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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.
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Image banner for the April 2025 PFRE Photographer of the Month Winner Dave Koch, with a featured image of his winning photo titled "Primary Bedroom"

Congratulations Dave Koch, April 2025 PFRE Photographer of the Month! The theme this month was "Primary Bedroom".Dave Koch - Entry 1056 Peter Wingfield - Entry 1051 Paul-Dan Dragoman - Entry 1053Here's what Dave has to say:Thank you so much — this real ...

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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. 

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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.
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What About Being A Real Estate Photographer And A Real Estate Agent

16/12/2013
32 Comments
I've had quite a few discussions with people concerning some aspect of being both a real estate agent and a real estate photographer. I find when a subject like this pops up out of the blue from a bunch of different people I usually indicate a trend going on. There were four different questions that […]
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Congratulations Tony Colangelo PFRE Photographer Of The Month For August 2013

In: 
26/08/2013
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: Tony Colangelo – 24 Cal Mitchener - 20 Jared Saulnier - 11 Conrad Rowe - 10 Saul Goodwin - 5 Sebastian Erras […]

Congratulations Ron Putnam July PFRE Photographer Of The Month

In: 
23/07/2013
4 Comments
The PFRE jury has voted Ron Putnam of Chico, CA the PFRE photographer for July. Ron's winning photograph is on the right. Click on it to view a full size image. Here are the voting results: Ron Putnam – 44 Don Miller - 23 Charles Lynch - 10 David Jones - 8 Chad Geauvreau - 4 Barry MacKenzie - 4 Jonathan […]

Congratulations To Ethan Tweedie PFRE Photographer For June

In: 
24/06/2013
7 Comments
The PFRE jury has voted Ethan Tweedie of the Big Island of HI the PFRE photographer for June. Ethan's winning photograph is on the right. Click on it for a full size image. Ethan is another second time winner. Here are the voting results: Ethan Tweedie - 40 Aaron Flores - 23 Barry MacKenzie - 13 Ash […]

Is Misrepresentation A Serious Problem In Real Estate Photography?

20/06/2013
34 Comments
I talked to a producer today from ABC News that is working on a piece ABC is producing on the subject of photos that misrepresent properties. She was looking for examples of cases where marketing photos misrepresented properties to buyers. This well documented case in Melbourne about a year ago that I posted on was […]

Do Use A Diffuser For Real Estate Photography? Which One?

17/04/2013
19 Comments
In the last year or so I've had several readers tell me how much they liked the Graslon Prodigy Dome Diffuser for real estate photography. I must admit that I'm not a big user of diffusers that attach to your flashes. Probably because I learned everything I know about small flashes from Scott Hargis so […]

Can You/Should You Use Micro Four Thirds Cameras For Real Estate?

In: 
08/04/2013
18 Comments
I get questions about using micro four thirds cameras for real Estate. Can I/should I use micro four thirds for real estate? The important criteria for choosing any gear for real estate photography use always boils down to two main considerations: Can you get a quality wide-angle zoom lens ( between 16 and 24mm effective). […]

Congratulations Jason Roehner February PFRE Photographer Of the Month

In: 
25/02/2013
7 Comments
The PFRE jury has voted Jason Roehner's photo of this Scottsdale, AZ property as the winner of the February contest. This month is Jason's second photographer of the month win. He won back in September 2012. Here is the voting results: Jason Roehner - 49 Ilona Berzups -19 Nestor Trillo - 16 Luke Phillips -12 David […]

Congratulations Dan Ryan PFRE Photographer of The Month January 2013

In: 
24/01/2013
10 Comments
The PFRE jury has chosen Dan Ryan's twilight shot of a home in Madison, New Jersey as this month's winner. This was a difficult group to judge there were a record number of contestants (48) and there were a bunch of great twilight shots. Click here or on the photo to the right to view […]

Congratulations To Tim Furlong For Being in AD's On The Market Section

28/12/2012
Just before Christmas Tim Furlong, jr told me that "The Avish", a 24 acre estate in Harrods Creek, KY, that Tim photographed recently is going to be featured in the Architectural Digest, On the Market section which features estates on the market around the world. Here is Tim's complete shoot of the Avish. It appears that […]

Congratulations Iran Watson: 2012 Real Estate Photographer of The Year

In: 
18/12/2012
29 Comments
Congratulations Iran! The PFRE jury has chosen Iran Watson's as the Real Estate Photographer of the year. Iran is a Realtor/Photographer in Marietta, Georgia. This was a very difficult task to pick a winner from the fantastic field of entrants! The voting results are as follows: Iran Watson - 40 Jason Roehner - 19 Charles Lynch - […]

Should You Photoshop The Grass In Real Estate Photos?

