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Virtual Tours For Homes & Businesses

Adding a virtual 360º tour to your real estate listing is quickly becoming a necessity as we all learn how to cope with life during and after this current health crisis. For Realtors and their clients, adding more ways to virtually show a home is the safest way to attract and engage potential buyers. Most agents are familiar with Matterport, which is a wonderful (but typically quite expensive and lets face it, confusing) way for agents to provide this service. On the other side of the spectrum, using something like Zillow’s free service that you create one with your phone’s camera is very time consuming & typically unprofessional looking (and it’s only on Zillow).

I’ve added 360º virtual tours as a new add-on or stand-alone service option for my real estate photography offerings. This service gives you the ability to add the tour to your listing in the MLS, as well as embed it in a website as I’ve done above. You can even share the tour straight to social media and it looks great and is easy to navigate. I’ve priced it competitively so that you can add it to all of your listings.

I’m also offering video tours. There are a couple of options to choose from, a standard quick hybrid video/slideshow, or a slightly longer & more detailed video (as featured below). Video is great not only for social media sharing, but also to give the potential buyer a curated look into what makes the home special.

When agents look for “a real estate photographer near me”, the offerings they need are now going far beyond traditional photography. I aim to provide more ways to increase your ability to sell your listings as safely & quickly as possible for you and your clients. Please contact us today with any questions or you can simply book a service here.

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Architectural Details

I recently sat down with an architect to poke his brain about what he looks for in architectural photography. It was quite the eye-opening conversation to hear what the things that the person who designs a home or building is looking for. The number one takeaway I got from the discussion was the importance of how the light flows, which is balanced by shadows. For most real estate photography, us photographers shoot very wide to show as much of each room as possible. The problem with that in the architect’s point of view is that that is not how we see a room with our eyes.

9189 Markleys Grove Blvd Suzy Torres Web-21

The other difference is that with most real estate photography, you want everything in focus. You’re showing off the room, so you want to make sure that the room is fully in view. With a more architectural shot, you might focus on a point of interest and let the rest of the room fall out of focus using a more shallow depth of field. This light and airy look is popular in portraiture, but it can be effective when used with the color, direction, and quality of the ambient light in the room to create a mood.

These concepts alone wouldn’t work for most real estate agents as there is a very valid reason that most real estate photography has a specific look. But, if you combine the different styles to tell a more complete story, you can often convey a feeling of a room beyond just the clinical representation of it. That might be the eye-catching photo that makes a potential buyer save that listing!

Edisto – The Lowcountry’s Best Kept Secret!

This past week was one of the most amazing Summer weeks we’ve had here in Charleston from a weather standpoint. On Saturday I had to take a quick drive to Edisto to take some preview pictures for a potential real estate investment property for an agent. I took the drone out to get a closer look at the roof, and I was amazed by how quiet the beach was on a weekend morning on one of the most perfect days you could imagine. Edisto is a quiet beach community/vacation spot that feels like the kind of classic beaches where there’s not much to do but enjoy the beach and relax. Alas, I had to head back to Charleston that same morning but not before I enjoyed the scenery, snapped a few aerial pics for myself, and breathed in the ocean air.

K & G Properties

Kelly & Angela of K & G Properties

Kelly & Angela own a property investment company called K & G Properties. They came to the studio to get some updated headshot images for their new website launch. They both met on the College of Charleston basketball team which means I had to stand on a stool to get these shots!

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Jennifer’s Headshot

Jennifer Swanson is a designer who’s company Magnolia Home Staging stages homes for real estate in the Charleston area. After only showcasing her work to market her business, her colleagues & friends convinced her to get a professional headshot. Her response? “This is incredible!!”

During the session, she shyly requested the Hip Hop sounds of “NF” as her happy place music. You never know who’s gonna like what to get them comfortable!

Multiple Exposure at BarCampCHS 6

I’ve led a photographically themed session at the annual BarCamp “unconference” in Charleston since 2010, with sessions on post-processing, lighting, retouching, and iPhonography. This year I tried to tap into the technical aspects of creative photography that have existed since the film days – Multiple exposures. We explored two different techniques, one involving a long exposure with multiple speedlights, and the other using the in-camera multiple exposure feature.

