Found light often the best light.

Posted on May 6, 2013 by nathanoj

Property photographers seldom have the luxury of scouting a property in order to choose the best time of day when the sun is showcasing the home. Hopefully the vendor has a good idea of when that might be, and communicates this to their sales agent who books the photographer. So I was rather pleased to turn up at this home yesterday and find the afternoon sun and venetian blinds playing nice together.

However it IS possible to manipulate light if there’s not enough of it in the right place. In this shot, the light pattern on the floor is natural, however the stripes on the dining table were created by placing a flash outside the window on the left.

The Front Shot Rules!

Posted on March 23, 2013 by nathanoj

Here’s an interesting article that reports research examining the way in which people scan RE listings. “Researchers tracking the eye movements of subjects who looked at online home listings found that more than 95% of users viewed the first photo—the one that shows the exterior of the home—for a total of 20 seconds. After that, their eyes tended to flit all over the screen…”

Interesting that while the front shot garnered most attention (20 secs), there was a 5-way tie for second place, with photos of other rooms sharing equal eyeball time of 8 secs.
Read the whole article here

Rained off?

Posted on March 22, 2013 by nathanoj

We’re so spoiled for sun on The Sunshine Coast that many people prefer to to wait if the weather is less than perfect on the day that their photo-shoot is scheduled. It’s easy to forget though that grey wet conditions often prevail at this time of year as tropical storms drift down the coast and moisture-laden winds roll in off the ocean. Interiors can still look bright and attractive with creative flash placement mimicking the sun, and a subtle sky replacement from the library, so perhaps you don’t have to postpone after all?

Styling

Posted on December 20, 2012 by nathanoj

Real estate photographers spend so much time with their butts jammed into a corner I’m surprised we aren’t wedge-shaped! It’s all in the attempt to capture as much information as possible about a space. To me, wide shots, though essential as part of a mix of RE photos, provide information at the expense of emotion. They don’t convey a lot about the ‘feel’ of a home. So it was refreshing for me to be able to zoom in recently and show some of the effort put into the decor by their appointed stylist.

Cat Crazy

Posted on December 7, 2012 by nathanoj

I do love cats, but recently was able to video two superb catamarans for the guys at Multihull Solutions In Mooloolaba. Filming or photographing a boat involves similar skills and equipment to that required for filming a house; boats being rather like floating homes, albeit with low ceilings and the chance of drowning should one step over the boundary.

“Cattiva” is filmed with the camera gliding on a short rail mounted on a tripod. I love the soothing feel of such “slider moves”.

“Shellette” combines slider clips with walk-through’s, useful for connecting the various spaces in a boat or home. If you’ve ever carried a full cup of tea you’ll appreciate the jerky motion that could be imparted to a hand-held camera. This motion is smoothed out somewhat by mounting the camera on a gimbaled and counter-weighted ‘Steadicam’.

Twilight Shoot

Posted on September 19, 2012 by nathanoj

A recent shot of a new build. Dusk always adds a special sheen to real estate.

Just Press “Play”!

Posted on May 22, 2012 by nathanoj

In Space Cadet Stimpy’s case (above) it was the History Eraser button that he was ordered to guard, but not touch, that proved irresistible.
The video ‘play’ symbol is another graphic convention that begs to be pushed (or clicked). The action is rewarded with entertainment. Classic Pavlovian reinforcement.

So go on…

Where I live.

Posted on May 13, 2012 by nathanoj

A compilation of video clips that I shot between Mudjimba and Noosa. Part of my growing library of neighbourhood clips used to flavour property videos.

Lies, damned lies, and statistics!

Posted on May 3, 2012 by nathanoj

They say there are 3 types of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics! I love stats as an indicator of trends. Always to be taken with a pinch of healthy suspicion of course. The Redfin Blog is all about analysis of patterns in real estate. And their sample sizes are certainly large enough to give some confidence that the patterns they identify are real. But as always, identification of causal factors, and extrapolation of trends should be a matter for one’s own judgement.

Do Open Homes Help Sell Houses?

Yet another Video Style

Posted on March 30, 2012 by nathanoj

Rather less expensive than full motion video, a ‘pan and zoom’ slideshow gives a sense of movement by moving a virtual camera across and into (or out of) a still image. It’s not true video; trees & water won’t move in the wind for instance, although there is opportunity to intersperse real video between the still shots.

Yet another marketing option for the toolbox.

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