close-up or something you'd want to emphasize, that's a different story, like this picture:



Zoomed out, this shot would have been completely different. I wish I'd known all of this while I was in Vegas.

So, did I have any luck with the shoot yesterday, with my newfound skills? I did! Here's an example:



Now ignore the person - this was just a class - and notice how wide the shot is, and how realistic it is. Even the owner liked it. I never thought that a simple piece of advice such as "go wide" would make such a huge difference to me, but it did.

You may be wondering, how did I manage to expose properly for the windows, given that I had such a hard time a few weeks ago at Hillwood? That's another terrific lesson learned, and I'll share that tomorrow. :)

Deals and Discounts - Should I Bite?

I've contemplated buying Photoshop CS5 on and off for a while. I always figured it would be good to have in my arsenal. But, I always change my mind. What would I do with it? Well, I'd probably tweak a few pictures. These are examples:



I'd take the people out of this picture.



Or brighten this picture (and make the sky blue)



Or remove the cars from this picture.

Anyway, I got a discount card in the mail. Anyone who owns a recent version of Elements for Windows or the Mac can upgrade to a full-fledged version of CS5 for $299. That's a really good deal.

But is it? Not if I'm not going to use it. As some of you know, I spend some time in Aperture, but that's about it. I use it to fix pictures such as this one:



This one was unusable before I worked on it in Aperture. Beyond that, though, I hate editing images.

Unless someone convinces me that CS5 meets MY needs, I don't care how inexpensive it is, or what the discounts are. I find this interesting, because I sell software services for a living. I use exercises like this to get in the heads of my customers. Understanding their needs and what motivates them to buy (which might not always be logical) ensures I'm not throwing deals and discounts at people. My customers are consumers, after all.

Anyway, I've decided to pass on this. Feel free to contact me if you're interested in more details about the promotion. Have a great weekend!

Photo Challenges

As you know, I try to enter contests every month (that didn't work out so well last month). I don't participate in photo challenges, though. But what are they?

Well, from what I can tell, they're like contests, but with a very specific focus. So as an example, contests can be about a subject like macro photography, but a challenge might restrict it by subject (one particular object, like a bottle) or colors. Something along those lines.

I came across the following challenge topics earlier today:

Day taken at night

Urban nature

Water bottle

Two colors

Backlighting subjects

i would have entered the two colors one, but it was too late. The backlighting subjects one was really interesting. I found myself digging through my portfolio to see if I had anything that would work. I can't say that it was an easy task, but it was interesting. These pictures seem to fit the bill:













Will I enter any of these? I really don't know. I might. I have until the end of the month to decide. However, learning about the technique, as well as really focusing on my work were activities that were well worth my time.

Tomorrow: A promo offer I received in the mail.

Coasters and Fun Stuff

I read about photography every day, so it's not surprising to me that I see and hear about new ideas (new to me, at least) often. On LinkedIn, I came across a post from a woman asking about companies that make custom coasters from pictures. I thought - what a great idea! I could really get into that.

Well, easier said than done. A few casual observations:

1) UK companies seem to have a better presence than US ones, based on my search results.

2) There is apparently a way to do this myself, but ... I'm really not that handy or crafty.

3) The US offerings vary wildly in price - from 65 dollars a coaster (which seems excessive) on the high end, to around 4 dollars a coaster. I have to think that there's a huge difference in quality there.

As a result, I'll need to go and see these for myself. I can't recommend an online option. My plan is to check out Ritz Camera and Penn Camera. I can walk to Ritz Camera, and I'll have to drive to Penn Camera. At least that way, though, I'll make an informed decision.

In a perfect world, here's what I'd do with these products:

1) Order custom mugs for my Mom - she'd love one with a picture like this:



2) Coasters for me - mine are really old. I'd want pictures like these:



In other words, something bright and pretty.

Tomorrow, I'm going to discuss some photo challenges I've seen, and whether or not I think I can handle them.

Magic Tricks and how to use Them

Yesterday, I mentioned what I need to make sure I can take clear pictures of fast-moving objects. Today, I'm discussing the opposite. Unfortunately, the tricks I'm about to outline require a DSLR - unless someone can prove me wrong.

The easier one to explain is how to handle nighttime exposures. It's quite simple - use a long exposure. Example:



Here's a 30 second exposure taken at night. There were people milling around, but you wouldn't know it by looking at this. As I've mentioned before, the key to such a long exposure is to stabilize the camera.

So, how does this work during the day? A 30 second exposure will result in a picture that is completely blown out and unusable. I've used this trick a few times, but I don't have a recent example for you: Use a neutral density filter (I own one, but I don't use it as much as I could) and take several shots with relatively long exposures. Start at 1/4 second and go slower. This works best with cars, in my opinion. It's not so terrific when you're testing this out with humans.

So, how would it work with humans? Not very well, I'm afraid. There are options with Photoshop, but as some of you know, I don't like using Photoshop for technical editing. My solution is to make it work with the people in it (and obtain the appropriate releases, if applicable):



Or, show up very early, like here:



As you can see, there isn't a soul out here. That's because I walked over at 7:00 am. No one was awake!

Tomorrow - an interesting idea and another printing option.

Let's go Fly a Kite

Or take pictures of them in flight, that is. There's a specialized type of photography involving suspending my camera from a kite line - not for me.

It's something I've never done before - ever. This means this will be my dress rehearsal. Well, not today or tomorrow, but later in the month, during the Cherry Blossom Kite Festival later this month. Yes, I'm going to brave the crowds and take my chances. I have a lot of considerations, including:

1) Lens? Probably my kit lens. Also my telephoto lens.

2) Filters? They don't work with either lens, so, I guess not. 

3) Camera settings? Most likely low ISO, very high shutter speed. As high as I can get it.

4) Goal? To take at least a few "money" shots. I want to focus on interesting shapes and colors. Possibly a few abstracts, since the chance of motion blur is high.

I'm not sure why I've never tried this before. I love colors, and kites are the most colorful objects I'll see in a long time - in March.

This picture plus a few kites would be amazing:



Or this:



Does anyone have a good dress rehearsal idea for me? I'll need to think of one. In the meantime, though, I remembered a great tip about working with fast-moving objects - and making them disappear. I'll have to share that with you tomorrow.

Contest - My Finalists

Yesterday, I decided that I was going to enter the NCCF contest, and that I would narrow down my choices to 15 pictures (I can only enter 3). I actually did better than that, I'm happy to say. Here are my seven finalists:




So there you have it! I'll decide in two weeks. In the meantime, next week, I'll shift my focus to other topics ... like the Cherry Blossom Festival and my plans! Have a great weekend!