If this doesn’t sell the house, nothing will.
Category: Photography (page 1 of 7)
I’ve loved Jott.com since it was introduced. I use it every day — mainly to send reminders to myself, but also as my primary interface into Google Calendar. No more. Jott ends five years of gamely trying to get people to understand its value on May 3rd.
A lesser cause for mourning, Cisco flipped the switch on the Flip video camera line today. Frankly, I’ve been waiting for this for a while. The best idea Flip had was easy integration into YouTube — a feature your phone has by now, I should expect. Meanwhile, we switched almost all of our video to our Panasonic Lumix point-and-shoot cameras as soon as we got them.
The first BloodhoundBlog Unchained was clip-documented via Flip cameras, so I am not indifferent to see it go. Just to put extra icing on the Flip’s farewell cupcake, Cisco paid — wait for it — $590 million for the company in 2009.
Ultimately, I won’t weep, though. I can’t remember the last time we used the Flip for anything. Jott, on the other hand, is going to leave a big hole in my workday.
…with Phoenix being the most beautiful and the most affordable, of course.
If you’re stuck at home with nothing to do but surf the internet, the movie linked below will show you a better way of living…
The last time a lunar eclipse happened on the winter solstice was in 1638. What you you doing then? This just reminded me that we will make a complete orbit around the sun and meet here again next year. See you then. In the meantime,Happy New Year and have a safe and productive transit!
This just in. The photography in this film that commemorates the Space Shuttle program is stunning. Here is the standard for photography. Remember, our listings do not move and do not shed a ton and a half of mass per second. Here is a canonical archive of human ingenuity at its zenith. A million moving parts assembled by humans in search of splendor.
As Ronald Reagan said: “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God.”
All you have to do is make water with a whole lot of human brain power, courage and a million moving parts.
All of us, proprietors of this kennel included, have known that Odysseus was destined for the big time. Well, he finally got his break! Look for our pal anywhere a gorgeous face is needed.
It's midnight. Do you know where your Bloodhound is?
True confession: I was hiding in the bushes at a webinar (name withheld to protect the perps) and discovered PhotoFunia while waiting for the inevitable “buy today! Special deal just for our attendees! Super special deal if you get your broker to bring more lambs agents to the slaughter!” Well anyway, I found PhotoFunia at this webinar. It is free and it is fun. There really was a pony in there! I hope you enjoy.
First, an apology. One thousand apologies, in fact. On January 20th I introduced myself and expressed my gratitude to Greg for giving me the opportunity to be an occasional contributor to this forum. I mentioned a photography class for real estate professionals that I teach for brokers in our local market, and that I’d like to focus my involvement here on providing the content of that presentation in small bite-sized posts. I wrote that I would start by questioning the real purpose of real estate photography and why it’s become more important than ever – and then transition to a number of tips and techniques that I believe will help many readers improve their marketing images very easily.
I wrote those words seven weeks ago and haven’t been back since. Although I’m not presumptuous enough to expect that anyone else noticed my absence, I do feel an obligation to tell you that I did. I wanted very much to begin this dialog with Bloodhound readers right away, but frankly, I’ve been shooting and editing seven days most weeks, 12+ hours most days. Our market, like many others I suspect, has become extremely active since the first of the year and the agents I work for are listing everything in sight. Today, inclement weather caused a shoot to be rescheduled and left me with a few hours to return to the conversation I started.
I know I risk losing you at the question mark, but I’ll ask anyway. What is the purpose of real estate photography? What is your objective when you photograph a new listing? What are you trying to accomplish? When I ask this question of agents in my market I usually get the answer you’d expect (with a look that says they think I’m an idiot for asking): “I’m trying to SELL THE HOME. Duh.” Excellent. And the photos will be used to…? Now looking at the exit, “ADVERTISE IT!” Thank you.
Would you agree with this definition of the word advertise found at dictionary dot com? “To announce or praise (a product, service, etc.) in some public medium of communication in Read more
Cathy’s listing Friday, a classic North Central Phoenix luxury home. I was shooting interiors for her today, and saw this as a part of her staging:
Building the single-property web site for the home, tonight, I realized that in six months or fewer, I’ll be repurposing content for single-property iPhone/iPad apps, as well. I doubt you will have read anything like that in any repackaged regurgitant from self-styled real estate experts, but it’s where we’re all headed.
