Entries in real estate (7)
Old Northeast St. Petersburg Real Estate Photography 9th Ave North
Monday, February 27, 2012 at 2:55PM Jason Collin 
Old Northeast Real Estate Photography - living room with character - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRI got another St. Petersburg real estate photography assignment from Haike of Crown Group Realty last week to photograph a very charming Old Northeast home with lots of character. The great room features a high ceiling with exposed beams, a fireplace, hardwood floors and a rounded archway into the dining room.
Old Northeast Real Estate Photography - rounded archway & exposed beam ceiling - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 7-exposure HDRI wanted to include as many of the unique features of the rooms as possible in each shot. Setting up in the dining room this shot shows the formal living room and in the back the Florida (sunroom) room that is right at the front of the house.
Old Northeast Real Estate Photography - bright & cheery kitchen - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 0.5 sec single exposureThe kitchen is at the back of the house and connects to several nooks, one for a small office and another for a built-in bench table. The owner keeps boxes of crackers in his oven, which reminds me of my grandparents who did the same!
Old Northeast Real Estate Photography - a tudor style home - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRI really enjoyed photographing this house and talking with the owner and his two lady friends. I believe upon selling the house he plans to move to Rome "for the rest of his life" as he puts it. Sounds like a great adventure.
Shore Acres Real Estate Photography St. Petersburg Florida pool home
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 3:28PM Jason Collin 
Shore Acres Pool Home HDR Real Estate Photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseNot every real estate photography assignment in Florida is for a multi-million dollar water view home. There are plenty of other moderately priced homes on the market that need photographs made of them too, which is why I offer flexible rates for my commercial real estate photography services. The home featured in this blog post is in Shore Acres area of St. Petersburg. If you like it, the listing will be with Crown Realty Group. Tell Haike I sent you.
A new backsplash brightens things in this Shore Acres home - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/2 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseI do not normally include HDR images when photographing a job in this price range, but for the lead pool shot I did as a bonus as it just looked night and day different. All the interiors were single exposures, like this one of the remodeled kitchen. I usually shoot at below eye level for interiors, but for kitchens I prefer to shoot from at or above eye level to show all the counter level features.
Huge flatscreen TV mounted in this Shore Acres living room - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1.6 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseWhen doing single exposure interiors, as you can see I keep window blinds closed and pointed up whenever possible. I close them pointed up so that no bright spots are cast onto the interior itself, but rather bounced off the ceiling making the light from them useful. I had the client move a large armchair from where I was standing so I could better photograph the living room.
Home office full of CDs in Shore Acres Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseFor small home interior rooms, I choose to shoot in portrait orientation from the door way. This creates the largest sense of space since floor to ceiling can be seen. I photograph bathrooms the same way since they often are not large enough to even enter and photograph, especially with a tripod.
This pool home for sale in Shore Acres St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/50th tripod mounted with cable releaseFor the exterior shot, I try to include as little of the neighboring properties as possible, even if it means making a tighter shot like the one above. I lowered my tripod enough so that the large live oak in the front yard framed the home rather than obscured the view of it.
Peninsula Inn & Spa Gulfport Florida Commercial Photography
Wednesday, June 29, 2011 at 3:46PM Jason Collin 
Peninsula Inn & Spa Gulfport Governor's Room - 5-bracket HDR - St. Petersburg commercial photographyDuring a DSLR photography lesson yesterday morning the student remarked that she liked St. Petersburg so much because of its old and historic buildings. Coincidentally, I was assigned that afternoon to go photograph the Peninsula Inn & Spa in the Gulfport area of St. Pete. The inn is described as having British Colonial decor with a flare of exotic Bali, which can be seen in the above image of the Governor's Room. I certainly expected to see someone like Hemingway huddled in a corner scribbling away while taking bites of some long ago ordered sandwich.