The first demonstration involved off-camera lighting. I used two speedlights and radio triggers to get this effect. I use Cactus v5 radio triggers, which allow me to assign a separate channel to each flash as well as fire them both at the same time. I set the flash on camera left to channel 3 and the one on camera right to channel 2. I set the camera to bulb mode, shut off all of the lights, and shot at ISO 100 and f/9 from a tripod. Rachel is the model, and her brother controlled the radio channels. As I held the shutter open, I had her do each pose and had her brother switch to the appropriate channel and fire the flash. This was the result:

That’s not a Photoshopped image. It’s all one exposure as far as the shutter actuations are concerned. The multiple exposures come from the separate speedlight actuations. Pretty cool, huh?

The next technique is a function of most DSLRs – a feature called “Multiple Exposure”. I learned something new about this feature on my Nikon – It’s not available when you’re shooting tethered! Oh well, after a long minute of trying to figure out why I couldn’t get it to work, I unplugged my camera from the presentation computer and got started. The way I set my camera up this time was to set the Multiple Exposure setting to 2 images in a series and then disable the auto-gain. For the effect of constraining the 2nd exposure within the 1st exposure’s silhouette, I wanted the background to be blown out (which is why you want to disable the auto-gain). This technique doesn’t require any special lighting, but since we were in a classroom, I used my speedlights to blow out a white wall behind my subjects.

This is John, who certainly had the best beard in the whole conference (probably in all of the Charleston peninsula for that matter). Another attendee had this vibrant purple paisley laptop bag with her that I used for the second exposure. Together they made quite the juxtaposition:

We had time for one more example, so using the same technique, I had this idea that came from something I saw that day at the College of Charleston campus. All over the walkways there were messages about speaking out about rape. There were hashtag messages such as #nomeansno and #itsnotyourfault written in chalk everywhere.

I asked my daughter Mackenzie to pose with a very sad and angry expression, and then I got a few people to stick their hands out for the second exposure. The idea of the shot was to see where you can take the technique creatively. In trying to make a visual interpretation of these messages we all saw that day, this was the result. I didn’t let on that that was what I was going for while we were setting this up because we were having fun during the session, so I hope that anyone who was there didn’t misinterpret my light-hearted presentation as making light of the seriousness of sexual assault in all of its forms.

Finally, I once again had the pleasure of shooting the group photo for the conference. Here’s most of the attendees and volunteers who make BarCampCHS happen every year:

And here’s a photo of me taking that photo, courtesy of Andy Paras form the Post & Courier:

Photo Walking In Historic Charleston

Worldwide Photowalk 2014 - Charleston SC

Welcome to the 300th post on my blog! I’ve had some posts here that have been pretty popular, a lot that have been virtually ignored, and hopefully some that have struck a chord with my readers.

But this isn’t about that, this is about Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk 2014. Just take a look at this crew of local photographers who ventured out on the historic streets of the lower Charleston peninsula:

Weather-wise, it may have been the most perfect day ever conceived. It was like San Francisco perfect. I brought my daughter again this year, and she invited 4 of her art-school friends who all took to the streets in true teenage fashion.

I was sporting my trusty Fuji X-T1 camera, and my approach this year was a little different than the past. Possibly because I was herding 5 teenage girls around, or maybe because I was carrying a smaller camera, but I just let the pictures come to me instead of seeking them out. Plus, I was able to get the girls involved to make a memorable and creative experience with them.

Using the environment to influence a photo, I was able to setup a shot with the girls, but then this woman walked into the frame walking this massive dog, making for a cool street photo:

It’s pretty common this time of year to see another photographer earning their living by shooting a beautiful couple. When I stumbled upon this scene, I thought to myself, “What better street photo in the French Quarter than one of a wedding photographer at work?”