So the problem is this: When Greg Swann visits your blog, comments favorably and asks if you’d like to write for Bloodhound, you get excited. In a good way. You consider how Greg and the other contributors to this forum have helped shape your thought process as a real estate professional and you feel a sort of rush come over you. Greg has invited you to write anything you like and assured you that it will be published and consumed by a large national audience. You feel an obligation – to yourself, to your industry, to your mother. You hit the reply button and type “Yes! Count me in!”, because that is the right thing to do. And it feels good.
A bio and a headshot later you get another email from Greg: “You’re up. Post at will.” Again, excitement – but this time different. More like anxiety, really. More like “everyone – and I mean everyone – who writes for Bloodhound is so literate, so intellectual, so experienced…so prolific and poetic, both!” It’s easy to wonder what you can possibly write that won’t pale in comparison to the posts being submitted by everyone else. It’s easy to wonder what you can write about that anyone will want to read – or that hasn’t already been written more elegantly by someone else.
My name is Harry Bisel, and I am honored to have been asked to contribute occasionally to this space. Honored and just a bit terrified. I am a professional real estate photographer, which is the perfect mash-up of my two previous careers – commercial photography and residential real estate, where I had the pleasure of serving as an agent, a managing broker, an MLS Board member and a coach (although I was never comfortable with that title). Real estate has been very good to me and I am grateful to those who gave me the opportunities I enjoyed so much along the way.
Having followed my passions away from the management side of real estate and back to photography, I now have two missions. To create a profitable business, clearly. But more Read more
As promised, I’m adding two new writers to our pack today.
Scott Schang is a long-time contributor to our comments threads. Scott has come to both of the BloodhoundBlog Unchained events held in Phoenix, and he may be the best success story to come of Unchained so far. Scott has devoted his attentions to honing his prospecting and conversion systems, and he’ll be talking to us about that and more.
Harry Bisel has led a rich, full life. A commercial photographer who made the shift into real estate, and then shifted aback out into real estate photography. Harry’s photos are simply breathtaking, awe-inspiring, everything real estate photography should be.
Both of these gentleman have a ton to teach us. I’m delighted to have them writing with us.
Don’t let anyone tell you that I never say anything good about ActiveRain. I saw a passing note yesterday about Ustream.com’s new iPhone app, but I ignored it in the crush of business. But this morning there was a post about the Ustream client in ActiveRain’s daily spamletter, and that led me to download the app.
What does it do?
Live video streaming from any iPhone 3G or 3GS. No kidding. Ustream quality, of course, compounded by the cheesy little lens on the iPhone, all compounded by WiFi or 3G transmission speeds. But still…
Live video streaming from your phone…
Practical applications?
Well, for one thing, Rodney King now has nothing to fear. Abusive cops are a thing of the past, and I would love to see a Ustream/YouTube channel devoted to abusive government functionaries everywhere. Especially in Iran, by the way, and I can’t think of a better antidote to bad behavior everywhere than instantaneous, live, streaming video for all the world to see.
But what about real estate applications?
Don’t throw away that video camera. It’s still Ustream, after all. But when you’re doing a home inspection for an out-of-state buyer, a live video conference with the inspector may be just the ticket. With a second phone, the client and the inspector can talk as you are shooting live video of the repair issues. Is that more sizzle than steak? I say it’s good salesmanship.
Are there other uses you can think of in your day-to-day real estate work? I’m never a big booster of new-for-the-sake-of-being-new. Mission-critical is all that ever matters to me in judging a new tool or idea. But I’m thinking that live or easily-recorded lo-rez video might serve a host of mission-critical functions.
Two (bad) videos as examples, as I learn to play with this new tool:
First, a bad demo recorded to the phone, then uploaded to Ustream.
Second, a live stream saved directly from Ustream.
