PFRE-Logo-white-bg
Reading
blue-triangle-element

Articles

PFRE is the original online resource for real estate and interior photographers. Since 2006, it has been a community hub where like-minded professionals from around the world gather to share information with a common goal of improving their work and advancing their business. With thousands of articles, covering hundreds of topics, PFRE offers the most robust collection of educational material in our field. The history of real estate photography has been documented within these pages.
All Articles
blue-triangle-element

Latest

Image banner for the February 2024 PFRE Photographer of the Month Winner Art Ibewuike, with a featured image of his winning photo titled "Living Room or Family Room""

Congratulations to Art Ibewuike, February 2024 PFRE Photographer of the Month! The theme this month was "Living Room or Family Room". Art Ibewuike - #895 Paul-Dan Dragoman - #898 Peter Wingfield - #900 Here's what Art has to say: Thank you so much for ...

Contest
blue-triangle-element

OVERVIEW

For over a decade, photographers from around the world have participated in PFRE’s monthly photography contests, culminating in the year-end crowning of PFRE’s Photographer of the Year. With a new theme each month and commentary offered by some of the finest real estate & interior photographers anywhere, these contests offer a fun, competitive environment with rich learning opportunities. 

Contest Rules
blue-triangle-element

CURRENT CONTESTS

View / Submit
blue-triangle-element

PAST CONTESTS

View Archive
Resources
blue-triangle-element

Resources

PFRE prides itself on the depth and breadth of the information and professional development resources it makes available to our community. Our goal is to help real estate and interior photographers be successful while bringing the community together and elevating the industry as a whole.
blue-triangle-element

Conference News

No items found

Congratulations PFRE Photographer of The Month for March: Stephen Reed

In: 
Published: 01/04/2011

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Congratulations to Stephen Reed of Garland, TX for winning the voting done in the PFRE Photographer of the month flickr group. Stephen's image won the vote by a wide margin. The second place went to Cal Michener and the third place was tied between Michael Suzor, Eric Lucero and Mike Leyland.

Click on the image to see a large view-->

Here is Stephen's description of the shoot of this home and his background and business:

The image is really very straightforward. The initial job request was to shoot an exterior (front) of the home at sunset/dusk. This was my first time working with this realtor and when I met her at the home, she gave me a quick tour and introduced me to the owners. My initial thought when entering the house was "Man, I wish I could shoot the interiors on this - it's gorgeous." Unfortunately, she was in a time crunch and had those taken earlier by someone else.

As I walked through the house she casually asked if I thought the pool would be worth shooting too. I took a quick look and I knew it would make a cool photo. "Sure, no problem." I was trying not to do cartwheels at this point. I headed out front and got the exterior nailed down, then rushed through the house and out to the pool. I shot from both ends but thought this view had better lines. Not much to it. Shot with a Nikon D700, 14-24mm lens set at 16mm, 1 sec at f/5 at 200 ISO. No flash. Post production started in Lightroom. Used the recovery slider to calm the sky down and did a slight color correction, lens correction and some sharpening. I then took it to Photoshop to correct the verticals - it was shot from a low angle to maximize the reflection - and needed a bit of straightening. That's about it. Kind of a track meet, trying to get both the front and back shot at dusk, but it seemed to work out. Fortunately Lynette liked the exteriors so much she brought me back a week or so later to reshoot the interiors. It was an absolutely great house to photograph.

I work out of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. I am the advertising photographer at The Dallas Morning News and I've been a newspaper shooter for about 26 years. I started off shooting news/editorial at The Alexandria Daily Town Talk in Louisiana, but switched over to advertising when I moved back to Dallas 12 years ago. My freelance work is almost all real estate based now. The hardest part is trying to schedule real estate shoots around my Morning News responsibilities, but the realtors I shoot for have been incredibly understanding (as is my boss at the paper.) Most of the homes I shoot are pretty big (over 5,000 sq ft) but I can usually get one shot after I get off work at the paper. To me, real estate photography is kind of like shooting sports. Very fast paced, you have to think on your feet. Solve the lighting puzzle in one room and move to the next. And at the end of a shoot, I'm just whipped.

Thanks Stephen for the details. This is a memorable image, great job!

PFRE Photographer of the Month Winners:

Larry Lohrman

7 comments on “Congratulations PFRE Photographer of The Month for March: Stephen Reed”

  1. Sweet picture!

    on another note sorry for posting this in here but does anybody know Larrys email I can not find a contact email on this site anywhere?

  2. Michael,

    it is under the "Other Links" list on the right hand side of the page.

    Congrats the Stephen on being the first winner of the re-start to the pfre photog of the month.

    Andrew

  3. Absolutely AWESOME!!! The detail in the rooms and the reflections are spot on!
    You only took the one exposure at 1/5? I'd be busy blending and layering multiples to get that result!
    Be interested in seeing the RAW image before corrections if you were kind enough to post it.
    Well done!!
    Cheers Milton

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Vendors

Rela Logo
CS6 PSE Logo
HD Photo Hub Logo
FullFrame Logo

Learning Topics

.
magnifiercrossmenucross-circle