My Recent Real Estate Photography

[Sean Setters]

First of all, take a look at the pictures in this home listing: [url="http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1098-Mount-Vernon-Rd-Cookeville-TN-38501/41986813_zpid/]http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1098-Mount-Vernon-Rd-Cookeville-TN-38501/41986813_zpid/[/url]. Seriously, just do it. It sets up the story.


Done? Good.


As most of you know, I shoot portraits...and, typically, only portraits. However, a previous client of mine has had his home on the market for over a year now. During his family portrait session, I suggested he look into having professional shots done of his home in order to increase interest in the property (his agent took the original shots of the home seen above). Last week, his wife contacted me and requested that I take some shots.


Keep in mind, architecture is not my forte. I knew that my wide angle lens would introduce some distortion to the images--but that was alright with me. I could fix the pictures relatively well in post if the distortion was distracting. I knew my wide angle lens was going to be the key to conveying the spaciousness of the home--it was indeed essential.


I took the most time on three rooms--the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, and the finished basement media room. In my mind, those were the best selling points of the home. We decided to delay taking the outdoor pictures because 1) there are no leaves on the trees and 2) it was cloudy, miserable, and cold.


So what gear did I use? A Canon 7D and a 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5. For the living room shot, two monolights in the actual living room, one shoe-mount flash in the dining room, and one shoe-mount flash in the hallway. For the basement media room, two monolights and one shoe-mount flash (which is oddly placed, I know, but I thought it worked well). For all the other shots, I typically used a shoe-mount flash with a Fong-sphere on it. I know I missed one bathroom in the house, and I must go back to shoot it. Good thing they live 5 minutes away. ;-)


Without further ado:
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<td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"]1098 Mt Vernon Road, Cookeville, TN</td>
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[greggf]

Great shots Sean. Architecture shots are very hard indeed...also coming from someone who does portraits! Really makes you wish you had a 17 or 24 TS!!


Just out of curiosity...the house looks beautiful!! How much are they asking? Never mind, clicked on the link above. I will buy it!! For that price, OMG!!!!!!!!! Here in Santa Cruz, CA, a house like that, with hardwood, all the trimmings, would go for a minimum of at least 1 plus!! And I mean MILLION!!!! WOW....but I digress..


I think you did a great job on the lighting(you always do), but the distortion(as you stated), throws it off just a touch. But..after looking at the pictures from the real estate site, yours blows the doors off theirs!!!


Just a suggestion...taken with a grain of salt....you could rent a TS lens before you go back for the other bathroom, or outside shots. I know of a great rental agency...well...in Tenn as a matter of fact!! Lensrentals.com is fantastic..but you might know that already!!

[Sean Setters]

I thought about a tilt-shift lens, but wanted to try the shoot with the gear I had, first. I won

[greggf]

Just a thought. And I can understand the justify part, very well right now!! You could always, if you have a tripod, do indoor HDR

[ddt0725]

OMG!! I WANT THAT HOUSE!!! And I love Tennessee!!


Overall, you did a fantastic job on the lighting in every room! Extreme improvement over the original listings photos! IMO there is one room that the distortion is really noticeable and that is the master bedroom.


Denise

[Sean Setters]

I just did some heavier-handed lens correction on the master bedroom. I replaced the pic in the gallery. It's not perfect, but I think it's better. Now off to bed... :-)

[HDNitehawk]

Sean


They look great.


But I do have one comment. The drapes in the master need to be closed. The car in the window is not a good selling point, ....well unless you love your car more than your wife....

[ddt0725]

Much better!!! One thing to add ...you not only succeeded in making the photos brighter than the originals but you created a very warm cozy feeling about each of the rooms!


Very well done!


Denise

[PaulM]

Very nicely lit Sean. Wish I could do similar.


Keeping with your lens instead of a TS, what about just keeping the lens dead-level then cropping to get the desired apparent viewpoint. Could you still get enough of the foreground in that way?


Paul.

[PaulM]

Oh, and I think you did a marvelous job of conveying the spaciousness of the home!


I don