06/12/2012
15 Comments
I got an anonymous question today about photoshopping the grass in listing photos. Here is the question: How far can retouching go before it becomes dishonest and a misrepresentation? The images in question (one of which is the one to the right) show VERY obviously fake PS grass, to the point where it is almost carpet-like. I agree […]

Congratulations Charles Lynch: November PFRE Photographer of The Month

In: 
26/11/2012
The PFRE jury has voted Charles Lynch's  photo of this elegant penthouse in Adelaide with a view of Adelaide's most prestigious beach as November's photo of the month. Here are this months voting results: Charles Lynch - 39 Elly Ball - 18 Paula Susi - 12 Jason Roehner - 10 Kerry Bern - 10 Thom Neese - 7 Matt Waclo […]

Congratulations Nestor Trillo - October PFRE Photographer of the Month

In: 
24/10/2012
8 Comments
The PFRE jury has voted Nestor Trillo's elevated photo of Waikiki Beach, shot from the 23rd floor of Nauru Tower, this month's photo of the month. For those of you not familiar with Honolulu, that is Diamond Head in the distance and Ala Moana Beach Park on the lower right just up the road from Waikiki Yacht Club. […]

Congratulations Jason Roehner - PFRE Photographer of the Month for September

In: 
24/09/2012
7 Comments
The PFRE jury has voted Jason Roehner's photo of this Scottsdale, AZ property in the golf community called Silverleaf in the McDowell Mountains. Jason's photo won by the largest point margin I can remember! Here is the voting results: Jason Roehner - 88 Scott Frederick -31 Chris Wood - 16 Andrea Calo -11 Ash Chynoweth - […]

Congratulations Craig Ryder - August PFRE Photographer of The Month

In: 
27/08/2012
The PFRE jury has voted Craig Ryder's photo of this lake front estate in SW Michigan the winning photo for August. Craig shot this with his Nikon D800. It has a wonderful look and feel to it! Here is this whole shoot done with a D800. This month I had a record 32 images of daylight […]

Congratulations Peggy Taylor: FastPix Photography Services For Real Estate

In: 
09/08/2012
17 Comments
If you've been a PFRE reader and/or a PFRE Flickr group participant for the last few years you probably already know Peggy Taylor in Tampa, FL. I've featured Peggy several times in the last couple of years (and she has been an active participant in the PFRE Flickr group for several years. Yesterday I got […]

Congratulations To EDL Team, JPL, NASA and Planet Earth

06/08/2012
10 Comments
One of the first images from Curiosity a few minutes after a smooth touch down on Mars. Some real estate 350,000,000 miles from here. Another small step! Related Links:

Congratulations Ethan Tweedie July PFRE Photographer of The Month

In: 
24/07/2012
10 Comments
The PFRE jury has voted Ethan Tweedie the July PFRE Photographer of the month. This month the voting was very close between Ethan's shot to the right and Steven Reed's amazing glass shower shot (#20). This was a fantastic bunch of master bath shots, many of the jurors remarked how difficult it was to choose […]

Congratulations Matt Waclo June PFRE Photographer of The Month

In: 
25/06/2012
9 Comments
The PFRE jury has chosen Matt Waclo of Reno, NV as the June PFRE Photographer of the month. The voting results are as follows: Matt Waclo - 37 Charles Lunch - 12 Michael Asgian - 12 Roberto Dangond - 11 Barry MacKenzie -10 Kai Caemmerer - 10 Ethan Tweedie - 8 Thom Neese - 4 Robert Frye […]

Congratulations To Anders Carlson May PFRE Photographer of the Month

In: 
24/05/2012
8 Comments
The PFRE jury has chosen Anders Carlson's interior shot with a view as the winner in the May PFRE photographer of the month competition. Anders is a photographer and videographer on the Big Island of Hawai'i. As you can see below Anders won by a large margin. The point results of the voting is as follows: […]

Congratulations to Iran Watson April PFRE Photographer of the Month

In: 
23/04/2012
14 Comments
The PFRE jury has chosen Iran Watson's master bedroom photo as the winner in the April photo competition. Iran is a Realtor/Photographer in Marietta, Georgia. Julia Mannell, of Seattle, WA was just one point behind Iran in the voting. The point results of the voting is as follows: Iran Watson 38 Julie Mannell 37 Tracy Boldery 18 […]

Congratulations to Steve Carroll March PFRE Photographer of the Month

In: 
24/03/2012
11 Comments
The PFRE jury has chosen Steve Carroll's kitchen photo as the winner in the March kitchen photo competition. Steve's company PreviewFirst serves Orange County, San Diego County, and most of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside County California. The point results of the voting is as follows: Steve Carroll           40 Brandon Beechler […]

Congratulations Nick De Clercq Feb 2012 PFRE Photographer of The Month

In: 
29/02/2012
Congratulations to Nick De Clercq, of Ghent, Belgium for winning the jury voting for the February 2012 photographer of the month. About a month ago I featured Nick's story in a post. I now have all of the names of the eight finalists in the voting and to total jury points that they received posted in […]

Congratulations to PFRE Photographer of The Month For November: Briana Gray

In: 
01/12/2011
3 Comments
It's now December in Greenwich and Briana Gray has won the voting for the November PFRE photographer of the month! This is Briana's second win this year. She was PFRE photographer of the month for May.  I have a bunch of two time winners now, two of them this year. Here are Briana's comments on this […]

