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.
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.
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| 12031 Hilltop Drive, Los Altos |
