Photos taken . by Harley Lever[photopress:Moon_Rise.jpg,full,alignright][photopress:Bellvue_sm.jpg,full,alignright][photopress:moon_over_I_90.jpg,full,alignright][photopress:Mt_Rainier_sm.jpg,full,alignright]
Thanks chillyc! Everytime I start to complain about how cold it is, I bite my tongue and thank God for the awesomely beautiful days I needed for those photos from our newest listing. Just when you think you have to have artificial or gray photos, we get the most gorgeous days AND a full moon!
Happened another that time I had a view listing too. It was February and a Mercer Island House back in 2005. Sailboats everywhere and the bluest sky and water I’d seen a year. These crisp, blue winter days are awesome.
I can see Rainier from my bedroom window. It’s like waking up with a song in your heart.
It was a magical couple of nights. You never know when Mother Nature is going to help you with a real estate photography shoot. The Seattle winters have not been the kindest photographically speaking. However, last night made up for it all.
The funniest part is it was cloudy on the day Ardell and I met and began discussing the strategies for the shoot. We could barely see across Lake Washington. Neither one of us could remember if there were any mountains to be seen and/or captured for the photographs. The consensus was a “probably not”.
It never felt so right to be so wrong! The moon just made what was already a great shoot a purely magical one.
The third shot is to scale, as it appears from the master bedroom. The others are awesome, but not true representations of what you see from the house. So for real estate purposes, I think it would be misleading to suggest that they are “views”. I’d like to see Mt. Rainier “to actual scale” as it can be seen from the house. Looking at it, it’s hard to believe it was actually taken from the house.
You will find that the there is some distortion in every lens that you use. Telephoto lenses as represented in pictures 1,2, and 4 have what is called “Barrel-Distortion”. These are seen in lenses that have large ranges in magnification from 18mm – 200mm they are the “All in One Lens”. The trade-off is that as you zoom in our out the edges appear to be slightly curved.
When you have super wide angle lenses such as picture 3 the trade-off is “fish-eye distortion” . This is caused by the spherical nature of the lens and has the opposite effect of Barrel Distortion in that the center becomes slightly squished and pushed further away as the edges remain focused and generally perfect. In picture 3 you will notice that the edges seem perfect, but Bellevue and the mountains seem further away and much smaller than they really are.
The good news is that distortion can be compensated for. Barrel distortion can be compensated for by caring a series of lenses 18mm-35mm 35mm-70mm and 70mm-200mm to cover a focal span. This minimizes the distortion by breaking up the focal lengths and allows for more true representation. Fisheye distortion can be compensated for through software such as Photoshop or certain filters.
After returning today and re-shooting Mt. Rainier I would say number 2 provides the most accurate representation of the proximity of Bellevue and the magnitude in size of the mountains.
The great news is that I like the new shot of Rainier better than the old one! I would like to thank Mother Nature for another spectacular show!!!
I use two Nikon D200’s. One has a 12mm-24mm lens which I use for interior shots and panorama shots. The other will either have a 70mm – 200mm for real estate listings with views or a 55mm – 70mm for tighter shots.
I use two cameras because of timing issues. Real estate with views are time critical shots because of what Nature brings to the table. The moon peaking over the mountains came and went in a matter of 2 minutes. Having the camera ready to go allowed me to take test pictures and adjust for lighting while capturing a couple of “keepers”.
There are less expensive options. The Nikon D80 and the NikonD40X offer the same 10.2 mega pixel sensor, but with less performance options and plastic bodies. I am extremely hard on all things electronic (you should see my cellphone graveyard) and need to have metal bodies.
The other major cost consideration are the lenses… the 70mm-200mm is a $2000 lens. While this is on the higher end of what you will use don’t be surprised to pay $600-$800 for each lens. Lenses are the only thing I will not compromise in quality otherwise you have a “Garbage In and Garbage Out” scenario.
The kicker is that the days are also getting longer at the same time. It’s been absolutely fabulous! Nothing excites an agent more than the daylight hours getting longer and longer 🙂
Saw this neat Rainier picture on the UW page.
http://www.washington.edu/mediarel/galleries/UW_scenes_winter2008/
Awesome pictures!
