MaineArchiPhoto

Pet Calendar

2011-08-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

I've recently been working on a pet calendar for A Paw in the Door, a rescue organization primarily for cats. I've also done some volunteer photography for their adoptable kitties, just to get some good photographs of these sweet cats. Just like houses, most people start their search for a pet online, and I thought I'd help out with some nice photographs of these guys. As well, its nice to see my name in print, and I'm going to transition into more pet photography in the future. I've also been doing some pet sitting, (Scoot Pet Care) so its good promotion for this business as well.

Here are some photos of recent cat shoots.

Marley - a very sweet cat. So affectionate I had to push him away a bit so I could get decent pictures of him. He's FIV positive, but not contagious to dogs or humans. He's at Wags & Whiskers, a pet store in Bath, ME. Look for a large poster I took of him in the window.

Maisie and Baby

Maisie was shy so stuck to her dog bed (they were in Pet Quarters in Brunswick) so it was a bit tricky to shoot pictures of her. I didn't want to freak her out, so just took pictures of her sitting down.

Baby was in a cage and didn't feel like getting out, so I tried to minimize the bars and did tight shots of her. What's important in pet photography is to work with the animal as well, trying to pull out the best in their personalities, and not pushing them if they don't want to be pushed. That's most important with cats, though dogs can be a challenge as well. They tend to be in motion so I push the ASA up pretty high to freeze their activities.

Juniper
She was also at pet quarters and had such beautiful markings that I worked with her quite a bit to get her relaxed. The store manager helped me as well, playing with her so she would be distracted from the intrusive camera.

Under Contract

2011-06-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a listing goes under so fast that I don't even have time to post the pictures before it does. That is a very happy occurrence, of course.

The listing in Portland is a multi unit, with an artist's loft in the back, quite an interesting property to shoot. I especially enjoyed how spare and light-filled the loft was. Those kind of architectural details really are a joy to shoot.

Tenants

2011-05-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

What to do when there is a tenant living in a the listing that is being sold? This house was in need of staging, but I enjoy when I have a challenge. The place was very modest - a rental property - and the tenants had many small objects and oversized furniture (and a python in the kitchen). With the house being so modest in size, it was important to de-clutter as much as possible.

As a further challenge, none of the bedrooms (there were 3), were photographable (too dark, painted black, and too small respectively), so we had a limited number of rooms to take pictures in (the "we" is Diane Wescott and I, who is the listing agent and certified stager).

The kitchen was the selling point (large, new, nice granite and backsplash) so we did that the last and spent the most time on.

The challenge for the living room was there was at least one too many pieces of furniture (we moved a couch out of the way) and tons of clutter (flying pigs, anyone?). There were many plants though, so we utilized those.
Before

After

The outside was very modest, so what I tried to do is use the best light, bluest sky, and made sure that the house was centered very symmetrically in the picture. I avoided the various cars parked in the driveway (I’ll make people move their cars usually but there were at least four of them, and the angle wasn’t great anyway so I didn’t bother). Pick your battles with these kinds of houses. Don’t take shots from every angle, just pick the best, most workable one, and stage for that.

[Its always amusing to me when we stage the house for the shots, and then put the house exactly back the way it was (usually for tenants), even though we are basically making it messy again.]

New headshots for Katy Taylor, Massage Therapist

2011-03-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

I recently traveled up to Auburn to shoot headshots for Katy Taylor, in return for a lovely massage and energy work. It really helped relax my back, especially after the car accident I had in February - she is a great massage therapist and a MyNetKing member. (By the way, I am offering a discount to MYNK members for headshots; please contact me if interested at envisionpix@hotmail.com.)

As headshots are a relatively new venture for me (I usually shoot inanimate objects), what I most focus on is getting the subject to relax in front of the camera. I like to have them demonstrate what they do, so with Katy I had her massage a client, and posed her in front of her table and in her office. I felt it worked well. It always takes a bit of time for the person to get past the awkwardness of being photographed and then they relax into it. It is very enjoyable to see the great shots that come out.

With Andy Stone, I felt I brought out the sweetness that he hides just below the surface. With Katy, I think I discovered her inner joy that surfaces when she works on people. It was one of the best massages that I have ever gotten and I felt rejuvenated afterwards. Thanks, Katy! Her website is http://kripalu-therapeutic-massage.com/index.htm

Headshots

2011-03-04T13:54:00.001-08:00

I do headshots as well, so here are some I took recently for Andy Stone of MyNetKing.com, both business and casual shots.

Summer light

2010-07-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

I may be repeating myself but I cannot stress enough how important good lighting is for a picture. I try to only use natural light as it imparts a natural glow to the picture, but sometimes this lighting need to be tweaked a bit.

