Congratulations Alex Vincent, March 2024 PFRE Photographer of the Month! The theme this month was "Kitchen". Alex Vincent - #906 Yvonne Raaijmakers - #909 Peter Wingfield - #902 Here's what Alex has to say: Thank you for the award of Photographer of th ...
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The PFRE jury has voted Tony Coangelo of Victoria, BC the PFRE photographer for August. Tony's winning photograph is on the right. Click on it to view a full size image.
Here are the voting results:
Here are Tony's comments on is winning photo:
Before I describe my photo, I want to take a moment to thank a few people within the PFRE community. First and foremost, a special thanks to Larry Lohman for his devotion to the site and his ongoing commitment to help me improve me craft. Thank you for all that you do, Larry! I also want to thank the MANY photographers who participate regularly in the PFRE Discussion Group -- I am fortunate to have such a tremendous forum! While there are way too many people on the site to mention, whose work and advice I value, a few come to mind who, unbeknownst to them, have contributed mightily to my development - namely, Scott DuBose, Wayne Capilli, Jason Roehner, Kerry Bern, Kate Benjamin and Julie Mannell. And finally, a special shout out to my unofficial mentors, Scott Hargis and Iran Watson. I watch Scott’s videos regularly and have his comments (and his critiques of my previous contest submissions!) ringing in my head at every shoot! 🙂 I am so impressed that, despite his international obligations, he makes the time to give me his feedback! And I regularly visit Iran’s remarkable website galleries to draw inspiration. Thank you both!
As for the photo, it came about rather oddly. Early last month, I decided that I wanted to improve my exteriors gallery on my website. So, rather than hope that the next job that I got from a realtor would give me a great looking house, I got in my car one night and drove around one of the nicer neighborhoods in town. I saw this particular house and loved it. So, I knocked on the door, introduced myself and then described my wish to photograph their home! The homeowners were flattered and said “yes” and that’s how I got the good fortune of shooting this gorgeous home!
The shot was captured with a Canon 60D + Sigma 10-20 at 15mm (24mm full-frame equivalent ), at 1/160 at 100ISO. There was lots of time spent waiting for the clouds to move in front of the sun to the point of getting the diffusion that I wanted. Given that the driveway sloped downward quite a bit, I wanted to get some elevation, so I brought my ladder and took the shot perched at the top. I used ColorEfex Pro4 to improve contrast and slightly enhance details and then Photoshop to punch up saturation of the front door and the small tree and plants at the front of the house. Unfortunately, I had to spend a big chunk of time removing the childrens' chalk drawings that covered the driveway from top-to-bottom!
Congratulations Tony! A well-deserved honor. That's a beautiful image.
Hi Tony
I feel the same way you do about the help and inspiration I received on the Photography For Real Estate website. Congratulation on the much deserved recognition your exterior image received. Since you were shooting the property for your website which some would consider advertizing, would you share with us how you and the home owner handled the photo release issue ?
Thanks
Dave Jones
Well-timed, well-composed, and not an over-worked file, it's a killer photo Tony, congrats!
Great job and well deserved Tony! You captured this at the right time of day and more importantly had the patients to wait until the light was right to capture it. I'm humbled that you mentioned me in your comments. I feel truly honored that you mentioned me in your response. Again....great job and thanks!
Cliff / Dave, thank you both for your kind words and positive feedback -- I really appreciate it!
Dave, in response to your question, I did not get a release form signed in this instance. I live in a *very* small town and I felt a little uncomfortable asking people who were practically neighbours to sign a document after agreeing to do me a huge personal favour. I made it crystal clear to both homeowners that my intention was to put the image on my website, they understood and we shook hands on it. That was enough for me. That may be naïve and may even ruffle a few feathers with some in our community, but that’s how I feel. ?
Jason / Kerry, thank you both as well ... your compliments mean a great deal to me! As I indicated in my write-up, the both of you (along with a few others that I mentioned) have helped me a lot in the 14-15 months that I’ve been doing RE photography professionally. I’ve learned much just by looking at your work and even more from reading and considering the thoughtful feedback you give in the Discussion Group. Please keep doing what you’re doing - it’s of much value to our group! Thanks again!!
Thanks Tony I live in a small community also and it's good to know there are places where a hand shake still means something
Thanks
Dave J
Congrats, Tony.
No property release would be needed for this. As long as the photographer isn't trespassing when the photo is made, he can do what he wants with it. Property does not have privacy rights. The only real concern would be a bad reputation in a small town, which Tony prevented by being up front and honest. But even if the homeowners objected, legally they'd have zero grounds.
Thanks for the clarification on the question of formal releases, Scott! And on a personal note, thank you for your positive assessment of my photo in this month's contest....I can't begin to tell what it meant to me. Suffice to say that I'm very grateful! 🙂
Congratulations, Tony! What a lovely shot.
Congratullations from Spain Tony! is a great capture, well composed and with nice contrats 😉
Julie, thank you...means a lot coming from you! Greg, gracias por su amable elogio, de España! (I hope I said that correctly!) 🙂
Hi Scott and All
I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but here goes. About Scotts comment that no property release was needed for Tonys image. It started me on a long internet search on the subject of property releases as it relates to real estate / architectural photography that got more unclear the more I read. So if there is a thread on this site regarding this issue I, and possibly others would be thankful to be directed to it. If not maybe some one would be willing explain a little more on how it works when we allow, say a real estate agent to use the property owners photos for there own advertizing or we use the photos on our own websites which may be considered advertizing or Re-license the image.
Thanks
Dave J
@Dave, Here is a reference:
"Do You Need A Release From The Property Owner Publish A Photo You Shot of Their Home?"
Hi Larry, Thanks for the info, I guess nobody can really say for sure if we need a property release or not.
Congratulations, Tony! I saw your image in the pool and really admired it... I think it's exceptionally well done! And I love the backstory too... fantastic job!!
Thanks Kate! I really appreciate your kind words 🙂