Ardell – gorgeous pix! It is so beautiful here right now!!!! Keep warm:)
Thanks chillyc! Everytime I start to complain about how cold it is, I bite my tongue and thank God for the awesomely beautiful days I needed for those photos from our newest listing. Just when you think you have to have artificial or gray photos, we get the most gorgeous days AND a full moon!
Happened another that time I had a view listing too. It was February and a Mercer Island House back in 2005. Sailboats everywhere and the bluest sky and water I’d seen a year. These crisp, blue winter days are awesome.
I can see Rainier from my bedroom window. It’s like waking up with a song in your heart.
Thanks Ardell, Courtney, KCRE, and Chillyc!!!
It was a magical couple of nights. You never know when Mother Nature is going to help you with a real estate photography shoot. The Seattle winters have not been the kindest photographically speaking. However, last night made up for it all.
The funniest part is it was cloudy on the day Ardell and I met and began discussing the strategies for the shoot. We could barely see across Lake Washington. Neither one of us could remember if there were any mountains to be seen and/or captured for the photographs. The consensus was a “probably not”.
It never felt so right to be so wrong! The moon just made what was already a great shoot a purely magical one.
Thanks Ardell!
The third shot is to scale, as it appears from the master bedroom. The others are awesome, but not true representations of what you see from the house. So for real estate purposes, I think it would be misleading to suggest that they are “views”. I’d like to see Mt. Rainier “to actual scale” as it can be seen from the house. Looking at it, it’s hard to believe it was actually taken from the house.
Wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
You will find that the there is some distortion in every lens that you use. Telephoto lenses as represented in pictures 1,2, and 4 have what is called “Barrel-Distortion”. These are seen in lenses that have large ranges in magnification from 18mm – 200mm they are the “All in One Lens”. The trade-off is that as you zoom in our out the edges appear to be slightly curved.
When you have super wide angle lenses such as picture 3 the trade-off is “fish-eye distortion” . This is caused by the spherical nature of the lens and has the opposite effect of Barrel Distortion in that the center becomes slightly squished and pushed further away as the edges remain focused and generally perfect. In picture 3 you will notice that the edges seem perfect, but Bellevue and the mountains seem further away and much smaller than they really are.
The good news is that distortion can be compensated for. Barrel distortion can be compensated for by caring a series of lenses 18mm-35mm 35mm-70mm and 70mm-200mm to cover a focal span. This minimizes the distortion by breaking up the focal lengths and allows for more true representation. Fisheye distortion can be compensated for through software such as Photoshop or certain filters.
After returning today and re-shooting Mt. Rainier I would say number 2 provides the most accurate representation of the proximity of Bellevue and the magnitude in size of the mountains.
The great news is that I like the new shot of Rainier better than the old one! I would like to thank Mother Nature for another spectacular show!!!
Ardell, Harley, The photos are exquisite!!! What camera did you use Harley?
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Hi Ginger and thank you,
I use two Nikon D200’s. One has a 12mm-24mm lens which I use for interior shots and panorama shots. The other will either have a 70mm – 200mm for real estate listings with views or a 55mm – 70mm for tighter shots.
I use two cameras because of timing issues. Real estate with views are time critical shots because of what Nature brings to the table. The moon peaking over the mountains came and went in a matter of 2 minutes. Having the camera ready to go allowed me to take test pictures and adjust for lighting while capturing a couple of “keepers”.
There are less expensive options. The Nikon D80 and the NikonD40X offer the same 10.2 mega pixel sensor, but with less performance options and plastic bodies. I am extremely hard on all things electronic (you should see my cellphone graveyard) and need to have metal bodies.
The other major cost consideration are the lenses… the 70mm-200mm is a $2000 lens. While this is on the higher end of what you will use don’t be surprised to pay $600-$800 for each lens. Lenses are the only thing I will not compromise in quality otherwise you have a “Garbage In and Garbage Out” scenario.
I’ll take cold and sunny vs. slightly cold and rainy/cloudy any day of the week. This week has been nice!
The kicker is that the days are also getting longer at the same time. It’s been absolutely fabulous! Nothing excites an agent more than the daylight hours getting longer and longer 🙂
ARDELL,
Before you complain about the cold, remember to check Wenatchee on http://www.Weather.com ! 🙂
Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing them. 🙂
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It’s already that time of year again — let’s see some fall photos!