Stunning Presentation of a Simple Little Home
June 10th, 2007
I wanted to highlight and comment on Aaron Leitz’s front shot of a simple little 1950’s style home in Seattle that he posted to the Photography For Real Estate group on flickr.
This is a great example of the challenge that most real estate photographers are faced with every day. That is, the home isn’t a multi-million dollar place that takes your breath away. Rather it’s a simple little place that unless you were hired to market it you probably wouldn’t even notice. Still you need to see and present it’s most important features in a pleasing, attractive way so that a buyer flipping through hundreds of images of homes on the web will notice this one.
I think Aaron has done a stunning job of visually presenting this simple little home. He’s chosen a three quarter view that shows some depth and is shows that this little place in what looks like an alley (very common in older neighborhoods in Seattle) with a little garage in the back. And it has a pleasant little arbor and trellis fence that could easily shield the walkway from the alley. Showing the alley for information is important but Aaron’s been careful not to shot too much alley. Also, the image is sharp and has perfect color balance (which shows crisp whites) which I’m sure will make this image stand out on the NWMLS. Also, Aaron indicates that because last week was a typical overcast, drizzly day in Seattle he replaced the boring gray overcast sky with one that has a little blue.
Nice job Aaron this single image will go a long ways in attracting a buyer.
8 Responses to “Stunning Presentation of a Simple Little Home”
Aaron June 10th, 2007 at 10:03 am #
Thanks Larry.
Showing the detached garage was indeed a conscious decision and I had to move 4 garbage/recycle bins from the side.
larrylohrman June 10th, 2007 at 12:26 pm #
Here
are the rest of Aaron’s photos of this simple little home. I was off by 10 years. It was built in 1941 and is 720 Sq.Ft. This may seem over priced to folks outside of the Seattle area but I’m sure this home will sell in a few days probably with multiple offers.
Scott Hargis June 10th, 2007 at 6:11 pm #
I think it’s a nice touch that Aaron mirror imaged the replacement sky in the back yard shot.
larrylohrman June 14th, 2007 at 10:32 am #
Yep, I new it. This little place has only been on the market for 4 days and the sellers have already signed a contract and the sale is subject to inspection.
Anonymous July 6th, 2007 at 9:08 am #
not sure if its possible to use any more shadow/highlight than that. extremely artificial looking picture
Aaron July 6th, 2007 at 10:52 am #
No shadow/highlight tool was used. Just a bump up in saturation and a fake sky to make up for the rainy day. I think the artificial look comes from the overcast daylight = very little local contrast. The shadow/highlight tool will leave halos around areas of high contrast. I purposely over saturate my exterior images because they lose saturation when the MLS re-compresses them for the listing. The goal is to get the exterior shot noticed.
Marc Lacoste July 6th, 2007 at 2:31 pm #
When using a replacement sky, I’m often cautious about having a credible interaction between the lighting on the subject and the sky.
In this case, the viewer knows (even not conscientiously) that the cirrus clouds should provide a hazy lighting. I would prefer a heavy overcast of closer cumulus to let a saturated view be more possible.
Samantha April 24th, 2008 at 8:16 pm #
What do you charge to photograph simple homes like this one? In this industry, are there more simple homes or luxury homes shot?