Recent Real Estate Marketing Photography

Some photos of mine of a nicely remodeled home in Palo Alto, CA, which appeared in a recent advertisement in Luxury Homes Magazine.

Real Estate Ad-2040 Tasso

Recent Twilight Photography

Exterior real estate marketing photography for Nancy Goldcamp, Coldwell Banker/Palo Alto.

Residential Exterior-Rear Patio/Garden

Congratulations to Matt Zampella

After 5 brokers had taken a crack at selling 5070 Alpine road in Portola Valley, CA, over a period of 5 years, my long-time client, Matt Zampella (Sereno Real Estate) was the one who sold the property, so congratulations are in order. Although located in a very desirable part of the San Francisco Bay Area, very large (the main house alone is 12,000 square feet) and relatively expensive properties such as this have a much smaller pool of prospective buyers than is the case with more mainstream properties, which often makes them harder to market and sell.

5070 Alpine Road, Portola Valley, CA

Recent Real Estate Photography

Here is an example to illustrate the range of properties I may shoot. That's right, I don't just shoot fancy estates and smart, contemporary homes. This one is from a listing in Palo Alto, CA, one of the more expensive cities in which to live. While this property may look as though it is in a rural area, it is actually located near Stanford University in a typical suburban location. The only difference between this and most other suburban properties is that this is listed at $1,895,000 for two rundown cottages that are, um, just a bit beyond their effective useful lives, on a 6,250 square foot lot. Obviously, someone would buy this for the land and build a new home on it.

Palo Alto Cottages (Land Sale)

Recent Real Estate Marketing Photography

Several photos from a real estate marketing assignment I did for one of my longtime clients, Ken DeLeon, DeLeon Realty.

205 Shawnee Pass, Portola Valley, CA

Rear Exterior

Front Entrance

Family Room

Dining/Living Room

Kitchen

Living Room

Gentry Magazine May 2013 Ad

My photos used in a double page ad in Gentry Magazine.

The Lowell House, Palo Alto, CA

25893 West Fremont Advertisement

Here is a recent advertisement for a luxury real estate listing that I shot.

25893 West Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, CA

Some Serious Real Estate Marketing

Here is a double page ad in a local newspaper (The Palo Alto Weekly) for a real estate listing that I shot recently for Ken DeLeon of DeLeon Realty. Ken was the number 1 realtor in the US in the 2012 Wall Street Journal rankings, and it is marketing such as this that has no doubt helped him to gain the top spot, marketing that includes large advertisements in newspapers and magazines, high quality photography (by yours truly), video, high-quality 4 and 8 page brochures, custom websites for each property and social-media marketing. In short, Ken makes extensive use of both old and new media to give each listing broad market exposure. The more market exposure, the more potential buyers, which can mean both a quicker sale and a higher sales price. An additional benefit is that this kind of marketing results in broader market exposure for the realtor, so that the marketing for each listing is also helping to market the realtor to gain new clients. Of course this kind of marketing is not cheap, but Ken has clearly proven that a serious investment in marketing can pay off in a big way.

Before the advent of the Internet, many realtors did not invest much in marketing, either for the listings or for themselves, relying primarily on networking and referrals. However, the Internet has provided a major new avenue for marketing all kinds of products and services, including real estate, and studies have shown that the vast majority of home buyers now start their search for a new home on the Internet. Furthermore, in some markets at least, print advertising is far from dead and can be leveraged to great effect, as I believe the ad below demonstrates quite well.

1505 Cowper Street-Palo Alto Weekly Ad

Palo Alto Master Bath

Here is a master bath of a home in Palo Alto, CA, that I shot for a real estate listing several months back.

Master Bath

Master baths are often one of the "money" shots for real estate marketing (along with living rooms, kitchens, dining rooms and media rooms), especially for nicer homes, and thus these need to stand out and look especially appealing. This bath has been nicely remodeled and was in excellent condition. I did not have to do any remedial retouching or resort to an awkward composition in order to downplay any less-than-ideal elements. The ambient lighting was far from ideal for this shot, as  is often the case for real estate marketing photography, which must often be done on short notice and with little choice of time for shooting with the best light; therefore, I used supplementary lighting in the form of several small flashes placed strategically around the room, to even out the lighting and to highlight certain areas of the scene. 

This shot is a crop of a considerably wider shot. Many real estate agents favor extreme wideangle views because the agents want to show a lot of space within one photo. The crop above is the way I would tend to compose this scene for an architect, interior designer, product manufacturer, etc., and I think it provides a very good sense of both the space and the various finishes and fixtures.

Portola Valley Home

Here are several photos of 245 Cervantes Road, Portola Valley,  a recent real estate listing that I shot for Lynn Wilson Roberts, with Alain Pinel Realty. This is a recently built contemporary style home. The staging was done by the homeowner/builder.

Double Page Spread in Gentry Magazine

One of my recent photos of 48 Linden Avenue, Atherton, CA, was used in a double page advertisement  in Gentry Magazine.

14790 Manuella Road, Los Altos Hills, CA

Here is the cover of a brochure for a real estate listing that I shot recently, of large high-end home in Silicon Valley. This is a co-listing by Hanna Shacham, Coldwell Banker, and Ken DeLeon, DeLeon Realty.

Recent Listing in Coldwell Banker Previews Magazine

Here is a property I shot recently (28011 Elena Ave, Los Altos Hills, CA) in the Summer 2012 Coldwell Banker Previews Magazine. Yours for a mere $50,000,000.

Twilight Photo-1321 Harker Avenue, Palo Alto, CA

Here is another in my series of residential twilight photos, a craftsman style house located in the Community Center area of Palo Alto, CA.

This is from a recent listing by one of my real estate clients: Ken DeLeon, DeLeon Realty.

Recent Work-3180 Cowper Street, Palo Alto

Here is a double page ad for a real estate listing in a recent edition of the Palo Alto Weekly, which uses my photos.

 I think this is a good example of how twilight photos can enhance the presentation of a property. Also, since this ad is destined for newspaper usage, which typically has relatively limited reproduction quality, it is useful to have images which will hold up well in that medium. I think twilight photos achieve this, with the right subject. Also, brightly lit interior photos will tend to hold up well with newspaper reproduction, and this is achieved most consistently with supplementary lighting.

By the way, Ken DeLeon was one of the top 3 real estate agents in the country for 2011, in terms of dollar sales volume. Go Ken.

Recent Work-Residential Twilight Photo

Another in my ongoing series of residential twilight photos.

Photo used to market a real estate listing of a home in Monte Sereno, CA.

Client: Matt Zampella, Zampella and Assoc.