With a recent photo shoot (thanks Janice Selig of Allen & Selig Realty), I was challenged a bit with the harsh light outside that created defined streaks indoors. As you can see in both exterior photos (at the beginning and end of this blog), this was strong, midday light. It was at about 2pm in July, not a time I would usually pick to shoot a house, because midday light can be overbearing. I usually like either morning or afternoon light, as its lower on the horizon and imparts a soft glow. However, this wasn't an option for this shooting as the house was on a wooded lot, which would have created shadows on the exterior parts of the house if later in the day (morning wouldn't work either as the sun would be on the back part of the house, rather than the front).

I sorted out the outside but the back to the inside challenge, which was the strong light seeping in and creating unwanted beams of light. Now our eyes edit this streaking out (in fact I think it adds drama to a room) but the camera doesn't add any emotion, and instead takes away from the photo and what I'm trying to convey.

One of the rooms that I had this challenge was in the downstairs bedroom. As you can see in the photo, the afternoon sun cast its light on the bed, leading the eye to the middle of the room, not towards the back, which is what I wanted the buyer's eye to go (to give a sense of depth to the room, I wanted the buyer's eye to be pulled to the small lamp by the side of the bed.)

So I tried completely shutting the blinds, and bumping up the exposure on my camera, but with the dark wood, walls and bedspread, the room looked too cave like. The eye was pulled back to the lamp as I wanted, but would the buyer even like the room?

My final solution was to partially raise the blinds so some natural light came in but without the streakiness on the bed. I then shifted the angle of the picture I was taking just a bit, so that you couldn't see the window where the light was coming in (also a bit distracting). The final result was a room that made use of natural light the best way it could without any strong rays to take away from the picture.

(Another exterior view, that shows the strong light of midday)

Removing the little details

2010-05-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

On a recent virtual tour shooting (thanks, Elisabeth Bostwick of Bostwick and Co!), I realized sometimes removing the simplest items can make a huge difference in a photo. These could be items that stagers really like (splash of color, inviting bouquet) but in the camera's eye they are distracting and take away from the picture.

(Above)
While the little red rug was eye catching and worked with the other colors in the room (the seller has a great eye), I was trying to emphasize the width and depth of this space, so felt this splash of red was distracting to the eye. The color pulled the eye down to the floor and not to the back of the picture, which is what I wanted to emphasize.

(Above)
In this picture, the lack of distracting red really pulled the eye back and opened up the room to show how large it was. I also centered and pulled back the more neutral rug so that the tile was shown off. Also by moving the rug, I exposed more depth to the room.

Another item is the table centerpiece. While many stagers would want an eye catching piece on this table (and I think most home sellers would put one on anyway), I removed the bouquet because there was already a fair amount going on in this room, and I wanted a place for the eye to rest.

Finally, I've included the virtual tour and a lovely quote from the seller, for this property, "Thank you Hannah for the AMAZING virtual tour! (You) did a wonderful job with the inside..."

Before and After

2010-03-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

To change up the blog a little bit, I thought I'd post before and after pictures for a house I shot recently. The before pictures were taken by the agent, Diane Wescott of Allen & Selig Realty, who's given me permission to use them here. (She freely admits that she's not a professional photographer which is why she hires me for every house she has).

The ones I took are the after shots. I thought it would be interesting because this house is a modest ranch house and it still is very important to have great photos for houses, no matter what the price point. In fact it may be more important for the average house because there is greater competition, less chance of another professional photographer taking pictures, and this listing will stand out in the crowd. Anyway, here are some photos and my thoughts of what I did to make the house look the best that it could. Cheers, Hannah

The picture on the left is the before, and the two pictures in the center and right are the afters. The before picture shows cold light, underexposure and a very cluttered kitchen. The seller decluttered it quite a bit before I came over, and then I had her take pretty much everything off the counters. The camera sees every detail, more so than we see with our naked eye. Not to go too much off on a tangent but even after a house is staged, I usually need to make some adjustments in order to take good pictures. Staging is part one of the process to show a house well, to shoot the best pictures I need to go to part two - usually much more spare than regular staging, and then after the shoot the house can go back to part one again. I think this merits a whole other blog post, but wanted to delve into that quickly.

For the after pictures, I used the natural light from the window and side door, but also made sure to have every light on in the kitchen to make it more appealing. I also have portable lights if there are huge shadows or something is backlit, but for this house I didn't use them as they can get in the way in small spaces. I also overexpose a bit, just to make the rooms be a bright as possible and to have all the details pop. Finally, I use staging material such as plants for the potential buyer's eye to rest on something, and to have a positive feeling about the item and also the room. I have some of my own materials but also enjoy using what the seller has in their house.