Congratulations Mike Leyland, Cairns AU PFRE Photographer of The Month October

In: 
01/11/2011
9 Comments
Halloween is over in Greenwich and Mike Leyland of Cairns AU has won the voting for the October PFRE photographer of the month. Notice that Mike won last month too! Mike is the third two time winner and the second photographer to win two consecutive months. Congratulations Mike! Mike says: Hats off to everyone who had a photo […]

Congratulations Mike Leyland, Cairns AU PFRE Photographer of The Month September

In: 
01/10/2011
6 Comments
It's now October UTC/GMT and Mike Leyland of Cairns AU has won the voting for the September PFRE photographer of the month. Mike says: The house was a nominee for the HIA (Housing Industry Association) awards and had pretty awesome views. The bath was one of the numerous places from where you had clear views […]

Congratulations to Linda Sabiston August PFRE Photographer of The Month

In: 
01/09/2011
2 Comments
It's now September 1 GMT so the voting for the August PFRE Photographer of the month is over. Congratulations to Linda Sabiston from the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, CA. This win makes Linda a two time winner of the PFRE photographer of the month because Linda won back in August of 2008 when I […]

How To Prepare Photos For The MLS and Why You Care

24/08/2011
6 Comments
Just yesterday I was accused of not having a anything on the blog or in my book about preparing photos for the MLS. This post will fix the blog part and I'll make sure I have similar material in my book in the update that is coming soon. There are a bunch of discussion threads […]

Congratulations to Dave Rezendes July PFRE Photographer of The Month

In: 
01/08/2011
2 Comments
It's now August 1 in GMT so the voting for the July PFRE Photographer of the month is over. Congratulations to Dave Rezendes of Dave Rezendes Photography, Inc. of Honolulu, Hawai'i who was voted PFRE photographer of the month for July. Dave's stunning image is of a home in Honolulu designed by Long and Associates AIA, […]

Eight Real Estate Photographer Website Principles

29/07/2011
I've been talking to a lot of real estate photographers just starting the business recently and the subject of a portfolio website comes up as one of the very first subjects of discussion. Your portfolio of real estate images is at the center of your marketing. Your website is just an accessible way to present your business […]

Which DSLRs Have The Best Auto Exposure Bracketing Features?

In: 
28/07/2011
Last week Dave Baxter, in upstate New York, told me that he was inspired by all the talk here on the blog about Exposure Fusion and wanted to know which camera body would be the best for shooting auto exposure brackets (AEB). While I knew that the recent Nikon DSLRs would shoot 8 EV of […]

Using Time-lapse In Real Estate Property Videos

In: 
19/07/2011
14 Comments
Several weeks ago I did post on Michael Thompson's listing in Orlinda, CA. I mentioned that the still photography was done by Scott Hargis and the video was done by Quentin Bacon but I neglected to point out that that the extensive time-lapse in this video was done by Thomas Sidney McCallum and his team […]

Congratulations to Ron Kenny June PFRE Photographer of The Month

In: 
01/07/2011
1 Comment
It is now officially July in Greenwich, UK which means the PFRE Photographer of the Month voting for June is over. The winner for June 2011 is Ron Kenny who works the greater Seattle area. Ron was assisted by Chad Douglas of Puget Sound Aerial Imaging. Ron says, "this image is a joint effort between myself and […]

Using Spreadsheets To Track Your Small Business

20/06/2011
20 Comments
I've come to the conclusion that all you need to track your business financials is a few good spreadsheet templates. Here's what's lead me to this conclusion. At beginning of this year at my house I went through a traumatic upgrade from a 2004 version of QuickBooks to QuickBooks 2011. My wife Levi, the accountant […]

Perspective Distortion In Real Estate Photography

07/06/2011
23 Comments
A very real issue in real estate photography is perspective distortion. It comes up all the time because real estate photographers use wide angle lenses which are famous for two types of distortion: Barrel distortion: This is a lens defect prominent in ultra-wide zooms where straight lines near the edge of the image are curved. […]

Congratulations to PFRE Photographer of The Month For May: Briana Gray

In: 
01/06/2011
6 Comments
It's now June 1 UTC/GMT, so I'd like to congratulate Briana Gray of San Diego, CA for her winning master bedroom image. Briana's image won the vote by six votes. There was a tie for second place between Ron Kenny and Chris Wood. Olin Redmon took third place. Briana says: For the last two years I have […]

Congratulations PFRE Photographer of The Month for April: Jasmine Mak

In: 
02/05/2011
2 Comments
Congratulations to Jasmine Mak who won the voting in the PFRE Photographer of the month flickr group for April. Jasmine's image won the vote with 7 votes. There was a tie for second place between Scott Basile of San Diego and Lorenzo Vecchia of Barcelona. There was also a tie for third place between Eric Lucero, Matt Waclo. […]

Congratulations PFRE Photographer of The Month for March: Stephen Reed

In: 
01/04/2011
7 Comments
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 […]

Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 as a Real Estate Photography Wide Angle Lens

In: 
26/01/2011
15 Comments
Steve Fuller of Kelowna, BC recently pointed out to me that after many years of using the Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6 that he was moving to the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. The Tokina 11-16mm  lens is specifically designed for APS-C sensors (cropped sensor DSLRs). It's been on the market since about 2008. This lens is available in […]
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