In both cases, the iPhone shut off on me. To make this software work, you will have to change your auto shut-off setting in the main iPhone preference app. Then you have to remember to switch it back — or Read more
Just a real quick look at the Panasonic Lumix ZR1, in use with the dogs this week as a real estate camera. When I get time, I’ll do some side-by-side comparisons. This is just a quick look at some photos and a demo movie.
First some pix:
These are good, nice and wide, nice and bright. No distortion on the straight lines. A little bit of lens flare, but this ain’t Life magazine.
Here’s a huge benefit: Even with the flash on, the ZR1 is fast. Refresh time is maybe two seconds, essentially no delay at all. The auto-focus/auto-exposure systems need a little time to do their calculations, so it’s possible to rush the camera. But a wide lens has a huge depth of focus, so it’s hard to get into real trouble.
The movie is not so pleasing. The wide lens is great, but the AF/AE issue is much more serious on-the-fly. I don’t like house videos, anyway, but, if you plan to do them with the ZR1, you need to make sure you have a lot of light.
Here’s the video as recompressed by YouTube:
Not great. The original is better. You can see it by clicking “Play in Popup” in the links at the bottom of the post.
My one complaint with the camera, so far, is that it’s so tiny. I have big hands, so it’s taking some getting used to. But it’s wicked easy to get a lot of very good photos very quickly. And the 25mm lens is very, very wide for a point-and-shoot camera.
Further thoughts when I’ve had more time to play.
“If your car keys are with you, your camera should be with you.” That’s one of the mantras I preach at Realtors when I speak in public. The language of real estate is photography, and you cannot do your job properly if you can’t communicate what you’re seeing to your clients.
Having a camera along solves a multitude of dilemmas. I see a lot of houses for out of state buyers, so the web sites I build for them can provide invaluable details about candidate homes. But there are all kinds of other benefits to always having a camera with you when you’re out of the office: Documenting benefits and drawbacks of specific neighborhoods, capturing on-the-spot images of red flag issues before the inspector transmits his report, etc.
“But,” you may be be straining to expostulate, “my phone has a camera.” Believe me, I know. I see its output in the MLS way too often. Your phone has a bad camera, with a cheesy little lens — its focal length much too long for real estate — and a cheesy little image size. Someday phone cameras may be adequate for day-to-day real estate work, but that day is not today.
We have a Kodak Digital SLR for listings and other high-end work, but, until lately, we have each carried a Fujifilm Finepix E500 for everyday photos. This was a reasonable price/performance compromise when we got them. They’re light in weight and they’re powered by AA batteries, so there was never any threat of running out of juice. The lens is only 28mm at its widest, which is adequate but not ideal. But those cameras were workhorses. Cathleen and I both rolled them over, call it around 15,000 photos each over the past four years.
But all things come to an end. Cathy lost her Finepix recently, and mine is exhibiting the kind of noisome behavior that argues that it’s about to fail permanently.
Time to go shopping. I’ve been following the Panasonic Lumix line of point-and-shoot digital cameras since I first heard about them in a post by Jeff Turner, a long time ago. I got Read more
A week from today, we will list our first million-dollar residence. (The web site is a placeholder as I write this. We’ll begin to populate it next week.)
But the home is a spectacular specimen, and we wanted to do something more to bring that out. So yesterday we put together our first full-color brochure for a home.
That’s the outside face. Full-size is 17×11″, with a fold in the middle to permit it to fit into our flyer boxes. You’ll have to imagine where the fold will split the image.
And here is the inside face. If you click on either image, you can see the full-size, full-bleed pre-press files. Fair warning: They’re 87 megabytes each.
Here’s the text from the inside front panel:
True luxury, true elegance is not a
vast accumulation of shiny trinkets,
a mass of dazzling distractions.
The artifacts of genuine wealth are
streamlined, refined, stripped down
to the essence. Simple. Unaffected.
The best expression of your limit-
less lifestyle is a home that serves
as the jewelry box for the precious
treasure that is your family…
And that’s why god made Lord & Taylor…
This is going to be a fun one for us, a chance to put every idea we’ve been playing with to the test.