The living room was cluttered, the light was tricky because of the windows behind the furniture, and the furniture was pretty heavy for the size of the room. I had the sellers clear off all extraneous items and then looked for the most open shot in the room. I rarely shoot TVs, so just worked that out of my picture (you can see it in the corner of the before shot). I bumped up the exposure again, turned on all the lights, and not to get too detailed but worked on the light metering to make sure it was taking a reading off the sofa, not the windows (which would have made the picture too backlit and dark, which is what happened in the before picture).

This was a very attractive room, with lots of space and light. I wanted to highlight this room as being something fairly unusual to find in a ranch. In the before picture it is dark again (a challenge in a sun room as the outside can be so bright) and a bit cluttery. The seller decluttered, rearranged the furniture and I worked on the lighting. By opening up the blinds it would let in too much light so I had them partially closed, just enough to show that it was sunny without interfering with the light. Also, because it is mud season in Maine and the outdoors isn't too attractive, I tried to minimize what was outside and in fact with one picture overexposed the picture so that you couldn't see outside in any case.

Here is the exterior of the listing. This listing is important to shoot carefully as it has many competitors. In fact many agents might not feel that it was worth having professional photography taken because of its price point, but you can see the difference between what an agent would generally shoot and what a professional photographer would. As buyers now eliminate online, this listing should stand out over its competition.

Small Condo in Portland

2010-02-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

I shot a small condo in Portland this week, on Winter St, and I had a great time. The seller had a great sense of modern style which really worked well for the condo, and even though under 500 sq ft, the flow and height of the ceilings made it feel much bigger.

As in all shoots, there were a number challenges in shooting this condo (that's what makes it fun!). As mentioned above, working with the size and demonstrating the nice flow of the place, without misleading potential buyers in terms of its size was one hurdle to overcome.
The next one was the exterior shot. In the West End of Portland, houses are close together and also have many telephone lines in front of them. We edit out these lines with our eyes, but the camera makes them visible and ugly. I chose to get around this by doing up close shots and ones that minimized the lines, instead using a tree to frame the building.

The most interesting challenge was the strong light that came into the condo. You wouldn’t think that would be a problem, except the strong light, created strong shadows that even my lighting wasn’t able to balance well. So the seller and I tacked a pillow case over the window to let light in but make it more diffuse. You will see in the picture that this pillow case even looked like a nice curtain, so I didn’t even really have to hide it when I was shooting.

It was a really fun shoot, where I spent a lot of time on detail, and I think the pictures are some of my better ones. The listing is with John Herrigel of Green Tree Realty, and is for $124,900.
For more pictures of this listing and others, feel free to go to the album of new photography of listings on my fan page "envisonpix" . I will post the virtual tour soon as well.

Virtual tour for John Herrigel

2010-01-15T12:43:00.000-08:00

Whoops, got behind in this blogging thing since the holidays (I guess it happens sometimes). I took some pics for John Herrigel at GreenTree Realty for a house he listing in Portland (41 Nottingham Rd). Its a small bungalow but has really nice details and I tried to highlight them, with rugs (to show off the hardwood floors) and plants in the dining room.
The tough room to shoot was the kitchen (there is always at least one challenge in shotting a house), as you can see, there were some really large beams in the way, which added to the character, but was also hard to show the openness of the kitchen. So I shot it two ways, both with the beams in the way, trying to keep it as symmetrical as possible, and then with the beams behind me, so show the openness of the kitchen. The beams as well as the woodstove definitely gave character to the kitchen so I tried to include them, without it being cluttered.

It was great that they moved most of the furniture out of the house. One of the hardest things to work with is a small house stuffed with furniture, that you have to shoot around and also try not to insult the homeowner, who has lived in the house with this cluttered furniture. When that happens and I need to move things, I explain to the homeowner (and the listing agent too) that the camera sees everything, so it needs to be less cluttered than even when the house is shown.
Here is the visual tour link,

Going to do another set of stills for John this weekend in Brunswick. Stay tuned!

Summit Terrace Stills and This Week's Work

2009-12-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

Well I've finished editing about 1200 stills that I took over the past few weeks for Summit Terrace Apartments in South Portland. I'm now working on the virtual tours for the four apartments and the exterior, then will be done! It was a big project, one that encompassed a staged apartment already, two unstaged ones that I did the staging on, and one lived in apartment where I mostly decluttered in order to shoot it.

I also got up two mornings at the crack of dawn in order to get good light and spent about 3 hours shooting a sign. It was all fun! Here are some pictures from that shoot. I will also post the virtual tours when ready.

This week I have two houses to shoot for Real Estate Agents, (thanks to Chris Albert of Allen and Selig, and John Herrigel of GreenTree Realty). I shot one house
yesterday in Gorham and will be posting the stills and virtual tour by the end of the week. I will also post my notes about it, some challenges to overcome and how I did so. This house was decorated for Christmas so we had to minimize that effect so it wouldn't become dated too quickly.

