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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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 Dan's winning photo full size.
Here is the result of the voting:
About Dan's image: Dan's image is a composite of 35 shots shots each using a "flash on a stick" highlighting various parts of the home. Here is Dan's description:
Thank you so much for this honor. This house was shot in December in Madison, New Jersey. When I first was contacted about this shoot, there was talk of shooting it from a boat. I went through a brain storming session, looking at Google Maps trying to figure out the best angle to shoot the house from. When I got to the house I realized that google maps had a different house selected. So I started running around this pond trying to find the best angle.
Once I picked out the spot I set up the "light on a stick" and started doing test shots to make sure the pocket wizards were working correctly and waited for the sun to fall out of frame. I normally shoot tethered to a laptop for these, but due to the location and weather I left it at home. So I had my lovely girlfriend running around with the light on a stick with her cellphone on speaker as I guided her in where to point the flash on a stick next.
The post processing on this a bit complicated. About 35 layers masked in to create this image. The difficult part was matching the highlights with the reflection. I ended up cropping this to show off the house more because the landscaping to the left and right were all dead. I noticed after I submitted the image that I missed the wreath on the fireplace in the reflection. D'oh.
The PFRE website and Flickr group are two fantastic resources I as real estate photographers have at my disposal as wells as Scott's book and videos. The members in this community are always helpful and willing to answer questions. Thanks to everyone.
This is a fine image overall, but I think the wreath issue alone should have bumped it from the winning spot. It's very distracting, and is an unfortunate reminder to potential buyers that they can't always believe what they see when looking at real estate photos online.
Congratulations, Dan! Nice shot, nice job on the light-on-a-stick technique. I've only tried that a few times myself and I've either failed miserably or had mild success... That technique needs an in-depth tutorial, IME (deeper than what's available now, like Mike Kelley's fast-paced behind-the-scenes video).
Funny enough, I recognized William McCollum's subject instantly-- that's the Glass Pavilion House by Steve Hermann. I wrote an article about that the moment it was finished a year or so ago. Nice stuff, William, you should share your whole set!
It's a fantastic image. Amazing job and congratulations to Dan.
That said, if you post a photo to the flickr PFRE group site and especially any PFRE contest you better be damn sure it's flawless while using image capture and processing techniques that are beyond reproach. This is no place for amateurs. Some who comment here and on flickr obviously don't make the kind of silly mistakes in photos that the rest of us do even though we strive for perfection. I hope that they continue to share their pronouncements with us and perhaps share their experiences, especially how cool it must be to be a perfect photographer.
Also missed the AC compressor unit, or whatever was on the far left beside the shed.
Brilliant shot and very deserving of the win regardless of the minor mistake
Congrats Dan! I love the composition and impressed with the amount of effort that went into it. It turns out to be a great puzzle as well. Try to find the differences between the home and its reflection.
I'm inspired by Dan's shot. I can only imagine what a spring foliage on trees would have done for this picture.
Really well done Dan, this was one of my favorites as well.
Congratulations Dan, great job composing this shot & executing the light stick technique.
I'm thrilled with second place, especially given the pool of so many other impressive images. Thanks for the votes jurors.
With the many blogs which I have encountered, I never expected to see a very beautiful post online..After viewing this one, I felt so lucky to see its content.