The famous Six Tables room at Peninsula Inn & Spa Gulfport - SETUP: f/8 ISO 200 6 sec exposureThe staff was very friendly and excited to talk about the history of the inn. The Six Tables room (three of which can be seen above) offers an exclusive dining experience with some of the highest rated food in the area I was told. Again, this room had a certain mysterious feeling to it, definitely not the kind of atmosphere one finds in any chain restaurant! I imagine eating in here would feel like eating in a museum or some Duke's castle in the English countryside.
Veranda surrounding the Peninsula Inn & Spa Gulfport - 5-bracket HDR - St. Petersburg Commercial PhotographyThe wide veranda surrounding the inn offers another dining experience more reminiscent of Bali (and my experiences in SE Asia) with its tropical foliage at arm's reach from the tables. It is just too bad that smoking is allowed on the veranda.
The Palm Lounge bar at the Peninsula Inn & Spa Gulfport - 5-bracket HDR - St. Petersburg Commercial PhotographyI used a combination of HDR shots and long exposures to photograph the various rooms of the inn. For the bar photograph above I used HDR since there was pretty good ambient light. For the dimly lit rooms like the Six Tables, the exposure on the long end of the bracket for an HDR shot would not be practical so I just used a single long exposure instead.
Peninsula Inn & Spa Gulfport Florida exterior SETUP: f/8 ISO 200 1/50th tripod mounted with cable releaseThe architectural character and personable and knowledgeable staff I imagine would make for a great stay at the inn for people visiting from out of state or even out of town.
Luxury Real Estate Tampa Bay Apollo Beach Home
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 1:46PM Jason Collin 
Sweeping view of Tampa Bay facing west - Luxury Florida Real Estate PhotographyI believe the view of Tampa Bay from the Apollo Beach side is best because, for one, it faces west allowing for prime viewing of Florida's amazing sunsets. Another reason that may only bother me is that there is a large electric plant on the Apollo Beach side. So if you live on the St. Petersburg side this small spot of smoke stacks jars what is otherwise a flawless view. It would slowly drive me crazy. Of course if you live on the Apollo Beach side, then you have to be neighbors with the power plant. Hmm, which would you choose?
This luxury home in Apollo Beach had a great "backyard" for entertaining, i.e. no grass, an infinity pool and expansive covered and uncovered seating areas. Personally, I would take a grassy backyard over pavers and a pool any day because I would want a place to run and play with beloved puppy Kiki. Plus I am a recluse and never entertain. However, if you are the opposite of me, as most people are, this type of space would be ideal.
Great Room opening wide to Tampa Bay - Luxury Florida Real Estate Photography
All along the back of the house are a series of sliding glass doors that all open in a cascading fashion into a pocket in the wall creating a completely open feeling to the great room as if Tampa Bay itself flowed to the doorstep.
Estate-like Apollo Beach Home grand entrance - Luxury Florida Real Estate PhotographyRoyal palm trees do their best to create a curb appeal for the home to try and keep up with the million dollar water views from the back. I think the front definitely holds its own.
Greater Woodlawn St. Petersburg Real Estate Photography
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 9:38PM Jason Collin 
St. Petersburg Florida Commercial Real Estate Photography - single exposure f/11 ISO 200 1/125th
I have made a new contact in the real estate business and thus will be potentially doing more real estate photography work in St. Petersburg and the surrounding areas. A few weeks ago I photographed a large, furnished house (photos) for this client. This time was a smaller, unfurnished home. It is definitely more a challenge to photograph an unfurnished home, as many rooms devoid of decoration look just like empty cubes.
St. Petersburg Florida Commercial Real Estate Photography - single exposure f/11 ISO 200 0.6 sec tripod mounted cable releaseSo for unfurnished homes I try to include more of the walls and outcroppings around the border of the frame in order to provide details and depth to the shots, like in the one above. However, for example, if you have an empty bedroom that is just a perfect square, especially if it is a bit small, well, for that all you can really do is try and include the ceiling light fixture if there is one, and as much as possible get all the room's windows into the shot just to show its natural light potential.