The other house I will be shooting in Portland tomorrow. With the short days you have a limited time to capture the light for the exterior shots. What's nice about this time is there usually is some really soft low horizon light to be had at any time of day. However, it's best not to go too early or too late because the trees (or if there is a ridge) will create strong shadows. Frankly its kind of a cool time to shoot because even at 1pm you have nice soft light that usually one gets only in the later afternoon or early morning the rest of the year. Oh the joys of living this far north!

Published in The Maine Sunday Telegram

2009-11-08T12:13:00.001-08:00

Today I was published in the Maine Sunday Telegram's Real Estate Section, for the photography I did for a waterfront home on Sebago Lake. For the link and story, go here
http://pphspecials.mainetoday.com/SS/Page.aspx?ptype=SS_TILE&secid=72917&pagenum=1&facing=false

No Toilets: 10 Tips for Picture Taking

2009-07-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

As a professional photographer and also a licensed real estate agent, I frequently come across pictures that do a disservice to the property for sale. Using my photographer’s eye, and my knowledge about what sells a house, I’ve put together some simple tips for agents. Agents, you don’t have to incorporate all of these ideas at once; try one or two to start.

BEFORE

AFTER
1 ) Keep surfaces neat – the camera picks up every detail. The best idea is to clear all clutter off surfaces before shooting. Have a few decorative items, but no personal ones (ex. Flowers on a kitchen counter vs. dish soap and a sponge).

BEFORE

AFTER
2 ) Exterior shots should be taken closest to the main part of the house, rather than from the driveway. A natural inclination is to park your car in the driveway, get out and start taking pictures. Instead, try this idea. A) park your car on the street away from the house, b) instead of standing in the driveway, walk on the lawn to the opposite side of the yard and take pictures there. You don’t even need to have the garage in the picture; what’s important is an attractive shot of the main part of the house. You may want to take many shots so you have options. Finally, try not to repeat the same angle that everyone else has (shots taken from the driveway with part of the realtor’s car etc…).
Also, because exterior shots are very important (generally the reason that buyers look at more pictures or decide to move on), try to only shoot the exterior shots either early in the morning or late in the afternoon, for the best light. Midday light tends to be too harsh. This picture was taken late afternoon/early evening.

3 ) NO TOILETS EVER – in the bathroom, only take pictures of the sink/vanity, and preferably take pictures only of the master bathroom. I generally only take pictures of bathrooms if there is a really nice vanity, if it’s new construction and done very well, or if there simply aren’t many other photogenic aspects of the rest of the house.

4 ) As with most photography, the most important component to a good picture is how natural light is used. I try to never use a flash, make use of the natural light and realize the best pictures are ones where the main source of light is behind you, illuminating the object you are shooting.

5 ) Try to take at least one picture at every angle there is in every room. Go to every corner of the room you are in and take a vertical and horizontal shot. I generally shoot over 100 pictures for a house just so I don’t have to go back and do more shots. I never spend more than 45 minutes shooting a house; what tends to be more time consuming is coming back and reshooting.
6 ) Rooms can be livened up very easily with some staging materials. I generally try to utilize three fake plants that I bought for under $20. This simple staging also gives the consumer something to focus on, rather than blank walls and floors.

WITHOUT LIGHTS

WITH LIGHTS
7 ) Just as I mentioned above about the use of natural light, make sure to turn all the lights on in every room, making each room warm and inviting. Be careful about windows, shoot using that light (with the windows behind you) otherwise the room will be very dark. These pictures below I had simply forgotten to turn n the overhead light.

8 ) When a house isn’t professionally staged, we often come across furniture that is overwhelming, too large for the room. What I do is take a picture of only part of the furniture (i.e. a corner of the bed) in order to give the essence of the room, rather than the whole piece.
As well, sometimes the feeling of a room can be conveyed in a very small detail.

9 ) I’ve found that buyers like a clear idea of what they are looking at that tells a specific story (example: a warm and inviting living room). These rooms are what the buyer wants to see in order of importance;
*Exterior,
*Kitchen,
*Master bedroom,
*More kitchen,
*Living room,
*Dining room,
*Other rooms as necessary (less is more).

10 ) Photography is a creative art. Use this idea to your advantage. If you don’t have a great exterior shot, (or have a ranch for sale amid the other 56 ranches for sale), take your best picture and use that as your primary shot. The picture below I have is the primary one for a subdivision project I co-listed. I wanted to show the potential buyers the cathedral ceilings, open floor plan and great use of space this house has which wouldn’t be immediately apparent from an exterior shot.

Have fun and enjoy! Remember to try one idea and work from there, so as not to get overwhelmed.