Cooler still, the entourage had a limousine complete with a silver-haired driver in a tuxedo. I asked the driver if I could make a portrait of him, and asked him to stand naturally just like he was before I approached him:

My favorite shot of the walk came by the harbor in the reeds. I saw this cool lone purple flower in the reeds and decided to get low and shoot it. One of the girls came walking into frame and this photo came together – I asked her to turn around and look back in my direction to capture this:

Strange thing about this photo – It became one of the most viewed photos of all of the photos in my Flickr stream overnight. Sometimes the less you try to create something special, the more likely something special will present itself to you. You just need to have the eyes to see it when it happens and enough skill to capture it in a concise fashion that lets the photo do the talking. As Seneca once said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

Replacements Weekend in Brooklyn

Last weekend I took a trip with my daughter to see one of my favorite reunited bands, The Replacements, play at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium. It was their first show in NY in 23 years, and it was the 3rd Replacements show I’ve been lucky enough to see since they reunited in Toronto last year. It was also the best one yet, but that might be influenced by all of the friends that were there to witness it with us.

Traveling with my daughter, I didn’t want to impose ourselves on my friends’ couches and spare rooms, so we used airbnb to get a sweet apartment in Brooklyn. Just a block away from McCarrren Park & Pool, we were in a great location for wandering around and checking out the Brooklyn scene.

We took full advantage of the great weather and spent a lot of time walking/shopping/eating in lower Manhattan as well.

We also caught a nice Sunset over NJ from the High Line:

It’s hard not to miss my old stomping grounds when you’re sharing a bottle of wine with friends on a rooftop in Brooklyn while looking at the Manhattan skyline. Good food, good music, and good people. That’s a good life right there…

You can check out the rest of my photos from our weekend trip on this Flickr set.

One last thing – I’ve joined Ello (thanks for the invite Patch Whisky), which is branding itself as the Anti-Facebook – an effort to cure all of the evils of the biggest social network. Check me out here.

Summer Time

It’s been a very busy year so far – July 4th seems to sneak up and remind me just how fast time slips by. I’ve been busy growing my other business while still working this one. In fact, I surprised my crew yesterday by dragging in a light and a backdrop to the office for some surprise headshots:

Rashaud

Ben

Speaking of headshots, I’ve been doing a lot lately for various professionals in the area. A few years ago, you could only thrive from doing headshots in a major market, but because of social media every professional needs one, not just actors and comedians.

Here’s a couple I did this past week:

Dr. Kelsey Harris

Dr. Molly Slade

I’ve also discovered that my Fuji X-T1 is quite the capable headshot camera. The two headshots of the guys in my crew were taken with the Fuji, while the two doctors were taken using my Nikon D800. While the flexibility gained by the controls, full frame sensor, and lens selection of the Nikon are paramount to shooting professionally, the Fuji’s results are almost indistinguishable when the output is simply an internet profile picture. The only drawback I found with my current lighting rig is that I need to close down the aperture on the Fuji a couple of stops because it shoots natively at ISO 200 and it’s a cropped sensor. That leads to more depth of field when shooting with strobe lights. For headshots like these, it’s not a problem though. For creative portraiture using these strobes it might be limiting, but I think a ND filter or two would help in that case. The look of a lens at it’s proper focal length that you get from a full frame sensor when compared to a cropped one can’t be beat, but like the US Soccer team’s performance in the World Cup game against Belgium, it comes really close by giving it its all – And that’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Sorry, I fell into a technical wormhole. Back to the photos…

Shepard Fairey Installation At The Sottile Theater

If you haven’t stopped by the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art to see the exhibit of Shepard Fairey and Jasper Johns, you’ve got ’til July 12th to do so. The work is amazing and inspiring. Shepard Fairey has a few installations in the Charleston area, including the one above at the storefront of the Sottile Theater on King Street. There’s also a few murals that he’s put up, such as this one on one of the College of Charleston’s dormitories:

Selective Color Still Lives!

I do love some street art. In the right places, like the back alleys of the city where people store their trash, they bring color and joy. I find the story told by the street artists to be just as compelling as the story told by the architects on the main streets.

The Other Part Of King Street

On another note, every once in a while I get reminded of just how amazing the camera in my pocket (the iPhone) is. I snapped this little dragonfly while walking into a client’s office the other day:

Dragonfly Instagram

I also got to go to a wedding that I wasn’t working at for the first time in a looooong time. I still managed to take a few photos, but only because I wanted to, not because I had to!

