Saturday, January 19, 2013

Recent Twilight Photography

Here is an exterior twilight shot of a home in Los Altos, CA, that I did for a recent real estate listing (by Ken DeLeon/DeLeon Realty). I can't emphasize enough the usefulness of this kind of shot for really making a home stand out. While many people tend to think of these kinds of shots in terms of high-end homes, more mainstream homes can benefit as well. However, not all homes benefit to the same degree. It really depends upon the setting and the design of the home. In this case, the home had very large picture windows and nice landscaping, which made it an obvious candidate for this kind of treatment.

Strictly speaking, this was shot at dusk rather than twilight, dusk being the period between sunset and twilight, and twilight being the few minutes between dusk (or dawn) and night. At twilight the light often becomes very blue or even purplish, which has lead people to refer to it as the blue hour (really just a matter of 5 or 10 minutes).

Generally speaking, twilight photos tend to be more dramatic than dusk photos, since there is often more contrast and the colors will be more intense. However, sometimes a more subtle effect is more appealing with some subjects. Sometimes the interior and exterior lighting doesn't balance out as well at twilight, although sometimes supplementary lighting can be added to account for that; however, with supplementary lighting for twilight photos, the result may not always be completely natural looking. Usually the difficulty in this regard is with adding light to the exterior rather than the interior. Even with dusk photos, supplementary lighting can be useful, however. In the case of this photo, I added some light inside the house, to better balance out the light from the windows.


Silicon Valley Real Estate Photography
12031 Hilltop Drive, Los Altos

Thursday, January 17, 2013

A Recent Case of Copyright Infringement

A recent article in the British Journal of Photography examines a US lawsuit between a freelance photographer and Agence France Press (AFP) and the Washington Post. The judgement in the case went in favor of the photographer/copyright holder. In short, AFP and the Washington Post copied the photographer's photos from his Twitter posting, without his permission, and used them in their publications. You can read the article here:

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Catherine Munson Talks About Eichler Homes

This video presents Catherine Munson talking about some of the features and history of Eichler Homes. Catherine started as a hostess for the company, at the model homes, and subsequently moved on to sales. She has a longstanding real estate brokerage in Marin County and specializes in Eichler Homes.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Recent Interior Photography

A couple more photos from my shoot of 2020 Jackson Street, San Francisco (the Hellman Mansion). 

For each of these shots I used some supplementary lighting, ranging from a very small amount to fairly substantial. However, the goal is usually to try to make the scene look as though it is not obviously lit, unless you are trying for a special effect.

San Francisco Mansion, Histroical Mansions
Dressing Room-Master Suite

San Francisco Interior Design, Bay Area Mansions, Histroic Homes
Master Bedroom

SF Real Estate, Sotheby's Realty, Jon Taylor and Gloria Smith
Guest Bath

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Residential Twilight Photography

A recent twilight photo of large home in Atherton, CA., one of the tonier suburbs. This is about a $6,000,000 to $7,000,000 home in these parts (on a large lot).

Atherton, CA
Twilight Exterior