real estate

I have this wide angle lens attachment that I play with sometimes.  It is not what I would call a quality piece of glass.  The edges of the picture are all distorted but I can get two houses in the photo instead of one.

Family room

This is the family room in a home that is on the market.  I use some HDR processing for interior shots because I think it brings out the details.  I try not to over process them.  I have seen too many interior shots that look milky or they have black ceilings.  It takes practice and patience to get it right but it is worth it.

Wakefield Street

If I had grown up it would have been in this house on Wakefield street in St. Paul.  It was my home until I was 20.  My mom asked me if I would take a photo of it.  She asked the way moms sometimes do . . “if it isn’t any trouble and you are in the area anyway”.  I was in the area and it wasn’t any trouble. I had my camera set up to photograph a home I have listed a few blocks away.

The place has changed some.  The porch used to be enclosed and it looks like a bigger window was put in the kitchen on the back of the house.  The house was built in 1926 and they really don’t build them like that any more.  Beautiful oak floors and oak cove molding, built in buffet and a fireplace with built-in book cases on both sides, there are two piano windows but you can only see one in the photo.   I don’t need photos of the inside.  I have a few but the best pictures are in my mind.  I can see it all just like it was and that is probably better than it is.

Victorian Home

There is one thing that I have learned from blogging and from photography . . well there might be more than one thing but the thing I want to write about is Victorian houses.   When I post a photo of one of our beautiful old Victorians the traffic to my blog goes up.   Houses in general get clicks but Victorian homes get more clicks.

Fall Flowers

Simple yet classy.  Our front porch has ghosts on it that some times scare small children but that is kind of the point.

orange house

Orange is a good color but we don’t often think of it as a color to paint a house. This home is very cute. Built in the late 1800′s, painted orange and photographed for day 2 of orange week.

Simply Orange

This one was for my Sunshine Sunday group on Flickr.  Submissions for the group are supposed to be mostly orange, yellow or red and can only be posted on Sundays.  I am challenging myself to find subjects that meet the criteria but that are not flowers.  This is an ancient house on West 7th Street in St. Paul the a neighbor of mine who is an architect converted into an office.  I have not decided if I like the paint job or not.   I like it when people find new uses for historic homes. This one is very small and it makes a better office than home.

Painted Porch

They have been working on this one for awhile.  They started painting last Fall.  It will look wonderful when it is done. Old houses like these are an opportunity.

Holiday House

Some houses are just meant to be decorated for the holidays.  I understand why the owners don’t want to take the wreaths down.

Old House Old Tree

This is one of the best times of year to shoot architecture.  No leaves on the trees to block the view and no snow on the ground to mess up the lighting.  I love this old house and the ancient oak that is next to it.  They seem to go together.