Samantha & Jerry

I’ve been seeing as much music as possible and spending some great time with my daughter in the process. We had front row center seats to see the Head and the Heart and Valerie June recently:

The Head and the Heart

Valerie June

At the start of the summer I surprised my daughter during our “school’s out weekend trip to Disney World” with a visit to Universal Studios to see Huey Lewis & The News!

Huey Lewis & the News

Speaking of Disney World, I captured this family photo with a Rokinon fish-eye lens on my Fuji X-T1 while we rode Primeval Whirl in the Animal Kingdom:

The Nienstedt Family

And while we were walking through Epcot’s World Showcase, we ran into some old friends. It’s Paulie Latex and Jenny Jelly of Latex Generation fame! Paul used to sing and play guitar in my band and Jen was our merch girl. I wrote a song about them when we were teenagers about how they would never last. I then wrote a song a few years later about being astonished that they were still together. Now they’ve got 3 girls and have been together for somewhere near 20 years. Holy crap was I wrong!

Latex Generation Family Photo Disney World 2014

Photo by Mrs. Edel

Local artist Patch Whisky asked me to shoot some of his artwork to be reproduced as prints that he’s now selling on his website. It was a different animal to shoot his monsters, but they sat well for the shoot…

Patch Whisky

On the topic of artists, I sadly had to say goodbye to one of my favorite artists who gathered his family up and moved to the West Coast. Here I am getting one last tattoo from Rob Junod at Holy City Tattooing Collective:

Getting the Junod one last time (In Charleston) #holycitytattooingcollective #tattoo #IWantYourSkull #nipslip #organicsweater

Rob Junod & a Shirtless Me

Rob’s wife, Amanda Rose, is a talented hair & make-up artist. I worked with with her recently for Shelly Waters, who hired me to shoot the cover of her upcoming CD. I’m bummed that the Junods had to leave, but I’m happy to see where their journey takes them as they are both immensely talented.

Shelly Waters and Amanda Rose

And finally, since we’re on the topic of tattoos and art, my wife Amy paid a visit to Margo at Holy CIty Tattooing Collective just yesterday to start work on a new piece on her bicep. It’s just an outline in this picture and it already looks amazing!

Amy

I think that about wraps it up for this post. We’re planning a road trip later in the summer, so hopefully I’ll capture some fun photos of that adventure. It’s gonna be filled with plains, trains, and automobiles for sure!

You Never Know…

I jumped on Facebook this morning to a message from a friend linking to this article about the state of tattooing in the Charleston area. I was a bit surprised to see my “selfie” as the lead image of not only the article, but as the top story on the front page of the Post & Courier’s website!

Traditional Dagger Tattoo With Fire Ant Hilt and Palmetto & Crescent Moon Pommel

After a minute of surprise, it kind of made sense to me – The tattoo in question is a Lowcountry tribute, with its fire ant, crescent moon & palmetto tree hilt/pommel. The idea I had was to incorporate a fire ant into a traditional tattoo dagger, and Jason Eisenberg over at Holy City Tattooing Collective made it way better than I envisioned. The reason I wanted the design was due to my recent discovery that I’m allergic to fire ants and how it made me feel like the south is trying to do me in – But what doesn’t kill me…

This is my #tattoo #sleeve that @MargoVenomous did for me at #holycitytattooingcollective in #charleston #sc featuring original art as well as elements of the artwork of @tatunga @caiakoopman @patchwhisky #art #ink #chsart #firedragon #demon #lowbrow #pop

The part that does kill me (and every photographer who gets their photos published) is that you never know which photo an editor is going to use. And it’s never the ones you work hardest on! This photo of my sleeve just above represents many hours of sitting in the shop as Margo Venomous worked her ass off putting ink into my arm. It features multiple designs from some of my favorite pop-surrealism artists that Margo expertly corralled into a very Todd Schorr-esque mural on my flesh. I shot it with a full lighting setup and spent time putting it all together in Photoshop. They didn’t want that, instead they used a selfie that I quickly shot in my bathroom mirror to post on my personal Facebook page to show off my new ink.

What I’m getting at is that how we shoot is never as important as what we shoot, and the story that the shot is illustrating is the most important thing when it comes to getting published. Even if it’s a damn selfie.

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