The Big Picture...

I've always had a knack for being able to take the occasional good snap shot (haven't most of us?). However I want to take my photography to the 'next level' so I've set myself a goal: mastering property photography.
This blog shares my journey along my way to mastery of property photography, from the outset to where I am now, and gives you the opportunity to get involved too.

Project Status...

Project 52 AU (a project by Evan Walters to photograph 52 Canberra-region properties in 52 weeks) is currently in "pre-season" status and kicks off September 1, 2009.
I am quickly running out of rooms in my own home to photograph. If you have access to a presentable property in the Canberra region I need your help. I'd love to photograph your property for you. Please contact me.

My first ever real estate photo!

Please excuse the large size of these photos, they are the JPGs that came directly off the camera's memory card, I haven't edited these at all (update: apparently flickr resizes these automatically, that's pretty cool!).

This is the photo I was talking about in my previous post. I think I've taken better photos than this since but everyone has to have a starting point.

The perspective of this photo really does make me feel rather ill.

You can view the rest of my first photo shoot photos here (WARNING: they are all large images, you have been warned *smile*):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/project52au/

Thoughts on my first ever real estate photo shoot (just messing around really)

I was about to post to twitter that I was messing around with some of the first ever real estate photos I ever took with my wide angle lens (for the geeks: I use a Sigma 10-20mm lens, for the non-geeks: a wide angle lens let's you capture more image detail, my lens allows me to capture around a 90 degree view so I can capture a lot more image than a standard lens) but twitter is down (?!... This is all very new to me so bare with me while I get things sorted out if I'm wrong).

The funny thing about looking at these images is that I am already pulling things to pieces:
  • "that shot was taken too low"
  • "what's a cat doing in the photo?"
  • "wow, I really blew out (over exposed, resulting in a loss of image detail) those windows"
  • "the kitchen is better lit than the living room!"
  • "the walls look straight but the roof is crooked"
  • "why are there magnets and other bits of fluff on the fridge?"
  • "that bookcase is so dark it almost looks scary"
  • "maybe I should clean up before I take photos to try and show people I know how to take photos, maybe cleaning up a bits a good idea regardless"
  • "wow, check out how much the walls are curving around the edge of the photo" (will someone with more tech knowledge than myself please tell me, is that vignetting or barrel distortion?)

Ok, seems like I'm starting to get a little ranty here so I'll sign off and upload the photo to flickr so you can have a look and pass judgment for yourself. Please keep in mind that some of these things can be fixed with editing and others are just a newbies mistakes (there's a reason why I'm not starting until September you know). I'm hoping my tripod might help and I really need to get into some tutorials on using the SB-600 (flash unit) too.

Tripods?

Gwen and I went out and talked to "Dave" at Ted's this morning (great bloke, if you stop by tell him I sent you) about tripods and camera flashes.

I think he recommended this tripod to us:


Yes, yes, it shoots horizontally and vertically, certainly above and beyond a real estate photography tripod, but it should be versatile enough for both Gwen and my requirements.

$450 for tripod and (mount? I have more important things to remember at the moment).

This will make it much easier to take photos so I'm very much looking forward to getting this and having a play around (hopefully next weekend).

Busy, busy, busy...

So this is the last account I need to set up prior to Monday's (un)official announcement of my personal challenge over the next twelve months.

I have so many new accounts I'm not sure how they are all going to work and what will go where.

Twitter - http://twitter.com/Project52AU
Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/project52au/
Flickr Group - http://www.flickr.com/groups/project52au/
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1794549886&ref=name
Facebook Group - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=84906874708
Blogger - http://project52au.blogspot.com/
Syndicated Feed (RSS) - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/Project52AU
Del.Icio.Us - http://delicious.com/Project52AU
Gmail - Project52AU@gmail.com

Should be a full time job just looking after these accounts :)
 

arwen's nursery : canberra property photography

my home theater entertainment room

confused weather

kitchen

master bedroom

twilight shot

living room

home cinema